A couple of weeks ago, I saw this hibiscus plant at the market. The price was marked way down because it’s at the end of it’s season. It looked so healthy and full of buds that I had to bring it home. It would be the last of the blooms.
The hibiscus displays one bloom a day.
It opens up to reveal it’s beauty all the way to the core and then politely closes at the end of the day. Even closed it’s beautiful, but it knows when it’s done. It doesn’t try to stay in bloom.
Can you see the closed bloom to the left?
I feel as if I’ve bloomed quite a bit this year and maybe that’s why I’m embracing the change in season. I’m ready to not bloom for a while. To take a season of rest.
Not everything I planted in the yard this year bloomed. The cannas and trumpet vine along the fence bloomed once, but they’re happily growing. So maybe that’s it. We have to grow before we can bloom. We have to be fully ready to bloom.
I walked out on the front porch with coffee in hand. It was early morning, but the temperature was already warm. August in Texas.
My daughter gauges my well-being by the amount of glitter on the porch. This morning, you could tell it has not been maintained and every potted plant was struggling. I sat down with my coffee and gazed at the yard, knowing what it needs.
It needed a good drenching.
I’ve been working a lot. Having three part-time jobs is taking it’s toll on my body, mind and spirit. My work load has intensified and some days I work two jobs on the same day. On Thursday, I worked all three. Bossman at the Pizza place said, “Everybody wants a piece of Barb.”
The key is to not run out of pieces.
I walked over and grabbed the hose.
♥ ♥ ♥
What you just read has been sitting in drafts since last week. That’s as far as I got with it, but this morning, I was right back at the same spot.
Sitting on the porch with coffee. Looking at the little bit of glitter scattered across the porch and covered by debris. The yard was coughing at me from lack of water. My daughter didn’t have to ask how I was doing this morning. She took one look at me and said, “You’re tired.”
But the great thing about this is….awareness. There was a time in my life that I would have just pushed through, but not today. You work at a slower pace. I turned the phone off for 30 minutes to allow myself a moment to catch up.
Awareness and knowing when to pause.
I stopped typing this post last week and left it in drafts, but knew I’d come back to it. I don’t have to quit. I’m just practicing pause and rest.
The quote on that sign has been my mindset over the years. It really is a mindset darling. You can have the life you want if you want it enough.
Anything is possible if we open our minds to it. The key is to think higher thoughts. Dream big as they say. There can be no space for negative thoughts, because faith works both ways my love. What we think about most, comes to fruition.
Here is a photo of that sign.
This is actually my second one.
I gave the first one away to a lady to show her what’s possible. Sitting here today I realize giving her that sign wouldn’t change her life. She could hang it as a reminder of what would happen, if she was willing to make changes herself.
Last week, I was walking through a store trying to find my way to the exit. I took a shortcut down an aisle and saw a lady straightening a row of pillows. This one caught my eye and came home with me.
I love this little bird. I’ve written about my saga with the bird-feeder and squirrels. I really want the birds to win and the squirrels to go somewhere else. Don’t give up the fight my darlings! Life is beautiful!
I saw this shirt on Wednesday, in the midst of a wildly rainy day. Knowing my flower garden would love the rain, I wondered what storm other’s may be going through. You know…the storms of life.
My divorce was a three year storm.
Breast Cancer was a two year storm.
But there’s something I learned about storms. They don’t last forever. We face them and get through them. It only gets better on the other side.
Plus, ‘it’s only temporary’. These three words bring comfort during storms.
I first heard them as I was walking through Breast Cancer. When my hair fell out, and I lost weight during Chemo my appearance changed but I was told, ‘it’s only temporary.’
It’s a small phrase holding a big truth.
You see lovely, it wasn’t the end of the road. It was all a part of the journey.
I walked outside this morning to see if any damage was done by the storm, and all I saw was growth.
This plant doubled in size overnight. The sun is shining and with time it will be in full bloom.
Little Fears is right. No rain no flowers.
If you’re in the midst of a storm, just remember. It’s only temporary.
I walked out of the store with a bag of love. Just realized my purchases of a candle and body-wash are named ‘Love’. Maybe I needed some extra love…
I had just read a Blog by a fellow Blogger who was hurt by people walking out of her life. Letting them walk in wasn’t the issue. It was when they mysteriously disappeared she took it personally.
I left a comment on my friends Blog.
It sounds cliche but it calms my mind. The comment was, “People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. I haven’t had many ‘or’s.”
People come into our lives to reveal something. We also have the opportunity to make their lives better in some way. I’ve had a lot of people leave my life, but my hope is I helped them in some way. They taught me things that made me better.
♥ ♥ ♥
When feeling alone, self care is crucial.
My bedroom is my sanctuary and I enjoy spending time there. Find a space that feeds your soul. Light a candle named, ‘Love’ and breathe it in.
Be kind to your soul and don’t beat yourself up. If anything, remind yourself just how beautiful you truly are. This sits beside my bed as a reminder.
“You have a Beautiful Soul.”
They say wrapping something around your shoulders brings comfort. We want that feeling of being held, but we’re alone. A small child has a favorite blanket, and I haven’t outgrown blankets.
There is a lightweight blanket in almost every room of my home. When I need comfort, I wrap one around my shoulders and it’s like a warm hug.
This one lays across my bed.
It has balls when I’m not feeling very ballsy.
We live, we love and hopefully we learn.
People come in and out through a revolving door. Not everyone is meant to stay a lifetime. Can you imagine if everyone stayed? Holy cow!
Something else that helps heal is writing.
If you are a Blogger/Writer you already know this, but not every thought needs to be published. You feel like banging out the pain on a keyboard, but I use an online journal for moments like that.
I bought this notebook to motivate my continuance of the Morning Pages. At first glance, I thought it was a cheetah print. My daughter went through her cheetah print phase years ago, so this made me smile. Looking at it now, it really looks like fire. 🙂
Cheetah print or burning embers?
Writing will help process thoughts and sort through feelings. I used to spend time and energy trying to figure out what happened, but that’s fruitless.
Today, I can just let it be.
♥ ♥ ♥
I posted a meme that said, ‘Calm is a superpower‘. As we begin a new week, I wish to show you some more power. You have more power than you know.
No matter what is happening around us, we have the power to keep it from crawling into our mind.
