PURPOSE, JOY AND POSITIVES

LONELY OR ALONE: YOU CAN CHOSE

In the last few months due to the pandemic,  I am sure we have all experienced a little bit of both the above. We are alone much of the time as we social distance and at times this may induce the feeling of being lonely. During this time, it is so important to take good care of not only our physical, but also our emotional and spiritual health.

When things in life change so rapidly and so counter to the life we knew and understood how to navigate, it can be overwhelming. Yes, overwhelming to the point that we really have to work at lifting our spirits, even if we are by nature a positive, joy filled  person. It is important to take those feelings, bless them for what they are (they are real),  let  them simmer in our minds, and then give way to a different place in our thinking/feeling. As with most feelings brought about by unwelcome changes, they will be temporary. Temporary can be defined on a time line differently by everyone. But we do make our own ‘temporary’. We get to chose.

As I have walked this journey in my own life, I know that I can still thank the Lord every morning and night for the gifts and the graces I have been given, have not lost, and wish to pass on to others. Maybe it is just a phone call, a long overdue handwritten note, a ‘hello’ text, the sending of a small gift or dropping something at a friend’s front door that I can do today. I have always found that when I do things for others, my own emotional being  feels better.

May you chose to use your alone or lonely to lift someone else up, especially now during this unprecedented journey we all are living.

PJP

 

 

PURPOSE, JOY AND POSITIVES

The Tree of Thanksgiving!

This tree was made by one of the teachers at the school I volunteer at and students contributed the various ‘Thanksgiving Leaves’: teachers, principal, friends, food, parents, pastor,  faith, school, freedom, earth, education, and loved ones in Heaven. As I looked at this, I was in awe of the depth and broad array of gifts the young students listed.

I am grateful for all the parents, extended family, friends, teachers, religious leaders and significant others in these student’s lives who have taught and inspired these young people to understand what it means to be ‘thankful’ for the important things in life. No one said ‘my toys’!

It is really encouraging to see the students thinking in this manner as youth, building the foundation for continuing an attitude of gratefulness as young adults. Unfortunately, sometimes, it takes us adults a long time journeying through various experiences to reach down and find that attitude of gratefulness we were in touch with as young children. I know my own level of gratitude has changed over the years to include daily active statements of gratitude, each morning before my feet hit the floor.

“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.”  (Melody Beattie)

What leaves would you put on your ‘Thanksgiving Tree’?