July 14--The Great Teacher--Experience

Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.  --Randy Pausch

    How many times have we said, "If I knew then what I know now..."? If we know better, we do better. That's experience. 

    One of the things I appreciate about the 12-step programs is that each person creates their own recovery path. We share our "experience, strength and hope," without enforcing rules or giving advice. The members' experience with recovery truly is the most valuable thing we have to offer. Sharing experience lets others know that recovery is possible and there is hope for them, too. 

    Moving into this Friday, I offer this from Joe Davis, All Star Game announcer: "Two of the best things life has to offer--baseball and coffee." 

        Leta

July 13--More on Grief

Grief, I've learned, is really just love. It's all the love you want to give but cannot. All of that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go. 
--Jamie Anderson

    I have been in an extended period of grief. Change of plans, disappointment, my sister-in-law's passing, and aging issues are the major culprits. The quote above says it all for me. I do feel as though I am coming out of the worst of it. 

    Being human, we have to figure out a place for the love to go. Creativity such as painting and writing is essential for me. Gardening connects me to the earth and Mother Nature and soothes my soul. I'm also traveling quite a bit and learning to play pickleball. I am considering ways to spend more time with my older brother who lives 1000 miles away. I am feeling more hope than I have in many months. 

    Grateful,

        Leta

This is the painting that started it all for me,
Jan. 26, 2017

July 12--Ease Up

Patience is needed with everyone, but first of all with ourselves. 
--St. Francis de Sales

    How can we have patience with anyone else if we don't first have it with ourselves? If we are expecting too much of ourselves, it is quite likely we are doing that to others. This generally does not make for good relationships. 

    I used to do many things that I don't do anymore. I used to build things like bird (actually squirrel) feeders. I don't care to mess with power tools anymore. I have painted the entire inside of our house twice. I don't care to paint walls anymore. I am being more patient with my aging body and not forcing it to do things that others can do for me. There is that nasty voice in my head full of "should," but I'm learning to patiently ignore it. 

    Gardening has been a huge teacher of patience for me. Due to having a large tree removed from our yard, I am able once again to grow tomatoes. Below is the first bounty. There is a BLT in my future!

        Leta

Nature's patient creation

July 11--Heart Mystery

We do know that no one gets wise enough to really understand the heart of another, though it is the task of our life to try.  --Louise Erdrich

    I marvel at this idea often. Even though we have been together over 40 years, I am sure there is plenty I do not know about my husband, and vice versa. The same is true for my two sons, and I helped to raise them. Such is the magnificence of the human soul!

    It is challenging enough in a lifetime to understand one's own heart. There is infinite wisdom there, yet it is too often an unused source. I have an image of my heart taking in all that I experience, and continuously blending it all together to create more love in me and in the world. It is our heads that are creating all the world's nastiness. Our hearts would never do such a thing. 

    Certainly we need both head and heart, but we each do the world a favor when we focus on our heart wisdom first. 

        Leta

July 10--Variety is Spicy!

What good is the warmth without cold to give it sweetness?  --John Steinbeck

    I can rephrase this as: what good is the comfort of your own bed without occasionally (not) sleeping on a couch to give it sweetness? After so much fun with my in-laws and family, sleep was not much in the cards for me. I was so worn out by the time we arrived home, I slept for 10 hours. I feel much better, and of course, I am so grateful for my own bed. 😉😉

    I have always lived where there are four seasons--Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Kansas. While I don't care for either extreme heat or extreme cold, I do love the variety the changing seasons offer. Besides the temperature variety, there is also great color variety, which excites me as much as the temperature change. I love the fact that when I am thoroughly fed up with the heat or cold, I know that more moderate temperatures will arrive eventually. 

    Soon I shall head to the garden at 7:00 am to beat the heat of this Kansas day. 

        Leta

July 9--Good Family Fun

Think well of all, be patient with all, and try to find the good in all. 
--Muhammad Ali

    We had a fun gathering of my husband's family last evening. It was pretty much chaos with two dogs playing amongst the crowd. One dog is about 43 pounds, Barney, our herding rescue dog, and the other, Albert, a young dachshund, who thinks he is much bigger than he actually is. Add 10 adults and two small children, and you have a lot of fun, conversation, barking, crying, laughing. A great evening!

    Homeward bound,

        Leta

We had a great supper of 
cabbage rolls, yummy!

July 8--Patient or Petty?

Just be quiet and patient. Let evil and unpleasantness pass quietly over you. Do not try to avoid them. On the contrary, observe them carefully. Let active understanding take the place of reflex irritation, and you will grow out of your trouble. Men can achieve greatness only by surmounting their own littleness. 
--Franz Kafka

    We are going to visit my husband's family. My husband and I don't fit into the religious and political molds the rest of his family have created for themselves. As a result, we generally avoid talking about such things. Our philosophical differences don't matter, really, as they are family and we love them. We could get little, petty and argumentative, but it would serve no purpose other than to display our littleness. Understanding and patience will make for a much nicer visit. 

    The same is true for my brother. When he goes off on a political rant, I chant to myself, "I love him so much, just listen." For folks at opposite ends of a belief spectrum, there is no possibility of changing minds, and it only displays littleness in attempting to do so. 

    Choosing peace over being right (whatever that is),

        Leta