Reflections....

This is it buddy...the end of another year. Time for reflection or not. Time for change or not. But as I look back on the lives of myself, my family and my friends I see a huge quilt of life with many squares. There are happy colorful squares and then sadly there are darker squares. There are squares of vacations, and weddings and births. There are squares of health and wealth and good fortune. There are also squares of darkness and sadness. There are void squares that contain loss. There are squares of success and those of failure. We each have a quilt and we spend every day carefully stitching our squares together. Some of us achieve more than others. Some of us are given more than others. Some of us seem to always have confrontation or troubles or sadness.....both by choice or by the happenings of life. Some of us seem to walk under a rose colored glass that shines bright bits of color on us. We reflect the goodness of life, good fortune and shiny dreams that are realized. Some of our quilts are faded by time. Some are small and some quite large with years of tiny stitches that piece by piece mirror long years of life. I don't know how each and every person feels about their quilts. I don't know the emotions behind them. I'm assuming these emotions are varied....happiness, sadness, jealousy, regret, envy, determination, laziness, faithfulness, guilt, bitterness, love...the list can go on and on. I don't know if your quilt is stiff from neglect or indifference to your circumstances, or if your quilt is soft and supple and comfortable. What I do know is this.......you will continue to expand this quilt. You will deal with each square in your own individual way. That's what makes your life yours. And as you begin to add a new year to your Quilt of Life, I would hope that you look back and reflect on the squares you have before you and learn, reminisce and reflect. Happy New Year to all who read this. May your quilt be warm, and sustaining and most of all reflect the life you want to live.

Package...

Thought of the Day...... Life is a mystery. It's a huge package with a big red bow. Do you carefully unwrap it and keep the paper neatly folded? Or do you rip it open in your haste to see what's inside? How blessed that you woke up today and can make this choice. Never take the package of life as simply a given. Never put off kindness, love, the giving of blessings until tomorrow. There is a song to life..every day has its tune....maybe a slow languid waltz or possibly a symphony. Whatever your life package is today, whatever song you hear in your head makes no difference. What makes a difference is that you have the package to open and you have the song to hear. Grieve when it is time to grieve, love when it is time to love, laugh whenever you can and always hold that package close to you and sing your exact song of life. Whether you rip or fold, whether you waltz or tango, makes your life unique to you. This day is yours to use as you will. My hope is that when you sleep tonight, you have lived today to the fullest.

Resolutions....

Blah blah blah........resolutions. It's that time of year for reflections on the past and turning your eyes toward a better new year. Time to sharpen that pencil and put a big ole PERIOD at the end of 2012. So, are you a resolution kind of person? Do you put yourself out there? Do you succeed? Here's my thing...I'm NOT. I don't want to set myself up for failure. I don't make resolutions. But as I think about it, maybe that is a failure in itself. Not going to do it because I know I'll fail. Hmmmmmmmm. I think I'm already failing. Isn't it a failure to not test yourself? Not because you are afraid of not succeeding but because you know you won't and so why try? I think maybe it is. I think it's a non-test of yourself.....(I'm pretty sure non-test isn't a word, but I'm using it anyway). It's complacency at it's best. It's laziness. It's just plain old sitting on the fence. There are things I've always wanted to do.....accomplish.....succeed at that I have never really pushed myself to finish, do, accomplish. I have major character flaws that need fixing, mending, erasing. So, I'm spending the last few days of this year contemplating Resolutions. I may just be brave enough to step on out of my comfort zone and make 2013 the year of challenges and changes. I may be able to make my fence I've been lounging on into a barbed wire fence. I really hope I can....do you hope you can? If so, then Resolve to meet those challenges and changes head on. Bring it 2013!!

Thought of the Day..........

How can I let today pass without a thought....ok, I can't. Here is my thought. On this day......If you were surrounded by those who are most important to you.......whether in person or by phone or internet or thought or prayer. If you acknowledge that it's NOT the WHAT but the WHO. If you know that what connects you to yourself is not a car or a ring or a house or anything that came with a price tag. Then, my friend, you have at some point gotten life, understood meaning and honored yourself and others with your being. And finally, and I think most importantly, these acknowledgements and knowings must happen everyday. This Season awakens feelings that should endure. Merry Christmas....give yourself the gift of joy.....no price tag, no status, no keeping up.....just JOY!

Thought

My Thought for the Day..... The day you begin to think you're better than most, your life becomes a testament to pride. The day you are sure that your child is better than most and you turn your back on destructive behavior, you're laying that first brick down their path of failure. Start today by looking into a mirror that reflects not only you but the generations to come. But before you do, take off your blinders....they do not serve you well. We should all love ourselves and our children unconditionally, but not without direction and boundaries.

There Are Times

There are times in our lives when we just need to be who we are.....and that time is EVERYDAY. I think t'is the season to appear to be more than we really are. Is our tree big enough...is our house decorated enough? Will our holiday meal be impressive enough? Have we spent enough on gifts? Is our family going to be the envy of friends? Hey now.....slow down. You have just missed the entire meaning of being who you are. You've now turned into.....'Look at me cause I"m sooooooooooooooo Good'. I'm so good I don't even like myself anymore because I"m too tired to like anything. Hustle and Bustle is now your middle name but your eyes are crossed and you can't see the words. Here is my Thought of the Day......give yourself time. Give yourself friends and family. Give yourself sighs and yawns and stretches. Give yourself the Art of Being You! Merry Christmas my friends!

No Words............

Well, you know I can't let this one go by. I can't fathom what would make a person walk into an elementary school and begin a massacre. The only words that come to mind are insane, empty, hateful, evil. But I really don't think that explains it. It is the unexplainable. Was there a hole so very big and wide and void of any good in this man that the only way he could try to fill it was to stuff it in such a horrifying way? Was there such a cruelty deep in his soul that he couldn't handle life? How horrible that in an hour our insular world disappears and we think to ourselves that it could have been one of our friends or family that became the object of his wrath. How terrible to contemplate an average mother or father who in the blink of an eye became non-average because their child was the victim in such an unimaginable act. I have no answers, and frankly I doubt you have answers either. We seek understanding, but do we really want it? We cry out for those truths, but then do we turn away rather than delve into such pain? I think though we must take the following on our shoulders.......we have to go forward with a better understanding of peace, and security and goodwill that is ours. And then if we do, in fact, have these three things, we are called to pass them on. Be that person that with a smile, or a nod or a wave acknowledges there is goodness in this world.......and that you are part of it.