Wednesday Words

Changes...

Wednesday Words - Tyler Knott Gregson

Wednesday Words - Love

Nothing is more important than telling those closest to you, friends and family that they are loved...so, from me to you, my friends, family and wonderful readers ... you are loved!

Summer!

Hello to sunshine, bbq's, laughter, light evenings, geraniums, pink fizz, cotton dresses, candlelight...

Wednesday Words - Still and Quiet

Slow buds the pink dawn like a rose
From out night's gray and cloudy sheath;
Softly and still it grows and grows,
Petal by petal, leaf by leaf.
~Author Unknown

There is something uniquely precious about early mornings.  From time to time I go through bouts of sleeplessness and I find myself wandering the house in the early hours.  In the summer months I often take myself outside and sit in the garden and watch the dawn break and the world begin to come alive.  The air feels different and there is a tangible air of possibility that I don't feel if I wake at the normal time.  It feels like a gift to open, like a flower, petal by petal, to reveal the secret inside. 

Wednesday Words - Stop!

When I saw this last week it really resonated with me.  Why is it that we allow ourselves to be brought down by resentful and bitter people?  I guess we all want to be liked and it hurts when someone treats you badly, but hey, that's their stuff.  Not mine.  I'm going to keep this little bit of wisdom in the forefront of my mind when dealing with people that are clearly only in it for themselves...

Wednesday Words - Dreams

You know that time when you know you've got to make some decisions about 'life'?  Decisions that could be, will be life-changing in some form or other?  Well, I guess I'm pretty much at that point at the moment; some big career decisions to make and some big personal decisions to make too.  It's kinda exciting but scary all at the same time...For the last year or so I've been dreaming of making certain changes to my life, some of them big, some of them not so big.  Those dreams have taken on a hue of radiance that has begun to shine bigger and brighter and suddenly, those dreams are turning into possible plans...I wonder where they will lead me?

 

Have you turned any dreams into plans?  How did it work out?  I'd love to know...

images: source here

Life Lessons

 

 

I recently came across this as I was coasting the internet...I don't know if a 90 year-old really came up with this list, but it's got some worthwhile things to say that bear reflection.

45 Life Lessons, written by a 90 year old

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short not to enjoy it.

4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.

5. Don’t buy stuff you don’t need.

6. You don’t have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.

7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.

8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for things that matter.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.

12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye… But don’t worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful.  Clutter weighs you down in many ways.

18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It’s never too late to be happy.  But it’s all up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words, ‘In five years, will this matter?’

27. Always choose Life.

28. Forgive but don’t forget.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give Time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.

35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d
grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have, not what you think you need.

42. The best is yet to come…

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

 

Which of these speaks to you?

Wednesday words - Robert Frost

I first came across Robert Frost as a teenager.  I had to study his poetry as part of my A-level studies and I remember when I first read this, such was its impact;  in my mind's eye I was walking through a wood where the paths diverged and I could feel the agony of decision...this way? that way?  no this way..  I think we're all like that sometimes, undecided, and from time to time I do look back on the decisions that I've made and wonder how it would have all turned out if I had taken the other road.  Then I remember, that everything now is just as it should be.  I took the road that was right for me then and that's all that matters now.

wednesday words - e.e. cummings on love

e.e. cummings - people either see his play with words and punctuation as an affectation, or his search for the purest and most complete expression of his thoughts and feelings. Whatever your feelings about his typography, few would deny he managed to capture human emotion with accuracy, weaving a spider's web of words to contain them in his poetry...with love being the theme of the week, I share these poems with you ...

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)

i fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

- e. e. cummings ~

(Complete Poems, 1904-1962)

for H.T.

“i like my body when it is with your
body. It is so quite new a thing.
Muscles better and nerves more.
i like your body. i like what it does,
i like its hows. i like to feel the spine
of your body and its bones, and the trembling
-firm-smooth ness and which i will
again and again and again
kiss, i like kissing this and that of you,
i like, slowly stroking the, shocking fuzz
of your electric fur, and what-is-it comes
over parting flesh ... And eyes big love-crumbs,

and possibly i like the thrill

of under me you so quite new.” 

e.e.cummings 

What is your favourite poem on love?  or loss? or both?

Wednesday Words - Good Grammar

True!  Bad grammar is my pet hate...apostrophes in the wrong places, was and were, homophones confused...come on peeps!  We all make mistakes sometimes, but surely there's no excuse for sloppy misuse of the English language.  If you're as geeky about this as I am then you may like to take a look at this, 20 common grammar mistakes that nearly everyone makes....it's setting my teeth on edge already!

Clean slate

Hmmmn; when I asked for my family's new year resolutions, the only thing I met with was a resolute silence.  When pressed for reasons why they were so unforthcoming, or even, dare I say it, ever so slightly defensive, I got a variety of answers that included; don't keep them so don't make them; boring; can't think of any...etc etc.  WHAT?!  I love new year resolutions...I get ridiculously excited about the whole clean slate thing; new projects; blank pages to fill in in my diary; starting again;  I'm not bothered that I might not manage a whole year of it, the important thing to me is the taking stock and changing tack if need be.  So here they are; my enthusiasm undaunted by nay-sayers...

Give my friendships more time and space to grow

 
Remember that I am good enough!  {See below}

I won't be afraid to stand out

or find a better balance between these two...

I will follow my creative heart

 

 

and enjoy the small moments

I will seek out places that feed my body and soul

and whatever happens, I'll remember I chose it

 

 

I'm going to develop an attitude of gratitude

 
because

and last, but not least, I'm going to remember that I have a spiritual dimension to my life too - whatever happened to my meditation practice?  the restorative silence?

 

what do you think of NY resolutions? 

image sources: 1.The Life Styled. 2 Pinterest

Heavy Load

How often do we cling to things that make us unhappy, worried or stressed.  We worry at them, clawing apart the fabric of their dark bulk, shredding the little unhappy fibres deep into our being.  It doesn't help; we know it doesn't help, but we just keep on picking at the source.  We might seek professional help, or build in a few extra sessions at the gym; we may talk to a friend, or seethe and worry silently, losing weight and snapping at those closest to us.  It seems too complicated to sort out, too painful, too confrontational;  But mostly if we approach it from a different perspective we can see it for what it is.  It's actually more simple to resolve than we thought; a simple thought can be all it takes; a wilful decision to just. let. go.

How do you let go when you're worrying or cross?