Daily Reflection

Procrastination

Procrastination – not acting when the time is right – is a self-defeating behavior. It produces anxiety, guilt, disharmony, and a nagging consciousness of the task that life is telling us it's time to do.

We are not always procrastinating when we put off doing something. Sometimes, doing a thing before the time is right can be as self-defeating as waiting too long.

We can learn to discern the difference. Listen to yourself. Listen to the Universe. What is past due and creating anxiety and prodding within you?

Is there something in your life you are avoiding because you don't want to face it? Is there a building anxiety from putting this off?

Sometimes anger, fear, or feeling helpless can motivate procrastination. Sometimes, procrastination has simply become habitual.

Trust and listen to yourself, and the Universe. Watch for signs and signals. If it is time to do something, do it now. If it is not yet time, wait until the time is right.

Today's Reminder

I look in the mirror through the eyes of the child that was me.

–Judy Collins

The child within each of us is fragile, but very much alive, and she interprets our experiences before we are even conscious of them. It is our child who may fear new places, unfamiliar people, strange situations. Our child needs nurturing, the kind she may not have received in the past. We can take her hand, coax her along, let her know she won't be abandoned. No new place, unfamiliar person, or strange situation need overwhelm her.

It's quite amazing the strength that comes to us when we nurture ourselves, when we acknowledge the scared child within and hold her, making her secure. We face nothing alone. Together, we can face anything.

Daily Reading

Letting Go of Worry

What if we knew for certain that everything we’re worried about today will work out fine?

What if . . . we had a guarantee that the problem bothering us would be worked out in the most perfect way, and at the best possible time? Furthermore, what if we knew that three years from now we’d be grateful for that problem, and its solution?

What if . . . we knew that even our worst fear would work out for the best?

What if . . . we had a guarantee that everything that’s happening, and has happened, in our life was meant to be, planned just for us, and in our best interest?

What if . . . we had a guarantee that the people we love are experiencing exactly what they need in order to become who they’re intended to become? Further, what if we had a guarantee that others can be responsible for themselves, and we don’t have to control or take responsibility for them?

What if . . . we knew the future was going to be good, and we would have an abundance of resources and guidance to handle whatever comes our way?

What if . . . we knew everything was okay, and we didn’t have to worry about a thing? What would we do then?

We’d be free to let go and enjoy life.

Hard Call Fairy

A hard call is when we don't like either choice, but one option is unacceptable. Hard calls can take many shapes and forms. We may love someone who has a serious drinking problem and simply decide we can't live with him or her– despite how we feel about the person. We may love someone who has physically abused us or displayed signs of violent behavior, while our feelings may be genuine, so is the danger. We can be faced with hard calls at work. At one point in my life, I could barely tolerate my supervisors. But I liked the work I was doing. I decided to stay; I'm still glad I did.

Hard calls are a part of life. They force us to examine our values and determine what's genuinely important to us. They insist that we choose the path that's in our highest good.

Hearts in spring

The Giving Fairy

Learning to be a healthy giver can be a challenge. Many of us got caught up in compulsive giving – charitable acts motivated by uncharitable feelings of guilt, shame, obligations, pity, and moral superiority.

We now understand that catering and compulsive giving don't work. They backfire.

Caretaking keeps us feeling victimized.

Many of us gave too much, thinking we were doing things right; then we became confused because our life and relationships weren't working. Many of us gave so much for so long, thinking we were doing God's will; that we refused to give, care, or love for a time.

That's okay. Perhaps we needed a rest. But healthy giving is part of healthy living. The goal is balance – caring that is motivated by a true desire to give, with an underlying attitude of respect for others and ourselves.

The goal is to choose what we want to give, to whom, when, and how much. The goal is to give and not feel victimized by our giving.

Are we giving because we want to, because it's our responsibility? Or are we giving because we feel obligated, guilty, ashamed, or superior? Are we giving because we feel afraid to say no?

Are the ways we try to assist people helpful, or do they prevent others from facing their true responsibilities?

Are we giving so that people will like us or feel obligated to us? Are we giving to prove we're worthy? Or are we giving because we want to give and it feels right?

Living a balanced life includes a cycle of giving and receiving. It keeps healthy energy flowing among our Higher Power, others, and us. It takes time to learn how to give in healthy ways. It takes time to learn to receive. Be patient. Balance will come.

TFTD

Believe me, every man has his secret sorrow, which the world knows not, and oftentimes we call a man col when he is only sad.

– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Let a person seem aloof or display a need to be apart from others, and we automatically assume we are getting a old shoulder. yet none of us has any ideas of all the components of another person's life and feelings. We're usually ignorant of others people's personal characteristics. Sadness, shyness, and fear are just a few traits which can be misinterpreted.

Little disappointments, large failures, loss of a dream or a loved one — these are all problems which any one of us can have, but few can share. We can choose to overlook the real and imagined wrongs of others by reminding ourselves of how little we really know of each other.

TFTD

There the penitents took off their shoes And walked barefoot the remaining mile.

—Robert Lowell

Some people have to have pain. If dirt doesn't fall on their heads from the sky, they sulk in corners and hope their flesh turns to dust. They do everything the hard way, even when they know better, and often complain and accuse others for their pain. For people like this, even the song of a bird is a bother. It's better to smile when people like that accuse. It's better to wear shoes when walking on stones, better to take the shortest way. There is weeping and wailing enough in the world, dumps full of worn-out guilt and remorse. When the bird sings, it's better to look up and see that it beats its wings not to punish itself, but to fly.

Unfurled

Cars will stop today for bandages and all sorts of medical advice.  I'm gonna take a number and get in line.

Next week I have an appointment with the Pain Medicines Physician.  I met the man once before and didn't leave with a good impression.  He didn't know what I was doing there and the receptionist gave him the BOX of medical information my insurance folks had sent him weeks before I was to see him.  Duh!  *sigh*  If anything, perhaps I ought to be unimpressed by his clerical staff and reserve my skepticism of his medical expertise.  He DID rattle off a host of other things that could be tried--and scripted me an increase to the breakthrough pain medications which I turned into the pharmacist but didn't fill because he wasn't my physician at the time and I had an appointment to see HER the following week.

THAT appointment turned into a clustered mess which resulted in me seeing her student who somehow concluded that I was stable on the medications, refused (understandably, because I had just gotten a script for 120 pain pills) to script breakthrough pain medications, concluded they weren't effective so discontinued them and released me to my primary physician.  It was so messed up my insurers were shaking their heads and concluding that, rather than returning me to that Pain Medicines Physician, they were sending me back to the fella who had my BOX of medical records and getting me help somewhere else.

I was included in the decision making--he has the information and can now work me, hopefully with some success.

I'm VERY displeased with the weight gain.  Who wouldn't be.  I'm struggling with the escalating pain which I cannot manage effectively.  But more than that, I'm becoming concerned about some of the 'blips' my brain is having.  NOT that I don't already have weird thinking.  But that's thinking and not 'blips'.  I have no plans to act on the 'blips'.  But because I don't seem to have control of those 'blips', I thought it best to report them to someone....so I did.

I know it's not my normal weird thinking to have this sudden 'blip' of wondering what it would feel like to drive my car into a speeding train, or what it would feel like to drive my car into a concrete embankment, or what it would feel like to seal myself in a garage and die from asphyxiation, or what it would feel like to be out of my body watching himself finding me dead in the garage.  Whoaaaa....

Putting it in black and white makes it LOOK as scary as it must have sounded to the WPIML when I talked to him.....who told me I needed to tell himself and to get in to the Pain Medicines Physician.

Both have been done.  The result is fear, of course.  Not on my part.  I think those 'blips' are just plain weird, but not in the 'normal', entertaining way that my 'normal weird thinking' is.  I don't have any desire to act on any of those 'blips'.  But WPIML had the concern that if I can't control THOSE, what's to say I won't lose control of my actions.

That bit even scared me, though I doubt there'll be time for that given the onset of the 'blips' wasn't sudden and it's not pervasive....yet.

Yup, I need to be first in line for medical attention.  Darn that the flag outside isn't REALLY the Red Cross.  Cuz my mind is a disaster.  LOL. I think I've become that annoying commercial that lists off every side effect under the sun, up to and including eating butterflies.

Sheeessshhh.....

I don't think a Snoopy Bandaid is gonna fix this one, but I'm gonna put one on JUST in case!  :-)

Daily Reminder

When others approve of what we do or say, we feel good; when they disapprove, we feel bad. Their opinions of us, and how those opinions make us feel, can have positive value. By making us feel good about steering a straight course, they encourage us to continue doing so. "People-pleasing" is something else entirely. We "people-please" when we do things, right or wrong, solely to gain another person's approval.

Low self-esteem can make us think we need someone else's approval to feel okay about ourselves. We do whatever we think it will take to make them tell us we're okay We feel good for awhile. Then we start hurting. In trying to please another person, we've diminished ourselves and our values. We realize that the approval of others will not fill the emptiness inside us.

The inner satisfaction we seek can be found in doing the right things for the right reasons. We break the people-pleasing cycle when we stop acting merely to gain others' approval and start acting on our Higher Power's will for us. When we do, we may be pleasantly surprised to find that the people who really count in our lives will approve all the more of our behavior. Most importantly, though, we will approve of ourselves.

Today's Reminder

The world is a wheel always turning. Those who are high go down low, and those who've been low go up higher.

–Anzia Yezierska

Everything changes. Nothing stays the same. And letting go of the way things are, anticipating instead what they might become, frees us to live each moment more fully.

Time marches on, and our destiny marches with it. There is purpose in how our lives unfold, the ups and downs serve our growth. We must neither resent the doldrums nor savor too long the elation. Giving too much attention to either state interferes with our awareness of the present. And the present has come to teach us.

We must move with time. We must focus our attention on the moment and accept whatever feelings each experience elicits. Emotional maturity is accepting our feelings and letting them go and facing instead the next moment with fresh receptivity. Our lessons are many, and they accompany the lows as well as the highs. We can be grateful for both.

We have freedom from lingering lows. We have the tools to move confidently forward, trusting that all is well. Nothing lasts forever, and within each struggle is the opportunity for real growth.

Quilt Barn #65

Daily Wisdom

Relax

Too often out of sheer habit we tighten up, tense up, and then approach life from that stance. When we have something to do, our automatic response may be to tense up– shoulders and neck strained, back bent and cramped, breathing shallow. But anything that needs to be done can be done better if we're relaxed.

Learn to relax. Program your body, each part of it, to let go and be at ease. Allow yourself to come into your natural posture and alignment. Learn to relax until moving, acting, speaking, being all come naturally from this relaxed place.

Find activities that help you do this. A hot bath. A massage. Sunning. Walking. Meditating. Teach yourself to become aware of how your body feels during these activities. Memorize that feeling. Practice relaxing until you can recall that memory and carry it throughout your day.

Periodically thoughout the day, take a few moments to check your tension level. If you find any part of your body tense, take a few more moments to consciously relax that part. Visualize warmth and ease flooding any part of your body that has become tight or is in pain. Let the tension, the stress, the blocks drain out from top to bottom. Your body wants to relax. It wants to become comfortable. It wants to heal itself.

Empty your mind of tense thoughts, and let it follow your body into relaxation and calm. Allow your mind to become still. Quietly accept each thought, then release it. Breathe in comforting, healing energy. Breathe it into your mind, into each cell of your body. Breathe out stress, strain, discomfort, and fear. Don't resist what you are feeling or thinking. Accept it, then release it. Just as water cannot pass naturally through a pinched hose, your vital life force cannot flow freely through you if you are cramped and tense.

Honor the life force that is in you, that flows through you. Honor it by relaxing, opening to it, and inviting it to surge through your body.

Thoughts of the Wise

Tears are summer showers to the soul.

– Alfred Austin

All our lives, we have been told that time would heal all wounds – and that if time couldn't then the doctor would.

There are few things which may feel as final as a diagnosis of chronic illness. Chronic means forever — and we can never hardly conceive of a problem that will never go away. We may find ourselves crying over and over again, and wonder if the tears will ever end.

For many of us, our tears were how we began to grieve. Grief was how we started to heal ourselves emotionally from the burden of "forever." The tears we shed helped cleanse our thoughts and bodies so we could move on to live the rest of our lives. Today, our grief and weeping will help us continue to grow.

Free!

Sleeping with bread....

I've had some quiet time this morning, in between getting the ribs browned and in the slow cooker--and getting to my Sunday morning A.A. meeting.  *sigh*  I've needed every moment of 'nourishment' I can get my hands on.

It's the little things life hands me that I've been giving power to--and not the 'gifts', but the trials.  They've gotten a lot of my attention.  The 'crud' that took me down for a number of days and the unwelcomed tiredness that came with it.  Then the eye infection which interfered with everything--the job, the household responsibilities....any form of light created 'someone's putting a spike through my eyeball' kind of pain.

And then there's the exhausting ever present chronic pain that we just can't seem to get a handle on.

All that physical stuff has been exhausting, robbing me 'normalcy' and 'having a life'.  Or so it seems.....

And during all that physical stuff--there's been moment of joy.  There's always moments of joy.  

I notice them.

I acknowledge them.

I remain grateful that I 'get' those moments.

I'd suppose I'd be having (what WPIML called) an "ungrateful snot" moment.

It's not feeling like "enough".

I know the true source is the chronic pain.  

I know it "could be worse".

I know I could have worse troubles than this.  I've experienced 'worse' troubles than this.  And I've experienced exhaustion in varying degrees--this isn't THERE yet.  

But THIS isn't going away.  THIS has no 'end'.

*sigh*  And THIS carrying on has no purpose--it changes NOTHING.

I have joy.

I have so many things to be grateful for.

I never dared to dream for what I have today.

Those joys are what I hang on to when I struggle.

And for some reason (because I MAKE it one...*sigh*) it is a struggle.

But I'll continue to interrupt the whining to give 'air time' to the wonders of spring unfolding, to the loving actions of a husband I never could have imagined having, to the miracle of life which will come to me as a wriggling sister/brother to the Bug, and to the opportunities to be of service to G-d and others that get dropped in front of me.  

I'll continue to let those things bring me the energy which I purport I do not have.   

I'll strive to NOT let this pain dictate my life.

If there's something "I don't have the energy for", THAT needs to be it.

The examen, based on the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, helps a person hold onto what spiritually nourishes him by looking at what is giving him consolation in his life or causing him desolation. 

It allows someone to express his gratitude to God for the good stuff and turn to him for solace for the bad stuff.

TFTD

Let yourself make mistakes

There are times we don't know which way to proceed or what to do next. We can become so blocked and stymied trying to figure it out that we just sit and spin our wheels. In those situations, the solution may involve making some choice– even if it turns out to be the wrong one.

Ideally, we can meditate on our choices and one way will feel right and clear, and the other won't. But in those times when we can't get clear, sometimes we have to give things a try. Take that job. Move into a condo. Date that woman. If it's a mistake, you can correct it as honestly, quickly, and humbly as you can.

You don't have to live life as perfectly as you think. Sometimes it takes making a mistake in order for us to get clear.

Spanning time

Reading from the Fairy

Using Others to Stop Our Pain

Our happiness is not a present someone else holds in his or her hands. Our well-being is not held by another to be given or withheld at whim. If we reach out and try to force someone to give us what we believe he or she holds, we will be disappointed. We will discover that it is an illusion. The person didn't hold it. He or she never shall. That beautifully wrapped box with the ribbon on it that we believed contained our happiness that someone was holding – it's an illusion!

In those moments when we are trying to reach out and force someone to stop our pain and create our joy, if we can find the courage to stop flailing about and instead stand still and deal with our issues, we will find our happiness.

Yes, it is true that if someone steps on our foot, he or she is hurting us and therefore holds the power to stop our pain by removing his or her foot. But the pain is still ours. And so is the responsibility to tell someone to stop stepping on our feet.

Healing will come when we're aware of how we attempt to use others to stop our pain and create our happiness. We will heal from the past. We will receive insights that can change the course of our relationships.

We will see that, all along, our happiness and our well-being have been in our hands. We have held that box. The contents are ours for the opening.

Daily Reading

Any time you sense you are getting overrun by outside influences and losing your feelings, put your attention inside your body. Relax. . ., let your breath sink low. . ., breathe in your abdomen. . . .

—ANNE KENT RUSH

When we are feeling as though all our energy is scattered throughout our bodies, we need to practice centering, or focusing this energy into one place. Our center may change from day to day, and each of us feels it differently.

When we're walking, we may feel power coming from our hips and spreading through the body, heart, and mind. When we're in a meditative mood, we may feel warm energy at the back of the head. At other times, we might feel a real centering place in the middle of the chest, right where our heart and arms and breathing come together. There is no one way to be at peace. Centering is a way for each of us to find and picture to ourselves our focused energy. When we can do this, we increase our power to bring about those things we want from life, those things we really do deserve.

TFTD

We are energy and vibration. When we're open, how easy it is to begin ticking to the rhythm of those around us. If we had kept ourselves locked up and put away, it would be different. But since we've chosen to be open, to be sensitive, to open our hearts and souls, we'll connect with, tick to, vibrations of those around us. Our energy fields will touch and merge. We'll begin to feel, and sometimes visibly take on, the characteristics, rhythms, and vibrations of those in our field.

Pay attention to, choose carefully, those with whom you live, eat, and play. There may be times when you can handle their energy, and times it isn't right for you. Sometimes, when we're feeling off balance, it may be that we're around energy that just isn't right for us.

Today's Reading

Acceptance

Surrender to the moment. Ride it out and through, for all it’s worth. Throw yourself into it.

Stop resisting.

So much of our anguish is created when we are in resistance. So much relief, release, and change are possible when we accept, simply accept.

We waste our time, expend our energy, and make things harder by resisting, repressing, and denying. Repressing our thoughts will not make them disappear. Repressing a thought already formed will not make us a better person. Think it. Let it come into reality. Then release it. A thought is not forever. If we don’t like it, we can think another one or change it. But to do that, we must accept and release the first thought.

Resistance and repression will not change a thing. They will put us at war with our thoughts.

We make life harder by resisting and repressing our feelings. No matter how dark, how uncomfortable, how unjustified, how surprising, how inappropriate we might deem our feelings, resisting and repressing them will not free us from them. Doing that will make them worse. They will swirl inside us, torment us, make us sick, and make our body ache, compel us to do compulsive things, keep us awake, or put us to sleep.

In the final analysis, all that we’re really called on to do is accept our feelings by feeling them, and saying, Yes, this is what I feel.

Feelings are for the present moment. The more quickly we can accept a feeling, the more quickly we will move on to the next.

Resisting or repressing thoughts and feelings does not change us or turn us into the person we want to be or think we should be. It puts us in resistance to reality. It makes us repressed. Eventually, it makes us depressed.

Resisting events or circumstances in our life does not change things, no matter how undesirable the events or circumstances may be.

Acceptance turns us into the person we are and want to be. Acceptance empowers the events and circumstances to turn around for the better.

What do we do if we’re in resistance, in a tug of war with some reality in our life? Accepting our resistance can help us get through that too.

Acceptance does not mean we’re giving our approval. It does not mean surrendering to the will and plans of another. It does not mean commitment. It is not forever. It is for the present moment. Acceptance does not make things harder; it makes things easier. Acceptance does not mean we accept abuse or mistreatment; it does not mean we forego boundaries, our hopes, dreams, desires, wants, or ourselves. It means we accept what is, so we know what to do to take care of ourselves and what boundaries we need to set. It means we accept what is and who we are at the moment, so we are free to change and grow.

Acceptance and surrender move us forward on this journey. Force does not work.

Acceptance and surrender – two concepts that hurt the most before we do them

Daily Tao

Make every move count.

Pick your target and hit it.

Perfect concentration means

Effortless flowing.

A life that is spiritual requires focused action. It needs quick reflexes, accurate timing, and abundant skill. That is why followers of Tao are always compounding their self-cultivation: They want the ability to do whatever they want.

Each day your life grows a day shorter. Make every move count. All that matters is accomplishing what you envision with the greatest dispatch. Once you do, that aspect of your interest is discharged, and you can then go on to some new interest. If you do not engage in this ongoing process of action, you will never satisfy all the various aspects of the soul, and realization will never fully mature for you.

Some assert that there is no end to desire, so we should undercut our ambition. But this doesn’t address the need for satisfaction. We need to have satisfaction in what we do in order to have a good sense of well-being. If we undercut our ambition, then we will never make any achievements nor satisfy our yearnings. This only leaves us with frustration, uncertainty, and timidity. Therefore, to follow Tao, we must identify our inner longings and dispatch them with a hunter’s accuracy.

Nailed

Follow as directed

When the bottle says "take 3 times a day for 7 days", they really DO mean it.
Even if it stings like crazy.

*sigh*
I can't even feign ignorance on this one.
Freaking "troubles of my own making".....back I go, sunglasses on.
Stupid eye infection......

Yes Fairy

 Learn to say yes

Learn to say yes, and mean it.

How long has it been since you’ve said yes to someone in your life? Yes, I’d like to do that. Yes, that sounds good to me. Yes, I’ll take a chance.

How long has it been since you’ve said yes to yourself? Yes, I recognize what you’re feeling. Yes, I heard what you want. Yes, I realize you’re tired. Yes, we’ll rest for a while.

When opportunities come our way– whether for personal, spiritual, or business growth– don’t always be so cautious and shy. So what if yes means you’re not living up to someone’s expectations? Sometimes we learn to say no so well that saying no becomes a habit. We don’t even consider what we’re turning down.

A well timed yes is as important in manifesting our power as learning to say no. It’s a sign of an open heart.

Next time someone asks you out, suggests an opportunity, or your body tries to talk to you, stop, Instead of immediately saying no, like a parent on automatic pilot, listen to the offer. Could it be an important one? Something that might help guide you along your path? Maybe you’re scared. Maybe you’re worried that you aren’t up to the occasion. Maybe you like the safety of saying no all the time.

Learn to say yes to life.

Honesty, openness, and willingness to try. Hmmmm. Sounds a lot like yes to me.

TFTD

 

There is only one happiness in life … to love and be loved.

–George Sand

It took me many, many years to really and truly discover what turned out to be something that I have yearned for all of my life. That “something” was love ~ both the ability to love and to accept love.

As a child, I felt I had to achieve to be loved and, in the process of achieving, lost a great deal of my childhood. This carried over to adulthood and thus began the years of doing what was expected of me (or so I thought) in order to be loved, valued and respected.

I have learned so much about myself and about love. One of the greatest truths I have learned about myself and my ability to love is that for me to love someone, it is not necessary that they love me back. My loving someone else never depends on their loving me … but how wonderful it is when they do.

Reading for Today

Sometimes things seem like good ideas and aren’t, really.

–Piglet

Ask for guidance first.

Self-will is a tricky thing. So are impulse behaviors.

We’ve heard of impulse buying– making a purchase quickly and without thought, based on monetary impulse. It’s easy to get caught up living our lives that way,too. So often, we run off in the heat of the moment.

Spontaneity is good. Saying yes to life is good,too. But impulse living can get us into trouble. We can overreact to a problem, then sit in a heap of regrets. Sometimes, the next step presents itself clearly, in a flash of inspiration. Sometimes, we’re meant to go forward and not let our fears and negative thoughts hold us back. Sometimes, we’re acting on impulse and may end up sabotaging ourselves.

Ask for guidance first. It takes only a second to check the map and see if the turn we’re thinking of making is where we really want go.

River snake

TFTD

Problems and conflicts are part of life and relationships – with friends, family, loved ones, and at work — problem-solving and conflict negotiation are skills we can acquire and improve with time.

Not being willing to tackle and solve problems in relationships leads to unresolved feelings of anger and victimization, terminated relationships, unresolved problems, and power plays that intensify the problem and waste time and energy.

Not being willing to face and solve problems means we may run into that problem again.

Some problems with people cannot be worked out in mutually satisfactory ways. Sometimes the problem is a boundary issue we have, and there is not room to negotiate. In that case, we need to clearly understand what we want and need and what our bottom line is.

Some problems with people, though, can be worked out, worked through, and satisfactorily negotiated. Often, there are workable options for solving problems that we will not even see until we become open to the concept of working through problems in relationships, rather than running from the problems.

To negotiate problems, we must be willing to identify the problem, let go of blame and shame, and focus on possible creative solutions. To successfully negotiate and solve problems in relationships, we must have a sense of our bottom line and our boundary issues, so we don’t waste time trying to negotiate non-negotiable issues.

We need to learn to identify what both people really want and need and the different possibilities for working that out. We can learn to be flexible without being too flexible. Committed, intimate relationships mean two people are learning to work together through their problems and conflicts in ways that work in both people’s best interest.

Today's Reminder

Value Your Connection to Creativity

Creativity is a force– a living, real force. It’s the power of love, the power of life, a gift of the Divine. You’re connected to that force.

Open up to your creative powers– in work, in play, in love. Make creations that are beautiful to look at. Make creations you like to see, creations that are pleasing to you. Creativity comes in many forms– cooking, decorating, speaking, drawing, writing, or building a castle in sand at the beach. How you choose to create is up to you.

“I used to love taking pictures when I was a child,” one man said. “Then one day, in a rage, my father smashed my camera to the floor. He told me taking pictures was nonsense. It was twenty years before I let myself take a picture again. Now, I can’t stop.”

Who told you you weren’t creative? Stand tall, speak up, and tell them they’re wrong. Own your creative powers. Allow your creativity to heal and flourish.

uh huh...

The term 'urgent care' ought not be used for facilities that keep you in the waiting area for better than 2 hours.  Better to call it 'slower than molasses care', though I'd suppose the signage would be spendier.

*sigh*  Stupid bacterial eye infection in the right eye.  It would've been do-able, but it came with 'there's a stake being shoved into my eyeball' pain which, given the amount of painmanagement medication I'm on,I just shouldn't be feeling, says Dr. Mel.
I musta been somewhat right, otherwise the eye specialist wouldn't have seen me so quickly, nor would I be scheduled for a followup next week.  Apparently my eyeball suction isn't where it's supposed to be.  Who'da thunk...eyeballs can get shingles and if you're a shingles person, you can expect more eye infections.
See what I learned with my $200 a bottle eyedrops?!

*sigh*

My eyeball is better, though.
I can actually stand to read on the kindle IF I turn the brightness way down.  Thankfully work's monster monitor comes with dimming functions....who knew!!

Fairy Reading

Those who do not know how to weep with their whole heart don’t know how to laugh either.

–Golda Meir

We all know people who live on the fringes of life. They seem uninvolved with the activity in their midst, as though a pane of glass separated them from us. And there are times when we join the persons standing alone away from the vibrancy of life. Fears keep people apart, particularly the fear of letting go of the vulnerable self and joining in the feelings of the moment.

To fully reap the benefits of life, we have to risk full exposure to one another and to the experience of the moment. Full involvement in the ebb and flow of life will bring the weeping that accompanies both the pain and the joy of life. It will also bring the fruits of laughter.

Both laughter and weeping cleanse us. They bring closure to an experience. They make possible our letting go. And we must let go of pain, as well as joy, to ready ourselves for the next blessing life offers us.

When we keep ourselves apart, when we hold off the tears or the laughter, we cheat ourselves of the richness of life. We have to go through an experience fully in order to learn all it can teach us and then be free of it.

Daily Reading from the Fairies

Let go of resentments

Resentments are sneaky, tricky little things. They can convince us they’re justified. They can dry up our hearts. They can sabotage our happiness. They can sabotage love.

Most of us have been at the receiving end of an injustice at some time in our lives. Most of us know someone who’s complained of an injustice we’ve done to him or her. Life can be a breeding ground for resentments, if we let it.

“Yes, but this time I really was wronged,” we complain.

Maybe you were. But harboring a resentment isn’t the solution. If it was, our resentment list would resemble the Los Angeles telephone directory. Deal with your feelings. Learn whatever lesson is at hand. Then let the feelings go.

Resentments are a coping behavior, a tool of someone settling for survival in life. They’re a form of revenge. The problem is, no matter who we’re resenting, the anger is ultimately directed against ourselves.

Take a moment. Search your heart. Have you tricked yourself into harboring a resentment? If you have, take another moment and let that resentment go.

Daily Reading

A quiet tug on our consciousness may be telling us what we need to do. We think about an old friend and contemplate calling her, but we don't. Don't be silly, we tell ourselves. Why would I do that now? But maybe that friend is calling out to us. Or we have a problem we haven't known how to solve. That situation begins to work on us, bothering us, interrupting our day. Maybe our instincts are telling us it's time to do something about it.

We are living differently now, more magically, more at ease, more at one with our actions. One way we know it is time to do something not on the calendar or the clock is to pay attention to the quiet pulls on our energy. Being conscious of these impulses, then trusting ourselves to naturally know what to do and when to do it puts us in harmony with the universe and our soul.

Fairy Reading

I spent many years resisting the flow, this universal life force. I expended a great deal of energy creating dramas around each incident that took place. I spent as much time resisting a feeling or an event as I spent dealing with it. I lived in a state of fear.

The answer will appear. A solution will come to you. You’ll be led to the next place, person, or event. You’ll get the opening you need, along with the inspiration, courage, and wisdom. Feelings will come and go.

The lesson isn’t that things will be okay. It’s that things are okay, right now.

Whirling Joy

Reminder to self.....repeat!

Take a random day OFF....like you did yesterday.
Get in the Jeep and just GO.

Don't rationalize out why you're too busy, you'll make busy happen before/after and get it done--you're too responsible to NOT get it done.
But for goodness sakes, take the personal day and just make the time fun.
Yesterdays trip to the train shop and wandering through some unique 'old downtown', restored shops was very healing, very refreshing.

Today we'll take a trip to watch trains snake along the Mississippi.  And I'll get to look for wee things through the lens.....and see GREAT things that just are too big to fit.  But they fit in my memory....even if they fall out once in a while!  ;-)

Daily Thought

Some can find fault in everything, but it takes a good and loving heart to find goodness, especially when it is less than obvious.