Again and Again

Some days, you look up and half of it is gone! You work at a fever pace, completing tasks, meetings, scheduling additional meetings and running the growing list of "to-do's" down in your head as you progress. But this isn't your focus; your mind is truly...elsewhere. Your thoughts and actions aren't quite aligned and though you are being responsible and "adult," you ignore the damage you're doing to you and really, the whole world!

You aren't the only one. We live in a world where many people spend their days either dragging through the day, rushing through the day (which is funny when you consider the clock doesn't move faster) or simply unenthused about the day. Day after day, again and again. No life, no willingness to search the soul to see if there's anything else worth living for!

And yet there is! Certainly there's entertainment and good food. Sure you can live for the weekend, vacations, "getting away" and taking a break. But those are mere distractions! What about living for love, joy and your positive contribution to this world? What about living and exercising your divine gift to enrich your life and the lives of those around you? What about living and playing and working in ways where each day you wake with joyful anticipation of the day's task?My friend, it may not seem possible, but it is. There are no "one-size-fits-all" formulas but there is a recipe, a remedy that comes specifically from you! And it begins with you taking time to determine what it is and how you can do it! It develops and grows and becomes a vital part of your existence and betters those around you.

Today, take a few minutes to examine what you've always wanted to do, who you wanted to be. If there are multiple things, explore each - you don't have to be limited to one and you certainly don't have to wear yourself out being what others think you should be. Be Y-O-U!

Completion

Being whole, thorough, complete. A person who has it all and not all the trappings; someone who knows their value, appreciates the moment they live in, as they contemplate their state and strives for growing, expanding and learning. I choose that path, that "being;" it is a constant state to maintain and at moments I regress to being incomplete and lonely. Both sides exist in me. They exist in you as well.

In a given day, whether you work a job, are retired or unemployed, we rise, start the process of our day and go about completing tasks, connecting and taking care of self. Moments throughout that day, you are aware of your joys, empathy, emptiness, longing and connection to others. A phone call, lunch with a friend or family, full of laughs, regrets and filling in the facts of life; a range of ideas, emotions and sharing. And this is life. Now maybe some time spent with others is less than fulfilling. Maybe some people drain you with an endless dumping of their "issues" and not a moment to hear your state of affairs...yeah I get it. I remember one friend told me I "didn't have any problems." Really?

We are in a state of moving, growing and expanding. Perhaps it may seem best to leave somethings in your past, to abandon some ways. Perhaps. But examine your life to see if those habits and personality types appear again at some point. They just might be what makes your life...complete.

Thought for The Day - Decoding

I'm a fan of learning and a fairly wide scope of topics. Sitting here now, there are any number of sites open in tabs in my browser. As I sit here, I feel like I have antennae scanning the room and the house; measuring the state of affairs of the world, my children and determining the messages in lyrics of songs. I dive in deep, depending on the song or I sit at the edge of the pool and observe the depths, waves and light bouncing off the water, for it's beauty. In my opinion, there is no single way to learn and nearly everything is fascinating.

I take pleasure in the process of discovery; certainly there are bumps and hiccups along the way, but there is nothing more rewarding than seeing something through. I often compare the process to working on a jigsaw puzzle or a particularly challenging word puzzle. It's about examining the parts in light of the whole. The steps to assemble, break up, examine and act are critical to this process.

And in all of this, there is a deep underlying message; a word or expression that can set us free! Free from ________ and to ________, well that's part of the mystery! But it's a journey I've been on all my life. And whether I uncover it in part or whole, well that's also part of the challenge! I hope you are doing your part to unravel life's mystery. I feel the process and the goal are equally rewarding!

Thought for The Day - Further

Sailing under Penny Sunset 12 x 18 pastel

You are HERE. But you want to be THERE. Over there, not that 'here' is bad, but you've wanted to be 'there' for a long time and the longer you wait, the more aggravated you become.

Don't stay here; don't live your life - if you can call it 'living' - wondering what life would have been like "over there." Practice bravery, get up, gather your things and go.

Thought for The Day - Discovery

After the Dance 18 x 24 mixed media

We can never know all there is to know and yet it behooves us to know all we can...

Years ago, I dated a young lady who, before I met her, seemed like she would be a complete mystery. Being shy myself and unwilling to face rejection, I was hesitant, to say the least to approach her. I allowed her sophisticated persona to dazzle me. But in spite of all the barriers, I went for it, asked her out or at least offered her ride home from church. We talked on the way to her home and in little or no time, we were getting to know one another. For a few weeks, I would give her a ride from Bible study and even picked her up a few times and in the brief period we dated, I got to know a lot of facts about her life. I found out she wasn't as aloof and sophisticated as I thought. She was no slouch, had a good mind, but she was down-to-earth and very open to talk.

At some point, in one of our long conversations, I said to her: "you're telling all of these details about you, but I still feel like there's much more you're not telling me." Like so many people I talk with, I find it's easy to get the "facts" of our lives out on the table, but we never get to the heart of who we are. We can tell about "this", reveal a little of "that" ("except, I won't tell you about the heartache I suffered as a result of _____ and how that still haunts me at this very moment.") but it amounts to "surface details." I get it, I understand; I'm not an open book, though I hope through this format, a great deal of what I think about and how I feel is revealed. Funny: it just hit me this media is an opportunity to unveil the "secret life of Eddie."

Here's a couple more interesting truths I've discovered:

• For whatever reason, some people tell a great many "half-truths" about themselves, even when they tell you their being candid, open and honest. If you dig "around" what is said, you find there's far more to the story. It always leaves me wondering why the "whole truth" wasn't told. In sharing what is uttered, I wonder about what "you" want me to know and why it's necessary to withhold what is...
• The walls we erect and the parts of us we share are all one big picture. When we ignore or highlight only one part, the damage, pain and hurt we hide does not get healed. And like our bodies, these wonderful regenerative vessels we inhabit, what could be healing, when it is 'misapplied' (or should I say "when healing is refused") we create a place where hurt spreads like a cancer.

I leave you with this quote, apply it liberally to you life: "Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part, You will make me to know wisdom." Psalms 51:6 (NKJV)