Tag: #inspiring

Connectedness

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It’s a word often used and I’ve been thinking about it all year. I’m practicing ways to be more intentional with connectedness. Case in point, my friend Dawn over at Aging with Grace.

Around a month ago, she published a post about a book she came across on her bookshelf and was going to read again. The name of the book is Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach. While reading Dawn’s blogpost, I spotted that same book on my shelf collecting dust, so I wiped it off and vowed to begin reading it as well.

It’s a daily read, so I leave it laying out in plain sight. When my world gets still, I sit down and read it, knowing she’s read the same page. I’m sure the time of day we read varies as I picture Dawn reading it first thing in the morning with a cup of tea. That would be the proper way and I learn from Dawn the proper way to do things.

But that’s in my mind’s eye, maybe she’s more like me in having to make an appointment with myself to sit down and read it.

This morning as I strolled through the house, I realized it’s a workday and the schedule for today began rolling through my mind. I pressed the pause button on it and made a cup of coffee. Once the cup was complete, I went to my corner, sat in the chair, and picked up the book. Turning to today’s page and reading it over while sipping my magical brew gave me a full sense of connectedness.

What we have on our plate can wait while we share a moment of connectedness.

Click here to enjoy Dawn’s original post entitled, “Abundance Isn’t Always Simple.” She’s a soul filled Writer. đź’–

Meet Big Red

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I enjoy living in this peaceful little lake town, but I’ve not taken advantage of the lake part. Lake Travis is less than a mile away from my home so…

I bought a paddle board. Meet Big Red.

He sat in my dining room until I took him out for the first time this week. It was love at first flight.

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The lake is full of people and activity on the weekends, so I take him out during the week.

Big Red and I have big plans, but the first time was just to get over that little bit of fear I had to just do it. You know the scenarios that run through your mind before attempting anything new. It sounded more difficult in my mind than it actually was.

The hardest part was getting him in and out of my truck bed gracefully. He’s ten feet long and weighs 40 lbs. Accomplishing that alone was a workout.

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It’s work, but there’s an immediate reward.

As soon as it hits the water and I climb on top I find my Zen. I’m going to teach myself to do Yoga on him eventually, but right now we’re just learning.

Thanks YouTube!

I’ve been looking at boards for months, but couldn’t find a color that resonated. When I began seeing red, Google took all my searches for boards and a red board randomly popped up on my phone.

Was it random? Nothing is random.

There will be more to come, but I just wanted to introduce my WordPress family to the newest member of my family. My darlings, meet Big Red.

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A Gratitude Jar

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I didn’t do my Morning Pages this morning.

It’s all good though. My daughter has classes, and I chose to spend time with her before she left.

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Thank you for your encouraging comments yesterday about These Two Jars. I found a shoe-box and dumped the pieces of paper inside. It lost all appeal. It was like the shoe box covered up the idea. I’d probably forget about writing on a slip of paper a day using the box, so back to the jar we went.

Walking away from the shoe box with jar in hand, I just plopped it down on top of the coffee bar to ponder it’s placement. Seeing the jar sitting there this morning, it looked at home, even though it was not planned. Scooping up the pieces of paper from the box I placed them back inside the jar.

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Sometimes I make things more complicated than they should be. The gratitude jar was a simple idea I read about, and then tried to make perfect.

The first idea is the best idea.

Stick with the original idea. That is called inspiration when the idea of adding something meaningful to our lives first strikes. To hear that still small voice and follow through. Logic is overrated in my opinion because by following your heart there doesn’t seem to be a lot of logic to it.

By  paying attention to what’s around us, we can instill the simplistic beauty of a gratitude jar.

Sow Some Seeds (Part 4)

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Why am I writing this series?

In the spirit of giving, I wanted to give something beautiful to you. It may not be all my own words, but it is my heart.

Here are today’s seeds:

I will live this day as if it were Christmas. I will be a giver of gifts and deliver to my enemies the gift of forgiveness, my opponents, tolerance, my friends, a smile, my children, a good example, and every gift will be wrapped with unconditional love.

I will waste not even a precious second today in anger or hate or jealousy or selfishness. I know that the seeds I sow will harvest, because every action, good or bad, is always followed by and equal reaction. I will plant only good seeds today.

Words are like seeds. Every word we speak out-loud is similar to sowing seeds, and our lives are an open field. My daughter and I don’t say the word, ‘Hate’, out-loud. We may dislike what is happening, or the words of others, but let it go! Whatever is in our hearts will grow, so have no hate.

I will treat today as a priceless violin. One may draw harmony from it an another, discord, yet no one will blame the instrument. Life is the same, and if I play it correctly, it will give forth beauty, but if I play it ignorantly, it will produce ugliness.

I will condition myself to look on every problem I encounter today as no more than a pebble in my shoe. I remember the pain, so harsh I could hardly walk, and recall my surprise when I removed my shoe and found only a grain of sand.

Do you have a favorite pair of shoes?

You know, the ‘go to’ pair, that your foot slips easily into, and you could wear them all day. My favorite pair became so uncomfortable I asked my daughter for a new pair for Christmas!

I couldn’t believe how painful it became after being so comfortable! It felt like something stabbing into my foot every time I took a step. I reached my hand in several times, and felt nothing sharp, but as my foot pressed down, I felt pain.

My daughter mentioned that she had lost an earring. Flipping the shoe over, and looking at the sole, there was her earring. Pulled it out, handed her the stud, and my shoe felt good again. Such a small thing can cause great pain, but once aware, it can be removed. Every problem is a pebble.

Taken from The Seeds of Success, by Og Mandino.

Enjoy the Beauty

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When I was a child, I would watch my Mother dust the bottom of our furniture. The legs of every chair, and up underneath the piece. It was very odd, and I swore I would never do that!

My daughter saved a baby lizard the other night from his doom. It was stuck up under a chair, so she released him, and took him outside. It was a mystery to me how he was stuck, and then she told me he was in a cobweb.

That is when I remembered what Mother dusting the cobwebs. Have you noticed they come around right before Halloween?

Just like the cobwebs are a sign of the changing season, I made a lot of changes to my environment over the past few days. My little dog wasn’t sure about them though. The first thing I noticed was his behavior around the furniture being moved in the den. His main concern was his rug was now moved.

What’s funny is, I moved the rug with him in mind.

We have hard wood floors, which is another reason for the cobwebs. No carpet to hide in. My little dog Mochee doesn’t like laying on the hard wood, so he has always laid on the rug in front of the front door. This puts him far away from where my daughter and I usually are.

When I rearranged the furniture, I put that rug in front of our chairs. Now, when we are in our chairs, he can lay in front of us. He was distraught when he saw that the rug was moved. He paced back and forth looking at the new design, but he just wasn’t sure.

I watched him do this for quite a while. It doesn’t take much to entertain me.

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Then he got it. The room had changed, but the change had his best interests at heart.

When we make a change, it will most likely effect someone else in our life. I enjoy change, and my daughter has grown to enjoy it too. They can see it makes life better, but it’s up to them to embrace it or not. Mochee laid down on the rug, but watched the front door from afar.

Once I rearranged the living area, I kept on moving stuff. I rearranged artwork, moved accessories to a new spot, and found better uses for things I had that were not being used well.

Embrace it. Don’t let your life get stale. Keep things moving, and in good working order. Use everything God has given you to the best of your ability, enjoy the beauty.