March 14--Stormy Times

Once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain: When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm's all about.  --Haruki Murakami

    This is so true. I can think of many storms in my life, some big, many smaller, and I don't know how I got through them, but I did. Yes, each one changed me. Going through rough times cannot help but change us. 

    I met someone yesterday who I am very hopeful can get me the new vehicle I want. My usual inclination is to shake hands, and due to the pandemic, we don't do that any more. For the first time, I actually had the conscious thought, "don't stick the hand out." The pandemic has changed our personal touching behavior, possibly forever. I feel some lingering sadness about that.

    Any time of great grief is a storm in life. Loss of a loved one, for example, feels like a bottomless pit of grief, and it seems like we can't possibly make it through. But we do, and we hopefully become more compassionate and empathetic as a result. The time-worn saying that the Universe doesn't give us any more than we can handle--it's true, but also proves that the Universe has more faith in our resilience than we may have. 

    I think of the many actual earthly atmospheric storms that move on our planet and cause great destruction. People who have suffered through those storms are living proof of Murakami's quote. 

    Let's celebrate our resilience!

        Leta

I've lived in the Land of Oz for almost 40 years and
have never seen one of these, thank heavens!

March 13--Be a Maker

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.  --Thomas Edison

    How many of us have the fortitude to stick with it like Edison did? I'm truly glad he did!

    I'm willing to bet that all great modern-day inventions went through many iterations before things "clicked." Somehow there was an internal knowing that the goal could be reached, and perseverance kept the inventors going. I'm not sure I wouldn't have given up. 

    Ernest Holmes stated that "everything is twice created." First we have the idea in mind, and then through focused effort, the item takes form. It may take a bunch of attempts, but hopefully not 10,000, to get it just right. We are innately designed to create and to continue creating. It does not serve us to identify creations as failures. That hinders us and the creative process. 

    I offer Yoda's wisdom, "Do or do not. There is no try." Have fun creating!

        Leta

 

The Force is with you!!

March 12--Inner Might

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.  --Henry Stanley Haskins

    Staying in the present can be a challenging practice. What we have accomplished or failed to accomplish in the past can stick to us like sand at the beach. It is likewise with worries about the future. We cannot change what lies behind us, and we have limited control over what lies before us, so expending a lot of effort in those directions isn't really useful. The present moment, doing what is the next right thing, keeps us in touch with what lies within us, our very best right now, not distracted by past efforts or future uncertainties. What we have done or may do, successful or unsuccessful, good or bad, does not ever take away the inner essence of Spirit within us. 

        Leta

March 11--What Are You Putting Up With?

The first great rule of life is to put up with things.  --Baltasar Gracian

    Comically, the photograph in "Daily Peace" with this quote is of a glass of wine. I will admit that a bit of alcohol does help me put up with things sometimes. 

    We do put up with a lot of things to get through life... parents, children, work, bosses, strangers, friends, politicians, government, regulations, poor service, queues, delays, clutter, rudeness, pandemic, incompetence, nasty weather, even ourselves. Let's be honest--there are times when the best course of action with those we dearly love is to put up with them. It does not mean love has failed. Letting it all slide by without angst makes life flow much easier. When we can make constructive improvements in any of these things, fine, do it, but remember that one's inner peace is more valuable than any outside thing. 

    Successful "putting up with things" seems to me to be a short-term practice. Long-term tolerance begs the question of why one continues to put up with something like abuse, overwork, addiction, or bullying. Putting up with things can become a bad habit, devastating to one's life energy and soul. It takes effort to continually overlook nasty behavior. 

    I believe it a worthwhile exercise to investigate those things we are putting up with!

        Leta

March 10--Patience

Have patience with all things but first with yourself. Never confuse your mistakes with your value as a human being.  --St. Francis de Sales

    How prophetic! I finished yesterday's post with "We are not our mistakes." Our value comes from the innate spiritual essence within us that can never be diminished or broken. Each of us is unique throughout all of eternity, and that certainly has to be worth something! 

    I love the idea of using patience first right at home, with myself. I can be hyper-critical of myself, not doing enough, either on any given day or in the grand scheme of life. I want things to happen much faster than is reasonable. I don't want to screw up. These ideas are not unique to me. I believe all of us could use more self-patience, self-gentleness, and self-appreciation.

    Breathe,

        Leta

March 9--Let's Be Clear

You mustn't confuse a single failure with a final defeat.  --F. Scott Fitzgerald

    Sometimes we lose a battle, but eventually win the war. Let's face it. We've all had less than stellar moments in life. Because we get up each day and continue to give life a shot, we are going to have some results that we don't like, i.e., "failure." It's quite important not to link failure and self-worth. Our self-worth is based on our willingness to keep trying, keep moving forward, keep living, rather than on one or more failures in life. We are not our mistakes. 

    Practicing life,

        Leta

March 8--Down, Up, Down, Up

The secret of life is to fall seven times and get up eight times.  --Paulo Coelho

    We learn this as babies starting to walk. Fall down, get up, fall down, get up. You'll never find a newly-walking toddler fall down and refuse to get up again. It's innate in us to keep on keeping on. It's a good thing we have this ingrained in us, because life most certainly is going to knock us down more than once. Relationships end, people die, jobs are eliminated, illness happens, accidents occur. Yet somehow we find the strength to get back up and keep coming back for more. 

    Life is good!

        Leta

Everyone has a good heart... a magnificent source of wisdom and intuitive intelligence that can and does create our self-security, resilience, connection and fulfillment.  --Howard Martin of HeartMath