Off Balance But Correctable

Backyard Photo, MH

     Today* I had an aha moment.  It was a culmination of moments that led to it.  The first moment was when I was unsteady during the balance segment of a yoga class.  I was wearing socks and stood on my yoga mat. I could not hold the pose without waving my arms and occasionally putting my foot down and starting over.  That was Wednesday.  On Thursday I did stretching and balance moves successfully standing next to my car as I waited for my walking partner. I had on strong sturdy hiking boots.  That was the second instance.  The aha moment came when I read something spiritual that basically said that we may lose our balance from time to time and that it's okay.  It doesn't mean that our lives are out of control or that we are failing.  It just means that we need to continue to take care of ourselves and that this temporary imbalance will allow us to grow and gain strength.
     This made me realize that there is a metaphor here that applies to where I am today physically and emotionally.  It is this.  On Wednesday at yoga I did not have enough support.  On Thursday my shoes gave me the strength I needed to balance effectively.  I sensed that my balance was a little off and I was wary, but by leaning a little to the left or to the right my shoes provided the support to steady me.  Additionally the walk provided me an outlet because I could share what I was feeling.  Afterward I realized that it felt really good to be able to balance successfully, physically and emotionally.  I was able to do so because I had the support I needed.  Which begs the question, when I feel unbalanced, what do I need to do?  Where do I get the support I need?
     The good news is that I have many, many choices:  I can share my situation with a friend who knows my story; I can schedule an appointment with a medical professional, a religious person such as a minister or pastor or with a spiritual advisor; I can join a support group for whatever ails me at the moment (grief, over-eating, etc.); and I can continue to journal and ask God** directly, what else should I know?
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God** wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  Do you feel balanced today?  Why or why not?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

*Written in August 2015
** I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide. 

Finding Hidden Talents (Listen to People in Our Way)

Photo by Mark Psoras 11-16-16

     When people are asked about how and when they decided upon their career, some say "I just knew, I always knew."  For many others, undecided is often how it begins.
For me, I had no idea what I wanted to do after leaving the business world.  But during my notice period, I got help from one of the women I was advising about transitioning into retirement.  When I said I had no other talents useful as an income source, she begged to differ.  That's when she told me some of her life story.  About 70 years old already, she was retiring from clinical research after having been many things, including a nurse and an entrepreneur.  She had a business selling antique lace and was going to develop it more upon leaving the traditional workforce.  She is the person who inspired me to create a list of my talents.
     It wasn't long after that that the head of the drug safety department, a psychiatrist by trade, suggested I consider massage therapy.  At the time I thought it was a ludicrous statement, but he said I had the temperament and that it would give me the flexibility I was looking for.
     Based on these two interactions I had an aha moment.  I considered my childhood and how my sisters and I would gather into one bed before sleep and roll back and forth to give each other back rubs.  As a result, I wrote touch on my list of talents.  Turns out a trustworthy temperament and terrific tactile technique are the perfect combination of talents for a massage therapist!
     I consider these two people who led me to my current path as angels and I thank God* that they were in my way!
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  Do you recognize "angels" when you see them?

2.  What hidden talents do you have?

3.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide. 

Why Pray or Meditate? (You Know Because Their Hearts Sing Part II)

Photo by Ed Higgins         

     After I wrote the post "You Know Them Because Their Hearts Sing," I read an interview in the January 2017 issue of The Sun by Christine Byl with Eva Saulitis.  Eva seems to have had a heart that sang (she died in early 2016 at 52 of breast cancer).  Her initial call seemed to be as an oboist but jump forward and you learn that she died as a researcher recording whale songs and writing poems; in my mind, all three of these things a sort of collection of music.  Her path is immensely beautiful to me and resonates because she seemed to explore life in a similar way; that is, through prayer, meditation and spiritual practices. She also provides one answer as to why we should do these things and I agree that it is a piece of it:  it is about why we are walking this earth.
     For me, in addition to that, and maybe it is just said another way, we learn so much about ourselves; but also, because I believe we were made in the image and likeness of God*, we also learn about our Creator* and we learn to develop a more personal relationship with this Great Spirit.*   That's why I always end my journaling with the question, God, what do you want me to know?  It's amazing what I learn about myself after that.
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  What's on your heart right now?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)


* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

You Know Them Because Their Hearts Sing

When I think about the future, sometimes I am giddy because I don't know where I will be or what I will be doing in ten or twenty years.  I just know that if I do what makes my heart sing now I will be on the right path because God* wants us to be content NOW.
Of course I don't always get that giddy feeling because fear sometimes sets in and I think "What am I thinking?  How is this ever going to work out?"
And then I think about the people whose lives sing.  You know them.  They found their calling doing what they love.  Maybe it was a first career, maybe it was a second.  I think of my friends in the professions of PT, OT and nursing who love their jobs. I think of myself.  I think of the teachers who have made the biggest impact on my children because they love what they do.
And then when I worry about the future I think about the retirees who have found rewarding times because they did hobbies that they loved along the way.  You know them.  They are the men and women who created woodworking shops in their garages or took every nature walk possible and now they are leading tours around the world.  I see them and can tell that their hearts sing.
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  What is worrying you today?

2.  What makes your heart sing?

3.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide. 

God Weight

On Tuesday I posted about information versus knowledge versus wisdom.  So here's an example of what's become knowledge for me.  I used to be able to control my weight through exercise alone and not really worry about what I ate.  As I have gotten older I have gained weight even though I am always pretty active.  It became evident that eating well AND exercising are paramount to maintaining my weight. This is not new news but something I personally took in as information only, Now it has become knowledge.
Where the wisdom (knowledge that is proven over the ages) comes in is during my journal look back.  What my journals show is that sometimes I am happy with my weight and sometimes I am not.  When I am not I sometimes write down a goal weight in my journal.  In one of my recent looking backs, I discovered that I miswrote "goal weight" and actually wrote "God* weight.  The wisdom, then is that God is in my everyday living including my weight goals and that every one of my weights, even the one I don't want to be, is my "God weight".  After all, God wants me in whatever shape I am in the present moment.
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  What are your every day struggles?  How about the shape of your mental, physical or spiritual weight?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide. 

Seek and Find Patterns (Be a Pattern Hunter)

I thought today would be a good day to remind you about what I am teaching.  Specifically it is a way to use journaling to develop your inner spirit wisdom.  It's quite simple really in terms of the steps:

1.  Use a journal and write down whatever is on your heart on a regular basis.  I do this almost daily now but when I started years and years ago it was something I did every once in a while, then once or twice a week, and now I hate to miss it.  I am a morning person so I do it first thing or after a few chores.  It often starts off with what I did the day before or what's coming today but then I also get into what's bothering me or what's making my heart sing.  I might also write my gratitude list in my journal but not always.  You decide what time of day is best for you and what you include in your journal.

2.  When you think you have written out what's most pressing on your heart, write out the question "God*, what do you want me to know?"  

3.  Then write down what comes to you.  If you feel compelled to use a tool, use a tool.  Tools include things like meditation cards (I like the ones with one word on them), a book that you open up randomly and read what's on that page (I often use the Bible or Psalms for Praying by Nan Merrill but nonreligious books work too). If you're not sure what tool to use, let the Spirit* guide you.

This is the daily practice.  It can take as much or as little time as you have.  Doing it often provides value because it gives the opportunity to look back over your journey.  You can look back over a period of time to see what was happening in your life and what your Higher Power* was telling you, often repeatedly.  Maybe you want to look at the last week, the same week from a year ago, the last whole journal.  Whatever timeframe is on your heart is right for you.  Be a pattern hunter:  was the same thing on your heart last year, have you pulled the same meditation card 3 times in the last month, did you write about the same place or person?  Write down what you uncover.

The hard part is making the time to do the work.  For me, it has made a significant difference in that I have found an easier way to live, allowing the Great Spirit* to be my guide..  

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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  If it's not journaling, what else are you putting off?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide. 

Sometimes Crazy Works

Some of the stories I tell about my journey make me think "Wow, people must think I am a little bit crazy."  I might have cared when I was younger, but now I know that "the crazy" is what makes me sane.  It's because I believe that many thoughts that come to me are Spirit* inspired.
One example is that when spiritual direction is something I was seeking, I was recommended to find someone using an international directory.  I followed the sites cues on how to narrow my search but it was still too wide and daunting.  So I went the crazy route.  I know that it wasn't the rational way, I can only say that I am a bird nerd and God often speaks to me through nature.  What I did is I narrowed my search by adding "bird" to the criteria.  Where it led me is to someone who had this word as part of their email address.  It turned out that this person was exactly the right person for me.
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1. Do you have a similar story, a "crazy" story?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide. 

Noble Characters

Ruth was my grandmother's name.  I have been hearing the name a lot lately so it has given me pause.   In October I read Into the Magic Shop by James R. Doty and have been recommending this book ever since.  The woman who taught him how to relax the body, meditate and place desires on the heart was named Ruth.  One of the esteemed birders in my area is named Ruth.  I just went to Delaware Bay with her.  On Sunday a seminary student told a story about his Aunt Ruth who was full of life. I watched the movie Race last week about Jesse Owens going to the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games.  His wife's name was Ruth.
If you google "Ruth" what comes up first is the Hebrew biblical character Ruth.  The entries say things like "protaganist" and "noble character."  This fits the description of my grandmother and all of these women.  All of these women have either left a legacy or are leaving one now.
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  Is your name one you hear often?  How do you feel when you hear it?

2.  What kind of legacy are you leaving?

3.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide. 

Career Pivotal Point II

As my kids grew they had daycare and then before care and after care.  But once they got into middles school they would be coming home to an empty house unless I made other arrangements. Although I don't remember the exact time (because I didn't journal then), my guess is that my hope was to leave the working world when my son started middle school.  What happened instead though is that as the time kept slipping by my answer was always the same:  "In three more years I will quit."  However, if the same number of years remains your target time frame, the end time never comes.  So for me, time kept moving forward with no change.  As a result, my son started middle school and came home to an empty house.

In 2008 I had outpatient surgery for melanoma.  It was considered phase zero meaning it had not invaded the skin, but it did eventually give me a kick in the pants because a few months later my sister in law was diagnosed with end stage melanoma.  She died about 8 months later.  As her illness was progressing my mantra of "just three more years" became "you only have one life to live." Within a month of her death I gave my notice.  To this day I still can't believe I resigned, but man am I glad that I did!

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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  Is there something that you keep putting off?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.    

Career Pivotal Point I

     

In 2000 I was still working in Human Resources.  I had a love for recruiting people to places I enjoyed working.  It was still fulfilling, but the work was getting away from me because I had other demands.  I had two small children, endless resumes to look at, and constant turnover of staff who left with the experience I worked hard to give them.
In October that year I went to a conference where the keynote speaker was life coach Cheryl Richardson.  Her message contradicted the working world but was so much of what I wanted to hear.  She spoke about how we each needed to take time for our lives.  When I look back I think about the irony of the situation and I have to laugh.  Our companies sent us to this professional conference to hear a keynote speaker who said we should work less; indirectly, of course, but the message to me was loud and clear. Her question that so resonated with me was where and with whom did we spend the most time and would those people be at our death beds?  I worked in a hospital and my answer was even "no!"
For me, it didn't mean leaving the profession but one month later I did leave that employer to work for a company that had more resources which enabled me to work smarter.  I also signed up for Cheryl Richardson's electronic newsletter which gave me a checklist surrounding things like self-care and creating the life I wanted.
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  Who do you spend the most time with?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

A Longer Quicker Looking Back

Sometimes our lives are so full that we don't have time to journal.  When I am on vacation, a time one would expect to have time to journal, I often find that I skipped a day or two or even most of the week sometimes.  This is because I am busy living, enjoying my extended family and the joys that come from discovery, primarily from being in a new place.

If you haven't been journaling, don't despair.  You can either start journaling today, or if you want to look back over a longer period and get a lot of your history down in a short time, try something different.  Here's a method by Abigail Thomas that comes from her memoir What Comes Next and How to Like It.  She suggests picking a ten year period of your life and writing three word sentences to tell the story.  If you like this method you can do it for all the ten year periods of your life.  I have done 4 already and think I will go back and do it again at some point in order to compare them to each other.  This will be a powerful way to look back.  I can't wait for the Spirit* to move me to do it!
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  Is there a ten year period of your life that you'd like to forget?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Gratitude List Detailing Others

Another thing I uncovered recently from looking back in my journals is a call to alter my gratitude list practice and make it more about the details around the people I encounter.  I hadn't done that yet and that journal entry was about a year ago (hence the value of looking back at older journals).  My original practice with gratitude lists is to simply name the people, places and activities of the day before for which I am grateful.  I think that this new call is to write about the why I am thankful for others.  I can start with the people I encountered the day before and see where it takes me.  I expect that this has to do with what I've been working on for a while now; specifically, it's the not judging others thing.  I think the result will be to see through another lens, the lens that reveals why God* loves the people I encounter.  

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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  When is the last time you looked back and examined your life?  (If you haven't kept a journal you can simply start by making a list of the people, places and things that were important during a specific period)

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Giddy as a School girl (God is in our Enthusiasm)

This past weekend I participated in a 24 hour silent retreat.  I have done them a few times before.  I never know what the outcome will be but I always know that the time will be productive.  This time was no different but I was more excited than usual, you might even say I felt giddy as a school girl.

I think it's because I am so enthusiastic about things I have been creating lately.  The woman who provided spiritual direction at the retreat told me that my enthusiasm is tangible, also pointing out that the word enthusiasm consists of the root word "theos".  When I looked it up the listing showed a second root word "en" meaning in.  As a result, enthusiasm means "God within."  No wonder I felt giddy!!!!!  - - http://avp.byu.edu/wp-content/documents/notes/godwithin.pdf

At the silent retreat I spent some time looking back in old journals (I have been journaling for about 7 years now so I have a few).  These journals include gratitude lists of things I was thankful for from the day before.  When I reviewed one of the lists which generally has at least 30 items I decided I could write a poem based on it.  When I finished, it gave me a heady feeling.  I went on to write two more poems.

The thing is, if we give ourselves the freedom to follow what our heart desires, interesting things happen.
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  Have you ever put yourself in a position where you could fail but you were still enthusiastic enough to try?

2.  Can you think of a time when something clicked and you felt giddy?

3.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

What Were You Meant to Be?

I have been a crafter almost my whole life.  It's in my DNA.  My grandma did it, my aunts do it - floral arrangements, ornaments, etc.   Lately I have moved to taking art classes here and there and it has led me to consider pursuing an additional modality to practice; that is, art therapy.  In doing the research I found a book called Becoming a Profession:  The History of Art Therapy in Britain.  The interesting thing is that the author has the same name as my mother.  Maybe it is in my DNA, maybe I am on the right track with this art therapy thing?
At this stage in my life however, moving in a direction that would require me to hold multiple licenses seems daunting.  It's made me take a step back and look at my makeup.  Many times I've been frustrated because I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up.  But God* knows me so well and knows that I would not like to be cornered in to any one thing.  I really don't like to be tied down.  So then what's a person to do?

For me it's been about recognizing that I can be fulfilled by simply living, gravitating to things that I love.  What often happens is that I can do pieces of something but not the whole thing and that is enough.  For example, I think I could have been a bed & breakfast owner, but I don't have the right situation for that.  However, I love to have house guests and when I do I enjoy the planning, ensuring that I have all the right ingredients for a hospitable stay.
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  Are you feeling lost in your pursuits (of career, of status - marital, financial, etc.)?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Having Safety Net Easier than Trusting in God

When I think about making money, it is hard to put God into this part of my life.  I would prefer to focus on having a safety net than to trust in the abundance of God.  As a thinking, reasoning being it seems irrational to think that God gets involved in concrete matters like cash and non-concrete matters like the future value of money.  As a result, it most often feels easier to focus on saving and saving and saving, with the end result of denying myself things that would make a difference in my life now, allowing me to live abundantly NOW.  So what do I do about this conflict?  It depends on the day. Sometimes I am fearful and retract from the world.  Other times I throw myself into the sacred space of daily living, knowing God is joyful watching me in it, purchasing art supplies or going to a concert. Maybe at some point I will recognize from my past experiences that God is my safety net.
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  Do you buy things that make God joyful?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Trusting the Here and Now

A year ago my husband bought a trailor hitch.  It was his sense that we would need it some day.  I would say that the Spirit* moved him.  Others might say but it's not very economical, getting something you don't need right now and might not ever use.  But it makes sense to both of us because it matches our hopes and dreams.... to be able to pull our kayaks after it becomes to difficult to hoist them on the roof....to rent a camper....to be in community, helping our family and friends when they move.  We can't know for sure what the future holds for us and this trailor hitch. We just need to trust that we are not going to figure it out at this time.

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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  Are you spending all your time worrying about the future?

2.  Is there room for the Spirit* to move you?

3.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Yielding to Others, A Gracious Gift

On October 10, 2016 my grandmother Ruth would have been 100 years old.  Ruth was from a religious family and two of her four brothers became ministers.  Today this faith is known as the United Church of Christ.  

The amazing thing about Ruth is that she married for love in the first half of the twentieth century which was not always possible.  A perfect "match" was still everything - same upbringing, same background - but Ruth married outside her religion.  Furthermore, she yielded to my grandfather's family and agreed to raise her children in his faith.

When I think of my grandma I think of someone with a gentle spirit who lived a life of loving and accepting others.  She was open to whomever we brought to her table.
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  Thanksgiving is coming.  Are all welcome to your table?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)


* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Me Space - Table (or Movie) for One?

When I changed careers I completely flipped my availability.   My work schedule changed from Monday to Friday daytime office hours to a much more varied schedule including evenings and Saturdays.  What it meant is that the friends I had spent a lot of my free time with were no longer available when I was available.  But it opened up space for new experiences and new friends and it also gave me more "Me Space."  Me Space is time that belongs only to me.  It might be as little as fifteen minutes or hours and hours.

The thing about "Me Space" is that I can fill it with anything I love to do, or can I?  If I have more time with just me, can I fill it with things I love that are often seen for two people?  Because let's face it, there are certain things that people don't readily do alone like going to the movies, a concert, a restaurant or an art exhibit.  It is done, but do you do it?  I had never done this before; that is, until my schedule flipped and I had this "Me Space" become available on a more frequent basis.  The one I now do the most alone is I go to the movies, usually to an animated film because my children are grown.  In this space, I laugh and I cry and it all feels good.  It is in "Me Space."
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  Is finding a balanced life stressful for you?

2.  The last time you had "Me Space" how did you fill it?

3.  Have you tried God* first, me second, and everyone else third?

4.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

No Judgment (of Ed or Anyone Else)

I am in a meditation group of about 10 people that meets the same time once per week. Because of individual schedules it's a different mix of people each time.  A few weeks ago it was just me and Ed, a retired parole officer, who I had yet to have a one on one conversations with.  We followed the same structure we had been using each week and when we were finished meditating we shared our meditation experience and a bit of our stories, which are wonderful and complicated.
Fast forward to this past week:  my voracious reader friend recommended two books: Dinner with Edward by Isabel Vincent and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo.  With all these mentions of the name Edward, I began to pay attention.  What did God* want to tell me?  The answer came at this weeks meditation class, The instructor was there this time, and he began a discussion about judgment of ourselves, of others and of things, and how these are often the thoughts he must let go of during meditation.  This is when a light bulb went off for me.
First you must know that my husband's name is Ed(ward) and we have been in love through joyful times and times of struggle for twenty-nine years. What God was telling me to recognize in this coincidental (or not) repetition of the name Ed(ward) is that I must not pass judgment on anyone, that I must love each and every person like I do my Ed(ward).  Incidentally, as I write this post, I notice that "ward" repeats itself.  So I look up the word "ward". According to Merriam Webster ward means "a person under the protection of a guardian."
Thank you God, this has meaning!  It gives me a new way to work on not judging myself and others:  I just need to simply reframe how I consider each one of us; that is, I must hold myself and each person as dear, whether it's my Ed(ward), myself or anyone else.
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  Is there someone you are having a hard time holding dear?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

A Faithful No

My last blog was about accepting invitations based on our availability (God is in My Schedule). Today I want to follow up with not accepting invitations by giving a "faithful no."  Specifically, sometimes we need to say no because saying yes doesn't feel right but we feel guilty, awkward, at ill-ease to say no.
But it doesn't need to be this way if we have set up parameters.  In the last post I explained that if my calendar is open then I say yes, even to invites I might normally say no to.  But I also need to have some parameters in my schedule?  For me, starting with Sundays, my go to "faithful no" statements are "I generally do not work on Sundays," "Sundays are a family day for me."  So then it's easy for me to give a response to an invitation:  "Thanks for the invitation, but I am not available on Sundays."
There are also times when I have carved out "me time."  This time is actually blocked off on my planner.  I do this when my schedule would feel too full if I accepted something else and so I keep the time for myself.  As a result, when I am invited to be a part of something, but it is a time when I have blocked off space for me, I am simply able to give a faithful no by saying "I am unavailable."  .
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  What parameters do you have around your availability?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.
 

God is in My Schedule

Sometimes we are not sure whether or not to accept an invitation, say for a product party (we toggle between wanting comaraderie and not wanting expenditures) or a weekend getaway (time for me versus time for duties).  Maybe it's work related (networking event) but saying yes would take us away from other business matters.  Maybe it's not our favorite thing to do (tickets to a rap concert), but we feel a tug at our heartstrings to say yes.
Here's what has helped me decide.  If I have the space available, I say yes.  It takes away the struggle that can come with weighing out a yes versus a no. Conversely, if I have a conflict but I am interested, I write both things on my calendar.  That's when the magic happens for me.  Quite frequently, one of those things gets canceled or the date changes for one of the events so I can do both.  Sometimes it's that one of those things becomes more prominent or of greater importance (Senior Night for Varsity Soccer) then I need to decline the other invitation (or in my case change a work appointment).
This process all happened for me when I first started my business seven years ago.  I had lots of open space and my immediate reaction to invites would be to say no.  But then I heard that inner spirit wisdom speaking: "but you have the time," "it will be a new experience," "put yourself out there," "you will meet amazing people" (because God* makes only amazing people, you just need to meet them in order to learn their story).
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:
1.  What is the most recent invitation you struggled with?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Path of Peace

     Some days when I set out to blog I have so many things swirling around in my head I don't know what to pick,  That's because God* set out on this blogging journey with me and my God is an awesome God, wanting me (and everyone) to be successful.
     This morning I journaled about my birthday.  My daughter was off school and kept me company in between clients, my son kept calling until he got me live to bestow birthday greetings, and my husband sprinkled gifts to me throughout the day.  But this was only some of the surface pieces.
     It's about the moments in between the gifts and wishes that I want to share.  This is because today, after my morning journaling, I asked God what I should know and the response was in the rephrasing of the Psalms by Nan Merrill.  I opened randomly to page 184 and read about God setting us on a peaceful path.
   What I had also journaled about, and God wanted me to recognize, is that my daughter showed us her sketchbook on this day and one of the drawings was of one of my husband's photographs.  My son, when he finally reached me, told me that he was enjoying the blog and thought the reflective questions were thought-provoking.
     What I realized is that the development of these blog posts and the creation of photographs would not have happened if we had not followed a path of peace.  For us it meant changing careers seven years ago, but it doesn't need to be so drastic.  This path of peace is available to everyone and it promises a way of living that is most gratifying to each of us as individuals.  The tricky part is that we usually can't see where the path is going.
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:

1. Is your idea of success the same as God's idea?

2.  What would happen if you moved aside and let God take the lead?

3.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

When People Do the Right Thing

Over 20 years ago I found an envelope on the floor of the Acme Supermarket with over $200 cash in it.  I turned it in to the customer service desk and they said they would put it in their safe and call me in a week if no one had claimed it.

I called my grandfather to tell him about what happened because he was always telling stories about finding things like money in the coin return slot of pay phones, a bag of potatoes and cold beer (wink, wink to the last item, I just figured out that was a joke!).

Grandpa said I would never see that money again because it would be claimed by someone who had access to the safe.  Well fortunately he was wrong!  I got a call a week later that the money was mine.  It felt really good to tell my grandpa the ending to this story.

Essentially whoever had safeguarded that money had done the right thing.  It feels so good when we can count on the kindnesses or righteousness of strangers.
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:

1.  Do you count on the kindnesses of strangers?  Why or why not?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Feel Good Without Comparisons

On January 26 I wrote about how I feel good when I don't compare myself to others.  So then, why do I still do it?  For me, there are certain things which I will probably always need to work on and this is one of them.  I think it is part of the human condition.

Right now this relates to creating an art portfolio for someone else's review.  So much to consider when creating something for someone else's critique.  One sizeable consideration is the ever-present question "Am I good enough?"    

The human side of this answer is that we instinctively compare ourselves to others.  For me, it sounds like this:  "I am not as good at drawing as her;" "I don't know how to sculpt at all and others do;" "I am no Monet."

The God*-side however is the side where I feel good because God is not comparing me to others.  "Of course you're not Monet, I already have one of them;" "Look within instead of around you;" and "Don't look at what you're not good at, consider the gifts you do have and put them forth."

My daughter is in the midst of completing college applications and she has about five different essay prompts to respond to.  One of them stumped her because it asked how she was unique.  "I am not the only one who does these clubs, sports and mission camps," she said to me.  But fortunately, one of the admissions representatives solved her problem and my own as well.  She said, "You know how you just told me about yourself; well, that's what you write about in the essay question about what makes you unique.  It's the combination of interests and experiences that you have had which make you unique."

In essence, she said, "Feel good about you.  Do not compare yourself to others.  Consider your gifts and put them forth."

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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:

1.  Do you compare yourself to others?

2.  If yes, maybe another follow up question is in order:  Who do you compare yourself to?  Why?  What impact has it had or is it having on you?

3.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

At the End of the Day, I am Still Crazed but Faithful

When I am in the best of spirits, meaning in a faith-based mood, I feel at peace.  But when I get crazed with thoughts that come from living in a world where we have concrete needs of food and shelter, worry seeps in and I can flit between faith (other world thinking) and real world thinking.

My thoughts might look like this:  we can't afford the tuition at that school....God* has an infinite pocketbook......we need to budget to the penny.......God has given me the world.....I am insane to be so faithful, will my life really unfold with ease as God has promised....With God, possibilities are limitless.

I could stay on this crazy wheel forever, but usually I am able to jump off, and find a restful place in God.  Today, when I asked God what else he wanted me to know about all of this, I randomly opened Nan Merrill's Psalms for Praying and came to Psalm 115 on page 243.

The words I was comforted by were about trusting God while we are on this earth; that if we do so, we will find peace.  And this is where I will choose to stay, knowing that the crazed thoughts will probably creep back in, but hopefully I will quickly find that resting place of faithfulness that gives me serenity.

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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:

1.  Are you in the best of spirits today or crazed by thoughts that take you to a place of fear and worry?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Coincidence or God? (A Case of Three Pings)

Earlier in the life of this blog, I wrote about my favorite Einstein quote: "Coincidences are God's way of staying anonymous."  This time I have a specific example of how this applies to my life.  I call these instances "a case of three pings," described as three separate instances, when considered together, are more than just coincidences.  In this instance, it was in the course of this last week that I have had three unique experiences with injured birds.

The first was on one of my early morning walks.  On this particular day I spied a cat bird dangling upside down, entangled by a prickly plant.  I was able to free it and it hopped into the underbrush.  Today it is one week later and the cat birds that have been in my yard all summer are gone, having migrated.  I like to think that the cat bird I freed was able to join all of its kind on the journey.

The second was a goose near the last hole of a golf course.  Its comrades were under trees away from the hole but this one just sat in the middle of the fairway, grazing lazily.  I was determined to not go around this "stubborn" goose so I walked right towards it. When it stood and walked, it immediately hobbled, having one injured leg.  I felt awful watching it limp towards its flock.

The third was in my backyard. It was a bird I could not readily identify because it was molting.  I expected it to fly off with all the little brown birds which dispersed the second I slid open my door.  This one didn't budge, however, and as I walked toward it, it just took a few more steps forward, never getting more than a few feet in front of me.  Within a few minutes it went into the brush and because I needed to go inside, I just assumed it couldn't fly and went back in.  I still wonder what happened to it.

As soon as this third incident happened I knew I had to spend time with it.  Why?  Because I have learned that if something related happens in threes, it's time to consider it's meaning.  What is God* trying to tell me?  For me, these situations related to some other pieces of my life and boiled down to how I feel after different scenarios, scenarios of when I do something good, or something foolish or I don't do anything at all.

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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:

1.  Is there something that keeps happening to you, the same thing, or three different related "coincidences"?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Giving Grace

Today I had a conversation with someone about migraines.  They told me their history and I told them I hadn't had one since leaving the field of Human Resources.  We agreed that stress can play a major role in getting them.  What I didn't talk about is how I used it as an excuse once for calling out sick when I wasn't sick at all.  For the record, I have untruthfully called out sick twice in twenty years (yes, I know, two times too many from the standpoint that I lied).  This first time was because I had an opportunity to make extra money.

At the time I was 24 years old and worked as a data entry clerk in HR Information Systems making $7.50 an hour.  I was living on my own and trying to save money for wedding expenses.  I had an opportunity to deliver circulars door to door for a landscaper at $10 per hour so I did it.  Stupidly, when I called out sick I said I had a migraine.

When I got to work the next day my boss called me into her office and said that I never mentioned a history of migraines, that she didn't believe me and that if I called out sick again without being sick that it would be an issue.  And then she told me to get back to work.  

Gratefully she didn't first ask me all sorts of questions about my symptoms so that I didn't dig a bigger hole for myself.  I would say that she gracefully let me off the hook.  I felt awful the rest of that whole day, but then I just got back to work.  When I finally did have a migraine about 10 years later, I wish I had never said I had one.  I guess it was karma, and not the good kind!

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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:

1.  Do you give grace when it would be just as easy not to be graceful?

2.  Do you feel guilty about being given grace or did you just "get back to work"?

3.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Picture from Wikipedia, mourning dove.

Life is Hard (Otherwise It Would Not Be Fulfilling)

Last year I journaled about my life being easier because I have taken steps to get out of God's* way.  But I also wrote that "easy" means fulfilling and fulfilling means that there are still challenges and that it's getting through the challenges that give us life.  Today I question that statement and ask God if it's really true.

I ask God this because one of the men I love has cancer.  And I ask God, "How, in any way, can this be fulfilling for me?"  And God reminds me to apply the lessons I have learned.  One, having cancer is not my path.  Two, if I did have cancer it would be my path, and if I would beat this cancer I would be sitting on the other side of many challenges, fulfilled at having met these challenges.  And if I died, I would still be given life.
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:

1.  Is there a challenge you are dealing with that seems to have no fulfilling quality?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Afraid of Feeling Foolish (Pull off the Band-aid)

I am so thankful for people who get back to me to explain how their world works.  Because, truthfully, I really don't know about so many things.  Previously I was too afraid to ask.  But now I just take a deep breath to allow the uncomfortable feeling to pass, and I just ask.

Here's one example.  In 1997 I wrote a children's book that seemed to hold promise.  A publisher was willing to produce it but I had to put $1,000 towards the illustrations.  That amount seemed daunting at the time so I went the personal publishing route and failed.

I have had hopes of resurrecting the book, dreaming about having a published illustrator paint my words and bring them to life.  As a result I needed to ask someone how that works.  I took a deep breath and emailed the publisher for Elise Parsley, creator of If You Ever Want to Take an Alligator to Work, Don't!  (The illustrations in this book are amazing and tell a story behind a story.)

What happened is that I received a gentle email back stating that the requests usually come publisher to publisher, not direct requests.  I am so grateful to know because now I know what I am dealing with and I can put it on my heart that when I get a publisher, I can request Elise Parsley.  Sure it's a far-fetched dream right now, but only right now.

When we "pull off the band-aid" quickly, without hesitation, it may allow for healing to take place because we have done something and then have given room for the next thing to happen.  This next thing could be new space for other things because we have released what was holding us, or it could be an acknowledgement that we still want something and are keeping it on our heart.  It could mean other things, too, but that's for you to find out when you ask God* directly.
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:

1.  Is there something you have had on your to-do list for awhile, but are holding back?.

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Longevity - Who Decides and What to Do About It?

If I were a monarch butterfly, I would want to be in the fourth generation, the one that is born at the end of summer and gets to make the trip back to Mexico or California.  They get to live six to eight months. The three generations born earlier in the year only live two to six weeks.  They do not get an extended life.  But no living thing gets to choose how long they live, do they? Because, let's face it, if I were born in that fourth generation of monarch butterflies, I could still get hit by a bus or caught in a child's butterfly net.  There are so many variables!

So then, what's the answer if we do not have that piece of information about how long we will live? For me, I think it's living into the mystery that is life itself and listening to what's on our hearts.  A pivotal time in my life was when I no longer felt fulfilled in corporate America.  I felt a strong urgency to quit.  The mantra "You only have one life to live" was in the forefront of my mind.  That mantra came about around the same time that I needed surgery for an early stage melanoma and shortly thereafter a family member died of melanoma.  What I knew then is that I didn't want to die in corporate America.

That's when a fear of dying before really living took over for me.  It won out over all other fears:  of not being good at anything else, of not making enough money, of failing, and so on.  The list goes on and on.

So maybe not knowing how long we live provides the impetus to keep living or get living, listening to what is on our hearts.
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:

1.  How do you feel about longevity, especially your own?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

photo by Kenneth Dwain Harrelson on Wikipidia (monarch butterfly)

God Moments Discovered in the Looking Back

In the last post I said I'd share with you one of my own experiences in the value of looking back.  For me, it's about seeing how God is at work in my life. Often things start as a small seed and then a little seedling emerges while the roots are also setting up, and before you know it something noticeable has taken place.

On April 28 Grace H., a member of a Facebook Group I belong to, wrote, "This is my latest Zentangle drawing inspired by the May Birds & Blooms Extra cover."  It was a lovely piece of doodled artwork of a bird and flowers drawn with white paint or chalk on black paper.  It was really bold.  The image hooked me as did the word Zentangle.  I had never heard of it before so I googled it and learned that it's a method of creating beautiful images through structured patterns. Some of the artwork images that I found during the search were just breathtaking.

Shortly thereafter I was at Barnes and Noble at the clearance tables and I saw this boxed kit entitled Zentangle for Kids by Jane Marbaix.  I "knew" it was there for me so I bought it.  On June 11 I made my first Zentangle drawing, also a bird, inspired by a raven I had just seen in my backyard.  I was so tickled by the outcome that I did a lot of the pages in this workbook for kids!

Also in this kit was a book of suggested projects and I found one that I thought would be fun to do on vacation.  It's a seek and find board that is unique to an individual or in my case I used it with family to create two unique family boards (see the picture at the top).

But even bigger still than this specific example is the theme of creativity that has been running through my journals for months into years.  I see a path forming even though I don't know where it will lead.  But the looking back sure makes it exciting.
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, I'd love to hear from you and the community would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else; most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.

Reflective questions:

1.  Is there a theme or a persistent thought that has been running through your life recently?  (If ;you journal, do a three-month lookback to see if any common themes emerge.)

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God, what do you want me to know?)

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.