December 7--More to Life

There must be more to life than having everything! --Maurice Sendak

    One of my great-nieces was married this past Saturday. What was planned over a year ago--big family wedding with reception--didn't happen, of course, due to the pandemic. Plans were revised, and the couple decided to stick with their original date. Her parents cleared their home's large finished basement and made a "chapel" out of it. It was decorated with small trees with white lights and white poinsettias. It was a lovely setting. They live-streamed it, so that the many loved ones who would have normally been there could watch. Even the minister was virtual! The bride's younger brother and sister were the only attendants. 

    True to form, when the bride's dad (my nephew) walked his daughter forward and handed her over to the groom, I lost it. I cried through the whole thing. "It's what I do." The father of the bride was born when I was nine years old, and he was the first baby I was blessed to help care for and watch grow up. What heart-expanding joy to see this huge milestone in their lives!

    All the "not normal" stuff aside, the bride and groom were radiant. Their vows and the words of love that they shared with each other were both comical and profound. You know it's true love when you give up an easy last name of Miller for Knabenshue! There is more to life than having everything, and that is love.

    With a heart full of joy,

            Leta

December 6--Ideal Life

Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. 
--Mark Twain

    Yep, that pretty much covers it. "Good friends" means successful relationships with both friends and family. "Good books" means always having something that expands the mind. "A sleepy conscience" is one that is free of worry, guilt, distress, anything that would require amends. I feel like I've had great success with friends and books, but the sleepy conscience is an ongoing practice. I don't know that very many of us come out of our upbringing with a sleepy conscience. It took a 12-Step program to teach me that such a thing is even possible, and how to go about achieving it in a balanced life. The voice in my head that says "You should do more" is not compatible with a sleepy conscience. I'm learning what is mine to bring into my conscience and what is not mine to deal with, and that brings "sleepy" much more often within reach. I've also learned that gut feeling that lets me know I need to make amends--my conscience is wide awake and fussing. Quickly admitting my mistakes allows my conscience to become sleepy again. The inner peace of a sleepy conscience does make for the ideal life. 

    Is it nap time yet? 

        Leta

Barney, perfect example of a sleepy conscience 😉😉

December 5--All We Need

All we have is all we need. All we need is the awareness of how blessed we really are.  --Sarah Ban Breathnach

    I remind my Melt and yoga students often to breathe, and to appreciate the ability to breathe on their own power. We can breathe and think, and therefore create. What more is needed?

    My husband and I discuss at least daily how blessed we are. Number one is we are healthy. We have all we need. We have each other, and even after 34 years of marriage, we still like and love each other. We have our sweet and entertaining dog, Barney. Our sons are living independently and supporting themselves. We have great friends and extended family. We are financially stable. My husband is a great cook, and spoils us twice a day with high-quality, healthy meals. We have been able to keep ourselves relatively sane during the pandemic with assorted projects and have accomplished major clearing and decluttering. I have a new hip joint and a renewed love of walking. I thank the Creative Forces of the Universe every day for Zoom!

    Focusing on what we don't have brings more lack. Focusing on blessings brings more blessings. It really is as simple as that. Oh, and by the way, we choose our focus with each thought. That's where our true power lies. 

    Grateful,

        Leta

December 4--Hallelujah!

Not everything needs to be fixed.  --Randy Pausch

    Sometimes I simply need or want to cry. I refer to it as soul-rinsing. Often times when I am crying, those nearest to me want to fix me so that I'll stop crying. This attempt at fixing makes me crazy. I am actually doing the fixing by crying--moving energy through my body that needs to move on.  

    Our natural inclination when we see a problem is to want to help, to offer solutions, i.e., advice. Maybe by now you've learned that this is not usually a successful venture. People take care of their issues, or not, in their own way, and it's not our job to fix them, no matter how qualified we may think we are to do so. One of the best things I continue to learn is to stay out of other folks' business. There is infinite relief in knowing that I don't need to fix others. 

    Here are some worthwhile questions:

        Is something broken here? Can I fix it? Should I attempt to fix it? 

    Let's keep today's quote close to our hearts. 

        Leta

December 3--Words of Change

No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself. 
--Virginia Woolf

    I read this awesome prayer this morning, and want to share it with you:

Show me the suffering of the most miserable;
So I will know my people’s plight.

Free me to pray for others;
For you are present in every person.

Help me take responsibility for my own life;
So that I can be free at last.

Grant me courage to serve others;
For in service there is true life.

Give me honesty and patience;
So that I can work with other workers.

Bring forth song and celebration;
So that the Spirit will be alive among us.

Let the Spirit flourish and grow;
So that we will never tire of the struggle.

Let us remember those who have died for justice;
For they have given us life.

Help us love even those who hate us;
So we can change the world.

Amen.

By César Chávez, “Prayer of the Farm Worker’s Struggle" from the 1960s.

This is quite relevant for today. 

    Leta

December 2--In One Sentence

It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong. 
--Laura Ingalls Wilder

    Good heavens! I don't think I could find a better quote than Ms. Wilder's to describe what (I hope) we've learned during this like-no-other year of 2020. It is timeless wisdom describing a very fine way to live. 

    I'm in!

        Leta

December 1--New Month, New Theme

Simplicity is a matter of taste.  --Stephen Hawking

    As you may have guessed already, December's theme is simplicity. I think this whole miraculous year of 2020 has been an inspiration in simplicity. Figuring out what we really need, what is really important, how to accomplish what must be done, and learning to let the rest go. 

    Last evening I completed our Christmas decorating for this season. In 2019, overwhelmed, sort of, with a new puppy, we didn't do any Christmas decorating. We've adjusted to Barney, and I felt inspired to decorate this year. I did enough to make inside and outside look festive, but it is definitely simple--a tree, some lights, some hanging things--that's it. But I love all of it, and I love the simplicity. Many years ago I realized that an overabundance of Christmas decorations required the overabundance of putting away after Christmas, so I decided to simplify the "putting away."

    In my working career, I've worked with several folks whose motto was "Why do anything simply if we can over-complicate it?" I am grateful that those folks inadvertently trained me to focus on simple solutions. Simplicity really is a mindset. Just because "we've always done it that way," it doesn't mean that has to continue. My mother often said, "Give a lazy person a hard job and she'll find an easier way to do it." I guess I latched onto "lazy" and have made simplicity one of my missions in life. I'm good with that!

    Joyful December, keeping it simple,

        Leta

A simple snowman, 
painted by yours truly 😉