piecesofpeace1

Daily Ground- – -January 31

First – unclench your fists. The hardest part of praying is letting go of our resentments, bitterness, and anger–and that means not holding back from God. – – -Henri Nouwen

The other morning I awoke and was disappointed because my plans were ruined. It’s never good to be grumpy before you leave the sheets. There were some unexpected weather related delays, and something I was planning on attending was cancelled. As I began my daily devotions of prayer, mediation, and writing, I noticed my jaw was tight and my fists were clenched.

I walked away knowing I had to let go.

I opened the curtains and looked outside. Another frigid morning. I took a deep breath in, and continued looking. It was beautiful outside. The blue sky. The snow covered ground. The red cardinal.

I relaxed. The fists opened. The jaw loosened.  I returned to my morning devotions. I let go. I started my day over.

Peace.

Daily Ground – – – January 26

“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.”

― Thích Nhất Hạnh

So many of us spend  energy trying to be something we are not. At delusional times in my life I even convinced myself that I was doing or being something for myself when in reality I was trying to be something for someone else’s approval.

Today my goal is to know myself, and then to accept who I am and am not.  When I can create space between myself and others, I don’t depend on others’ judgment of me to make me whole or content.

Peace.

Daily Ground- – -January 25

“Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
― Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

Most of us are afraid to be “real!”  We work diligently to keep our hair colored, our skin taut, and our faces smooth and wrinkle- less.   I wish people could see themselves through the eyes of a loved one. The beauty of friendship and kindness, their ability to be honest and available – these things are real! They aren’t ugly because of their wrinkles or grey hair, or cellulite – these things make us real!  No matter how hard we try – if we live long enough – we will all be “real” someday. . .if we are lucky.

Peace.

Daily Ground – – -January 24

Wise beyond her years.

I wonder if this is a complement? From what I’ve seen, wisdom comes from living, and living comes with pain. If someone is “wise beyond his or her years,” this most likely means they’ve earned the wisdom through some painful life lessons.

When I was younger, I moved through some painful things into the light in my mid 20’s. I chose a different way of life after my current chosen path had beaten me pretty badly. This brought with it some wisdom. Because the light of my new path was so delicious and warm, I didn’t fear the darkness in the same way anymore.  I actually welcomed it. I had learned intuitively that if I made it through the pain and lessons that life threw at me, the light would be warm and delicious.

I lived in this cycle for many years.  Eventually I hit some darkness that beat me so badly, I almost wished I could succumb to it as opposed to walking through to the other side.  It took years to get through.  I got a little gun-shy. Where I had previously welcomed darkness thinking it always led to the light, I now accepted it, knowing it was a part of life. A path most of us wind up on even if we try to avoid it. You can’t avoid life, and you can’t avoid death, but these cycles are easier to get through if I don’t struggle. And now – I’m blessed with wisdom.

Peace.