Simplicity

Soooo....here are my thoughts on each one the testimonies. Beginning with:

Simplicity.

* Moderation
* Finding balance, a healthy pace in life.
* Gratitude, for what you already have.
* Awareness of how my choices effect myself, other people and the Earth.

The opposite of Simplicity is Greed.

 

"Friends, whatever ye are addicted to, the tempter will come in that thing; and when he can trouble you, then he gets advantage over you, and then you are gone. Stand still in that which is pure, after ye see yourselves; and then mercy comes in. After thou seest thy thoughts, and the temptations, do not think, but submit; and then power comes. Stand still in that which shows and discovers; and then doth strength immediately come. And stand still in the Light, and submit to it, and the other will be hushed and gone; and then content comes."

-George Fox, 1652 (20.42)

Home again...

After spending the last 4 weeks (?!) at my mum's, me and the kiddies are Home again! :) It feels good to get to sleep in my own bed tonight... yet, I'm sick of this place...! There's not. one. single. chore. in this house that I haven't done...! From sheer stubborness I've refused to do certain things around the house, so that He would have something to do...  fill some sort of purpose.

The last, and only, thing I still had left to 'learn' how to do was to air/bleed the radiators (which I do know how to do, I've just not wanted to!) and...coming home today with radiators sounding like a babbling brook I had no choice. It f*kin' needed to get done! :[
So I did it.

And...now I feel bitter.
I know I should feel Grateful (and another day I might) for all the things I now know how to do, that I didn't previously know... Learning, growing, evolving and all that jazz but nah! Tonight I'm bitter and stuffing myself with bread...

Giving Thanks

Wishing all my American friends a

blessed Thanksgiving.

♥ 

Love&Gratitude,




"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
- John F. Kennedy

"Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse."
- Henry Van Dyke

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."
- Melody Beattie

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "Thank You", that would suffice."
- Meister Eckhart
 ♥ 

Stop questioning

Hay Quaker does it again. The right quote at the right time...

Love&Light,

"I want to taste and glory in each day, and never be afraid to experience pain; and never shut myself up in a numb core of nonfeeling, or stop questioning and criticizing life and take the easy way out. To learn and think: to think and live; to live and learn: this always, with new insight, new understanding, and new love."

- Sylvia Plath

Gratitude...

This made me cry. This isn't just another day...

Happy 1st anniversary!

I want to wish Hay Quaker Blog a Very Happy 1st Anniversary with a big Thank You! :)
...for doing that thing with words that is soooo awesome...! :) The 'magic' that happens - the right words at the right time, the lifting and encouragement and hope that words can bring. Thank you, for posting things that has made me re-think and re-evaluate my own thoughts or confirm ideas that I've not yet settled into... :)

Thank you for a GREAT blog!

Love&Light,

...thank you...

Most of my posts are posted as soon as they are written but lately I've started writing on posts and saving them... 'til they feel 'right' to post... This is one of the ones I've been holding on to for a little while.



~ * ~ * ~ * ~ These words are for you - even if you might never actually read it... At the same time I realise that they are just as much, perhaps more, for me... Things are inevitably coming to an end for us and I need to hold on to gratitude rather than the bitterness that is lurking just round the corner...

I want and need to thank you. The good, the bad and the sad that we've been through together has given me gifts greater than I could have ever imagined. Our journey has been full of blessing, big and small, some obvious and others are still yet to be revealed. The most obvious Gifts we've been given are two healthy, bright, beautiful little people with all their endless possibilities for the future.
Thank you for A and E, for making me a Mother.

Our joint struggles has made things clear to me, what I believe to be Truly Important. With, what I hope to be, a looong Journey ahead of me I now know, or at least have a pretty good idea, of who I am and what I want and need of/in Life.
Thank you for giving me Clarity.

Your own personal struggles and all that I've seen, and still see, that you need - for you, have helped me see what I need for me.
Thank you for helping me Grow.

You say there must have been a Reason for us meeting when, and the way, we did. We were Supposed to Meet and I agree. We just disagree on the reason why... We both still have a long Journey ahead and I believe that Reasons may still reveal themselves to us. Just because we came together in magical circumstances doesn't mean that the magic remains forever... Some people come together for an important moment in time, for that moment, not to stay together forever...
There has been a lot of outward changes in our lives since the day we met, just short of 11 years ago... The biggest change, for me, hasn't the obvious things, it has been what has been going on inside me - all of the lesson's I've learnt, the growing I've done as a wife, mother and human being... All these things have given me Faith, faith that I've in some ways always had but not dared (?) to believe in, never really surrendered to... I now do believe and I am surrendering...
Thank you for giving me the tools to Believe.

With the rain pouring down outside and thunder rolling over us I finish this post with a sense of peace. Our journey together isn't all over, even if our marriage might be. As parents we will need to join forces and make decisions and be there for each other,
we are still a Family.
with love and gratitude,

I speak not of unknown things

Outside my window... Clear summer sky and slowly approaching dusk.

Around the house... Dust, kiddie clothes and toys.

I'm wearing... White tank top and blue jeans.

I'm reading... The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.

I'm hearing... Cartoon Network on the TV, kiddies snoring away on the sofa where they fell asleep. Yep! That's how my little ones get 'put to bed' the easiest. Easy, no-fuss, no-fighting falling asleep is a winner in this momma's book, whether it happens in their own beds or not! ;)

I'm learning... that waiting doesn't change things, changing changes things.

I'm wondering/thinking… where to find strength needed.

I'm hoping... that strength will be found were I always find it...in my Family. ♥

I'm grateful for... Family, kiddies and gratitude.

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."

- Melody Beattie

Low note... Well, that'd be last Sunday... :/  I would not be exaggerating if I said that on both a personal and marital level it was the lowest point ever.

High note... Kiddies being kiddies. ♥

Light...? Oh my word...!! I decided this to be a point in my list because...??? I obviously like kicking myself in the teeth and try my own perseverance 'cause... I do...? Why do I feel like I'm left without no other option than having to let go for me to be able to grow...? Why, why can't we grow together...? How do I let go...?

Love, Light & Sweet Dreams,

Zen...?

Things are...falling ...into place for me... Not in a practical, marital or financial sort of way but in a Me-kinda-way. :)

Just over a year ago I had this 'same' vibe too, I wrote about it in the family blog and the feeling stayed with me for a while...

I wrote then, April 2010:
****
On my way home from school today I got this awesome "I'm alright"-feeling. I was (I am!) good. Life kinda sucks sometimes but I really wouldn't changes things either...!

How boring would Life be if it just stood still?! No lesson's learnt, no life experience gained…! I like things/life to move and change and surprise me, not test me but challenge me…

Last year [2009] was eons from great, nowhere near good and far from alright… It was… manageable, mainly because I didn't know what else to do with life, but to manage it. It was hard, trying and heart breaking at times. But! I grew, like I've never grown before...! Thanks to all that crap I'm stronger, more secure in myself and more confident then I have been for a long time, if ever before!

Life still isn't great but it has the potential to be! :) Now we're mostly alright, sometimes even good and that gives me hope. No matter how Life evolves, what road I end up taking I hope, truly hope, that I'll not lose this zen-feeling - that things will be alright. That I am alright…

Where did that original feeling come from...? Because I've "always" had this it'll work out/it'll be alright-attitude to things...! I wish I was more "zen" about it - I'd stress less if I could truly embrace it...but! I've always had this gut-feeling that no matter what I choose, what path I walk - things will be alright in the end. Life will find a way to sort things out...

If I was religious I guess I'd call it faith in God or something but I'm not religious... But, I still have Faith, in Life...in me...?

Gosh! …someone must have been sending me an awesomeness vibe out of this world 'cause this isn't the "usual" passing feeling it's more and it's kinda cool! :)

*lol* Now don't think I've completely changed on you! ;)

Believe me, after a few tantrums (from both little ones!) before dinner was even on the table I'd lost a good bit of my "zen" *lol* but now that kiddies are asleep and when things have calmed down a bit I'm there again…

Cool.
****

The good feeling continued, more in April 2010:
****
How weird...or is it actually more weird to not have contentment as a "normal setting" in ones life? Hmm...?

What brought this "thing" on...? Spring? Weight loss?? The volcano...? ;) :D Why do I feel the need to poke at why, rather than just accept that things are...good...?? I'm good.

Weird... Or?
*lol*

I am OK. That really shouldn't feel weird, should it...!? 'Cause the option of feeling not OK really doesn't appeal to me either...! :)

I'm trying my hardest to accept and embrace this "vibe" I'm feeling but... (no but's!!)
****

This 'Zen-thing' has come over me again...now not in a surprising way, more of a reminder and it'd feel creepy if I wasn't so...'zen' about it... I feel... kind. calm. settled. safe. beautiful. lighter.

The words are sort of getting stuck in my head, I feel too bold (and somewhat embarrassed) for typing them. I keep deleting and rewriting the same things over and over and over all the while with this crazy ass smile on my face... *shaking my head*

I even wrote a vow to myself. *lol*
Dare I post it 'too'...? I'm feeling a bit loopy as is so I'll try and settle, some more...wait. Feels like I need to wait. So. I'm. waiting.

Love&Light,

Aristotle

(detail from The School of Athens by Raphael)
Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC). Greek philosopher, scientist, student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. An interesting fellow who's had an enormous impact on how, and even what, we think. Some stuff is spot on and other things are a bit 'off'...and being me, I pass on the stuff that I think is spot on (why bother spreading rubbish when one can pass on gems&jewels?) ! :)


"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous."

"Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and is not easy."

"Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity."

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."

"No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness."

"I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self."

"It is just that we should be grateful, not only to those with whose views we may agree, but also to those who have expressed more superficial views; for these also contributed something, by developing before us the powers of thought."

"Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber."

"The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge is the power of teaching."

"We become just by performing just action, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave action."

- Aristotle

A Prayer

by Max Ehrmann

Let me do my work each day; and if the darkened hours of despair overcome me, may I not forget the strength that comforted me in the desolation of other times.

May I still remember the bright hours that found me walking over the silent hills of my childhood, or dreaming on the margin of a quiet river, when a light glowed within me, and I promised my early God to have courage amid the tempests of the changing years.

Spare me from bitterness and from the sharp passions of unguarded moments. May I not forget that poverty and riches are of the spirit. Though the world knows me not, may my thoughts and actions be such as shall keep me friendly with myself.

Lift up my eyes from the earth, and let me not forget the uses of the stars. Forbid that I should judge others lest I condemn myself. Let me not follow the clamor of the world, but walk calmly in my path.

Give me a few friends who will love me for what I am; and keep ever burning before my vagrant steps the kindly light of hope.

And though age and infirmity overtake me, and I come not within sight of the castle of my dreams, teach me still to be thankful for life, and for time's olden memories that are good and sweet; and may the evening's twilight find me gentle still.