Today’s Prayer to Passage will be from the book “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” by Carol Dweck.

Today I pray, “Dear God, Today was a day spent in the loving, nurturing presence of my mother, sister, and 16-month-old nephew. I stayed over night last night at my sister’s home. Her husband is in Augusta, GA at The Masters golf tournament this weekend. It was ladies and baby weekend. And what a sweet and simple day of fun we had! We sat at the kitchen table and talked for about an hour this morning. Then we took a car ride to a children’s park with slides and swings, which also had wooded pathways and a lake in the surrounding area. We went for a walk as my sister pushed a stroller carrying my nephew. We watched my nephew go up and down the park slides several times. He had a huge grin of satisfaction when his body reached the ground side of the slide, quickly followed by a motivated determination to turn around and head straight for the stairs to have a go at another trip — this adorable routine took place nearly a dozen times in 30 passing minutes.

And I received the thrilling ride of being. Being with my nephew at this stage of his childhood. Being with my sister at this stage of her motherhood, daughterhood, and sisterhood. Being with my mother at this stage of her grandmotherhood and motherhood. Being with nature, new grass, new buds on trees, warm springtime sunlight. Presence was the operative word of the weekend. And being present was my favorite gift in the abundantly rich treasure of it all. Thank You for this. Amen.”

Following my prayer, I held the closed book in my hands and opened it to reveal this passage:

“In the fixed mindset, everything is about the outcome. If you fail — or if you’re not the best — it’s all been wasted. The growth mindset allows people to do what they value regardless of the outcome. They’re tackling problems, charting new courses, working on important issues. Maybe they haven’t found the cure for cancer, but the search was deeply meaningful.”
—CAROL DWECK

Watching my 16-month-old nephew travel down the slide at the park, then turning to face the direction of the stairs to climb upon the slide for another ride… and another… and another… is bliss. This visual resets my own direction of intention. Bliss, consciousness, joy, choice, authenticity, playfulness, trust. In this, at its simple form, is a deeply meaningful reset of my intentions toward living on planet earth and beyond. Amen. Namaste.