Better Life

One more day and many ways to make life better more beautiful for ourselves and others. A peaceful frame of mind is important and a good way to move forward into positive places. The world does not feel so hostile and cruel when I can be calm and lean into the spiritual realm. I am armed with elements beyond the limitations of this earthly plain. Internal peace is tucked away in our hearts and souls and accessible as needed. The trick is to pause and remember inward tools available to get a grip on things that seem slippery, out of balance and unreasonable. The world and the haters in it are part of life's obstacles. Peace, Love, Respect are absolutely the solution to the confusion and chaos that seems out of control as leaders forget how to lead with integrity and honor. 

Peace of mind seems easy enough but when stressors pop up and anxiety wants to run amuck it's not so simple to switch gears and pull yourself out of negative frame of mind. To focus on blessings, the things that bring us joy like people who love us, our precious pets and the many resources we have to make life comfortable, well, it's good to recall things that  make us happy. Even better when we can play our blessings forward in prayer, action and intention to make life better. God speed. 🏵️

Happy Easter! 🕊🌷

May Blessings follow us and lead us into beautiful ways of blessing others. May memories of joyful gifts past and present be clear and make us better people.💛 

Go In Peace

Interesting and Blessed are the best descriptions for the year we say goodbye to. The year included heartache, happiness, love lost and found. New lessons always to be learned as life continues to be full of surprises and dissapointments.                           

It has been a good year with life changes for the better. Funny not so funny how life challenges us constantly to keep ourselves together and strive constantly to improve ourselves in the slightest to the grandest way possible. 

To grow in peace with simple approaches to complicated things. I am happier when I take life one peaceful thought at a time, one moment and one day at a time. I am happy to realize it is better for me to not take things personally as people have their own internal challenges to deal with and navigate through life. Peace be with you now and into the future. ☮

Shifting Gears

As seasons change people change ready or not. The weather the places we are called to and the people we are drawn to all play a big part in the progression of our days and weeks that slide into seasons. Our bodies and minds meanwhile attempt to wrap around new ideas and approaches to stay in sync with the shifting times.

It all adds up to 365 days twelve months in the yearly calander that comprise four seasons however subtle or strong the tides. The variances in the weather, peoples moods, associated memories  and the goings on in our lives at any given moment in flux. We move forward hopeful about the coming days and newness of the season. It is a transitional time to rethink, redo, revise perhaps rewind things that require change resplendant with new and improved ways of embracing in stead of resisting new horizons, new opportunities to make life better if not the very best it can be.

A Funny Thing Pt.1

In my early 20s a funny thing happened on the way to the rest of my life. I got stuck in my head about everything. The agony of despair, doubt, not knowing the questions to ask, how or who to ask, much less the answer's to look for during what I came to refer to as the 'crossroads'. Pitch black and numbing, nothing seemed right or real, no joy only what feels like going through the motions. Peggy Lee sang about the thick suffocating human experience called; "the blues", aka, feeling shitty, depression. In the song that laments about life; "Is That All There Is?" the musical questions ask about fulfillment, illusions and disillusions. Maybe it is more a matter of perception but based on what? Learned behavior, past or present experiences, genetics, predisposition, fate? What determines how one views things, through the lens of heartache, success, good or bad health. What triggers us is particular to each one of us. 

In a nut shell, I was conflicted by being born a girl but feeling like a boy and feeling bad about the damn internal messy, mixed-up thing of it all. Having a 'normal' twin brother was part of the calibration or constant self comparison that perhaps made me think I was a mistake. After those dark days saturated in sad grievous thoughts and walking head-on into the preverbal raging fire, I marched out the victor feeling like a bloodied, wore-torn soldier but standing tall after fighting the battle of a lifetime, I am good, 'rustic', one of kind, better for the wear and tear and aging quite imperfectly. It has been, is now and will be I pray, the faith, hope, comfort I receive from The Holy Spirit(s) above, among, around, under, in and out of us and what can not be fathomed. The girl and boy, man and woman in me is soft, strong, tender, sheds tears of joy and can feel like a badass all at once.

In the song; "Alfie" again the question begs for answers; "What's It All About, Alfie?" The answers sometimes surface out of nothing and nowhere for some, for others the answers to the perplexities never go away and for others various therapeutic methods, means and ways of digging oneself out of virtual hell involves a resolve to surrender to something big or barely there, something within, greater than any real or imagined problems, worries, aches or pains. Some questions simply will never be answered that is the thing, as we absolutely have the capacity to decide in an instant, at warp speed or the gradual realization of your own preciousness, the sacredness of life in all it's painful unfair ways, presenting itself in such a blessed way, you have a choice, to switch mental gears, is one choice when your heart desperately wants to heal and move forward new and improved. It happens, it is a most humbling and magnificent illustration of God's amazing Grace. 

Quid Pro Quo (This for that)

Funny how we wheel and deal with life, situations, with people, adversity, every triumph and

tragedy. It's not a heehehee kind of funny but a peculiar rational or irrational-type of funny. The moments we are fearless be it out of necessity or simply the requisite to get through the raging or quiet storm. When our only choice is to run, hide or fight for our lives with every breath and aching heart-beat, from the deep murky depths into the fiery places where we stow our courage, on the ready to mount-up. The times we feel scantily clad with bravery yet somehow muster-up the strength enough to come up for air out of darkness into the light. Blind faith in exchange for answered prayers, conquered challenges met by solid determination to come out of the wild weather,  braver, better, badder for the wear and tear. 

The peaks seem unsurmountable, plateaus level off accordingly. We are left exhausted, exhilarated, inspired and ready or not, again armed with the capacity to deal with life's speed bumps and road blocks. In a strange and wonderful way; resilience and collateral damage have an understanding, to use the apropriate arsenal which makes way for the right to bear such arms in the event of painful, rough, unfair, burdensome, raw, trails and tribulations. It's funny how the dreary, dreaded, scathing, grueling times seem to move in show motion yet we see ourselves through, we propel ourselves into a personal evolution at which point we humbly yield to ageless growing pains.

Watching life unfold as loved ones pass away, it squeezes out every drop of blood from your heart. You feel left out to dry as vultures circle over awaiting their dried-out feast. Death comes to the young and old, the living and nearly dead dying and those who have checked-out in various ways. Meanwhile, the daily grind, hurry-up, get it done, your busy, your tired, your burnt-out and over it demands your attention. Local, national and international affairs only serve to fill you with doubt and despair, the mess translates into stress. What can you do but pray, make a deal for inner peace between your head and your heart, quid pro quo. Maintaining positive perspective, hope, faith, compassion, kindness, each priceless quality and virtue, it's own answered prayer. The trade-off? Peace of mind, reprieve and damage control. 

For Everything

For every tear that is shed I wish for consolation and comfort, for every disappointment I wish for shear delight, for every heartache I wish for love and peace of mind, for the sadness I wish for joy, for every moment of despair, doubt, fear and worry, I wish for certainty, courage, security and a safety. For every act of malice and hatred I wish for kindness and compassion. For every lost and lonely soul, I wish they are found and cared for. For every cold night, I wish for warmth, for every long day, I wish for goodness to follow.

For whatever brings you joy I pray you have your fill. For whatever makes you better I pray you are blessed with more. For your health, freedom, family and friends you love and who love you too... I pray you hold these gifts forever in your heart and soul and fill your life with everything especially good for you.