Tag: peace (Page 1 of 2)

Enjoying the stillness of Christmas.

12/17/2018 /

 

Being quiet.  Hearing the sounds of Christmas morning.

Coffee brewing.  Eggs sizzling.  Maybe snow falling. Laughter.  Shrieks of happiness, or tears of bittersweet moments.

Going inside and letting our spirit have the day off…no worries, no daytimers, no sense of urgency.

Not always possible, but a goal to try to reach.

Cardinal in the Snow

 

Can we do it?  Really turn the noise of our lives off for one day, even just one morning?

I’m sure going to try.  Because I really believe if I don’t do this, I’m not refiling the tank I need to run on most of the time.

I like to repeat some traditions that make me think of those who are no longer on this planet.  And I like to do a few new things, just to keep the day fresh.  It’s a time when being over 50 is a good thing, because I think every year that goes by I can truly enjoy the day more without getting too caught up in gifts, price tags, and so on.

I know there are many who dread this day.  They’ve lost someone. They’ve lost their incomes and homes.  They have lost hope.  Their pain is real, and if they really believe everyone else is joyful, it’s even harder.

I’ve had a few Christmases filled with heartbreak.  Yet I remain stubbornly convinced if I look for it, I can find a miracle in Christmas that can lift me out of any dark hole.

Wherever you are in your life, I hope your day is one filled with peace and hope.  Merry Christmas!

“This is the message of Christmas:  we are never alone.”

           Taylor Caldwell

 

Stand up.  Dismiss.  Be Patient.

10/09/2018 /

The world seems to have gone mad.  Anger is everywhere.  Reason has taken a vacation.  Neighbors scowl at one another, family members glare over the dinner table, friends disappear as events of the day spiral even further out of control.  What can we do?  We boomers who have lived lives of hard work, worry, duty and responsibility?  How can we keep peace around us, and somehow, peace within our hearts when we see so many things we fought for falling by the side of the road?

There’s so much that can be said.  Yet it feels like too much has been said already.  Maybe it’s time to be still enough to hear the peace that can be found if we search hard enough.  And if peace really does begin with each of us, take a new look at Walt Whitman and his words.  Soothing.  Encouraging.  And forceful.

Hear what he has to say:

“This is what you shall do:

Love the earth and the sun and the animals

despise riches, give alms to every one that asks

stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others

hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people

take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men

go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families

read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life,

re-examine all that you have been told at school or church or in any book

dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes

and in every motion and joint of your body.”

 

Dismiss what insults you. Hold fast to your heart.  Reach out to those with less.

Walt had the idea.

Like Lieutenant Dan in Forest Gump, we can hold tight to the mast…the winds can only blow so long. Meanness, evil and lack of justice will, like any noxious weed, eventually wither and disappear.

And in their place, new life can grow.

 

“The world will not be destroyed by evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.”

      Albert Einstein

 

Keeping your cool.

05/31/2018 /

First, it’s hot.  Just plain hot. Too hot. 

I know it depends on where you live, but chances are, you’re already sweating more than you’d like by now.  And it’s only the first few days of June.  Egads.

Second, it’s harder for us over 50 when it gets this hot.  We tend not to realize we are thirsty as soon as those who are younger, so we have to keep a water bottle with us and drink from it all day long.  Really.  Sip it every few minutes and you might keep from getting dehydrated or at least a blinding headache.  The heat also just makes you feel weak and listless.  You run out of gas halfway through a task (and this is when you are inside, usually in air conditioning).

Listen to your body.  Rest.  Get cool.  Wait until dusk to cut the grass or clean out the trunk of your car.  it’s just not worth it.

But even more than the seasonal heat, everything seems hotter right now.  The air is filled with hateful tweets.  Angry vices take over the news.  Irritating political commercials make outlandish claims and force us to listen to people we would never give the time of day to if we sat next to them at the office.  It all makes you want to find a shady place by a mountain stream and put your bare feet in the water, close your eyes and just feel that gift of peace.

You can’t make people stop spreading their heated words.  But you can turn down their volume.  Or better yet, hit the mute button.

Turn the channel.

Don’t read the angry Facebook post.

Delete the email with the doctored photos.

Walk away from the person who wants to tell you the racist joke, since it seems to all be “okay” these days to mimic very, very very behavior set by those in power.

Turn away.  

Instead, breathe some cool air.  Have some iced green tea.  Listen to your favorite sonata.  Sit with a grandchild in the grass and string together some clover.  Buy a popsicle and sit on your front porch and enjoy it.  Watch the lightning bugs at night.

Take back your summer.  Take it where you want it to go.

Let them rave.  You’ve heard it all before.  Hot air doesn’t last long.  Heated words blow back on those who choose to spread hateful messages.  You know better.

Put down the phone.  You won’t miss anything important.  And you might create some wonderful open moments for other things to happen.

You carry your treasure within.  Let yourself enjoy it.

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.”

      Ralph Waldo Emerson

what are you waiting for?

12/18/2017 /

It’s Advent.  A season of waiting, of hope, of  learning patience for all the wonderful  things that could be.  That’s not something many of us really understand easily, in this age of right now,  right here, right away.  We’re so sure we know what is around the corner, so why doesn’t it just get here already?

But what if  we acknowledge that we truly do not know what is ahead…and let that be okay?  We might find a real peace in giving up control (like we had it anyway) and just letting life be.

You’d think as boomers, having gone through so many things in our life—most of it unexpected—we’d be used to the idea that  we often have no clue.  We make our plans, we  deliver our list to our higher power, and then we wait for it all to come true.

Surely Santa will find us, even if we don’t have a chimney.

And then Christmas morning comes, and it’s not  under  the  tree.  The new job.  The perfect marriage. The wonderful house.  The dream we’ve been keeping in our hearts for a lifetime.  Why?  What did we do wrong?

Why can’t we have what we want, and right now?

Or…maybe we did get it.

That new job…what you really wanted was to feel competent and respected.  Look around:  there  are probably many people who consider you a mentor. You’re smart.  Successful.  Own it!

The perfect marriage...would that be Ozzie and Harriet or Father Knows Best?  Those are television shows.  Reality is a bit tougher.  And maybe  just taking a look at photos of you and your spouse from the early years might  remind you why you fell in love.  He/she is still  there, sitting right across from you every morning.

That wonderful house...it’s okay to want a sparkling new kitchen or a wonderful deck for entertaining.  Maybe just making some easy changes would make things feel new, like new paint or rug or outdoor furniture.  Like they say, if you want it, picture it…you never know.

That dream….this is where it gets trickier. You always wanted to live in the mountains. Or you’ve pictured the farm in the country with cats, dogs, horses and more. Or you haven’t been to Europe and you’re starting to wonder if you’ll  make it.  Maybe what’s really tugging at your heart is something else—a need to explore.  To take a risk.  To do something a bit frivolous and throw caution to the wind.

Do it. Right now.  Every day.  Do something unexpected.  Even a little crazy.  It might take you just a few steps closer to doing the big thing you’ve always wanted to do.

In “Things That Join The Sea and The Sky,” author Mark Nepo says:

“At the end of all we want, we’re meant to glow. So long and want and dream till you exhaust your heart’s desire.  We learn so much from longing, and wanting, and dreaming.  Mostly, that they are not the mansions we dream of living in, but the wood that keeps our fire going.”

I have to believe we get what we need, and, if we ask, we do get what we want….but it might not even be something we realize we want. Sometimes it feels like it takes forever. Remember being a child on Christmas Eve?

It’s a season of joy…it’s coming, but it’s also here, within us, even if we have to hunt for it.  Let’s not give up.

 

“Let’s approach Christmas with an expectant hush, rather than a last-minute rush.”

Anonymous

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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