Robert Francis
The beautiful is fair. The just is fair.
Yet one is commonplace and one is rare,
One everywhere, one scarcely anywhere.
So fair unfair a world. Had we the wit
To use the surplus for the deficit,
We’d make a fairer fairer world of it.
Love yourself-accept yourself-forgive yourself-and be good to yourself, because without you the rest of us are without a source of many wonderful things. ~ Leo Buscaglia
One of the most difficult journeys any of us take is the journey into our heart and to heal it. It takes heaps of courage to take that journey because it is a journey of forgiving one’s self and freeing all the things within our heart that keep us trapped. Perhaps it is a parent or sibling issue. It may be memories from school. It may be regrets. Whatever it is you’ll recognize it when you journey into your heart. When we love ourselves we can look at ourselves in the mirror with compassionate eyes and smile. We can offer ourselves a freedom others cannot offer us. The most courageous words we can say to ourselves are: “I love you.” “I forgive you.” And, “You’re perfect just as you are.”
WOW! I had a great night’s sleep. I slept through for 8 + hours. My dreams were entertaining, better than most TV shows. When I woke up, I asked Alexa how my favorite teams did overnight. They won!! My day was off to a great start. I sailed through my stretches, pushups, and other exercises, turned the coffee on and headed for a hot shower. So what, you might think. Think about it for a second. You change one item, perhaps my attitude changes. No attitude change today. I am filled with gratitude for the small things, my night’s sleep, a hot shower, my exercises, and a hot cup of coffee. I’ll say WOW again. i imagine you’ve had WOW experiences today. What were they? How did they affect the way you interacted with others or felt about yourself. Here’s wishing many WOW experiences to you.
I have a professional magician friend. He’s very good. He’ll ask me to come to his house so he can practice one of his new tricks on me. Every once in a while he’ll show me how he made the “magic” happen. It’s clever. He builds his own tricks and sells them to magicians across the globe. Most of us are not magicians, but there are things we do that others might consider in the realm of magic. My mom, for example, could make the best tasting pasta fazool (Italian bean soup). She’d never give up the recipe. How she did it is a mystery. I had a colleague who could tell a story about going out for breakfast and eating a bagel and cream cheese and turn this story into page turner. What’s your magic? Surely you have something others can’t do; yet, it comes natural to you.
I’m writing this post as a thunderstorm is rolling through. Rain is welcomed whenever it shows up in south Texas. The hot season will settle in soon and it will be dry for a while. It’s not something we give much thought to, but where would we be without rain? Life would be impossible. I’ve always liked rain. As a kid I’d run outside and splash in the puddles. I think I was more than a handful for my mom. Later in life I enjoyed running in the rain, I preferred a warm rain, but what are you going to do when you are living in a cold climate. Rain makes my grass green, my shishito pepper plants look healthy, and my flowering plants are showing off. Three cheers for rain. I think I’ll schedule this post and go outside and stand in the rain for a few minutes.
Yesterday I went for a walk in a nearby park. The trails cut through pristine land. It’s filled with cactus, yucca, and all kinds of snakes and animals. The signs don’t mention insects, but they’re plenty around. I avoid fire ants. It’s an experience you don’t want. It happened to me once in my yard and within seconds I had 40 bites. They hurt and when the hurting was over, they decided to itch for a couple of weeks. Yesterday I didn’t see any wild animals or snakes but I did see a caterpillar. It was about 4 inches long (10;1 cm). It was black with red and yellow markings. A nearby sign warned about them saying they were highly poisonous. I enjoyed my walk and by avoiding what could hurt me, I came home with good memories and several photos. The same is true in life. When we avoid what isn’t positively contributing to our mental, emotional, and spiritual health we live a happier life.
I’ve always been an early riser, As a kid I’d drive my parents nuts on weekends. I’m up at 6 and they’re trying to sleep. When I went into the army, the sergeant waking us up at 4:30 a.m. was a piece of cake. I was ready to go. I still wake up early. I set my alarm for 5:15 a.m. I’m awake by 5. My alarm never goes off. I’ve always carried an excitement within me about the day ahead. I don’t want to take a moment longer snoozing. There is too much to do, too many people to see, and wonderful places to go to. Life is a wonderful adventure. Where are you off to today? What exciting plans are you putting into play?
There’s always time. . .to own up to things you’re ashamed of, to change them. There’s always time to start. And I think the starting is the most important thing. It takes courage. It takes a lot more courage than any vain feat of arms, let me tell you. It takes a lifetime to become a fool, and only a moment to begin to become wise. ~ Peter Danielson
Owning up to things that one has done wrong, failed, or hurt someone is the foundation to the 12-step programs. It takes courage to admit one is addicted. It takes courage to admit to others when it is one’s fault. Owning up is opposite of the much of the spin we see on news shows or read in the digital media. Instead, we hear convoluted explanations, denials, and lies. Rarely do we hear, “Yes, I did it. I was wrong. Forgive me.” Admission is seen as a sign of weakness. It is not weakness, it is a display of personal strength, courage, and commitment to right the wrong.
When a storm blows, you must stand firm. For it is not trying to knock you down, it is really trying to teach you to be strong. ~ Joseph M. Marshall III
There is always a way and always hope in the next sunrise, and in the next second, and in the next minute.” ~ Ziggy Marley
Each day we stand at the crossroad of hope and defeat. Those who choose the road of defeat give up, they quit fighting, they toss in the towel. Those who choose the road of hope believe that things will work out if they continue to struggle and learn from their struggles. I enjoyed playing sports when I was younger, I enjoy watching them now. Sports teaches us that there is always hope. Runners come from behind to defeat the favorite. A team seemingly too far behind with a minute to play somehow manages to win. The research indicates that hope provides a significant advantage to living a healthier life and promoting healing. Tune out the naysayers. Turn off the doomsday prophets. A better day is coming for you and me. Hope is our fuel, the source of our energy and commitment toward tomorrow.
