HEAT

"I found there was nothing left for it but to take off my flesh and sit in my bones." 

~ Sydney Smith ~

I'm rather a Nordic creature so I prefer the cold to the heat. And add to the heat hot flashes, and I have moments every day when I feel as if I'm almost cooking. It makes me crawly, and want to run and escape somehow, to vacate the hotness. But I can't and I don't. It all has its purpose, and my restlessness and angst is teaching me acceptance.

The summer heat is as much a part of my joy as the lovely cool fall. 

THE STANDARD OF PROS AND CONS

"Life is not happening to you. Life is responding to you." 

~ Author Unknown ~

Advantages and dis-advantages, pros and cons, assets and liabilities, strengths and weaknesses- we all have them. Every situation and every person has them...
     And we can focus our attention in either direction, but rather than complaining, it generally feels best to simply accept what is less than ideal, and actively appreciate what's good.

I look for the best in people and situations. 

MEMORIAL DAY

"Perform then, this one act of remembrance before this Day passes- Remember there is an army of defense and advance that never dies and never surrenders, but is increasingly recruited from the eternal sources of the American spirit and from the generations of American youth." 

~WJ Cameron ~

Memorial Day is such an important holiday; that we pause and recognize the heroism and sacrifice of all of our service men and women, and celebrate the principles of honor, courage, bravery, nobility, and freedom. The day always begs the question, what's worth fighting for? And answers itself: all that we value and hold dear.
     Let the lead of all those who have gone before us inspire us. Let us stand up and bravely face what oppresses us. Let us be undaunted by great odds. Let us thank those who have fought for us, and be willing to fight for ourselves using their example. Let us be filled with the grace and the glory of the noble cause for freedom.

I appreciate and honor the bravery in others and in myself.

OUT OF NOWHERE

"Faith is what makes life bearable, with all its tragedies, ambiguities and sudden, startling joys."

~ Madeleine L'Engle ~

Faltering faith fatigues the body and mind. A sense of depression and helplessness kicks in when we can't make happen by the sheer force of our will what we want to make happen; and our ceasing to trust that great things are coming paralyzes us in a scarcity complex mode, and makes us grabby and greedy.
     And yet, in spite of our smallness of mind, great things do come. They come out of nowhere and bless us like a gentle soaking rain.

Life has taught me that it's good strategy to keep faith.

THE TRAIL OF CRUMBS

"We must step up the stairs." 

~Vance Havner ~

The unfolding of life feels very much like a trail of crumbs at times, or a scavenger hunt. We follow one lead and it takes us to the next and the next.
     Occasionally, we land somewhere, the route forward isn't obvious, and we feel stopped and stuck. But if we sit patiently for just a minute, or however long it takes, and look around, and get quiet, then we see, or sense our next move.
     And on it goes until we end up down the trail of our existence with the accumulated wisdom and insight that we have gleaned from each stop along the way.

I follow the leads and callings in my life and observe how one leads to another and takes me exactly where I'm meant to go.

THE LIMITS OF OUR INSISTENCE

"Giving birth is not a matter of pushing... but of yielding, surrendering to birth energy." 

~ Marie Reid ~

There comes a time when we have to stop pushing to get our way, when we have to step back and admit that we've done what we can and it's time for something bigger than us to make the next move. It's time for faith and quiet and surrender and release.
     Getting to that point is a rising tension and amped up energy; urgent insisting, inner pleading and a feeling of increasing desperation. It's uncomfortable, stressful, and not sustainable for long, though we generally sustain it for longer than we should.
     But when we let go, mixed in with the relaxation of tension, there is a kind of sadness- that we have to let go, that we can't force it, that we are at the mercy of forces so much bigger than we can understand or realize, and that we are so much more powerless really than we want to believe.

When I am stuck to the point of desperation, I let go of my false control so that universal forces can guide my next move.

GUT SENSE

"Every time you don't follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy, loss of power, and a sense of spiritual deadness." 

~ Shakti Gawain ~

I base my decisions on feelings as much as logic. I am an emotional and intuitive being and I get a sense about the rightness or wrongness of things in my gut that is far more powerful and meaningful for me than scientific facts or numbers on a page.

I honor my intuition and allow it to guide me as I travel the road.