There are many aspects of life that we don’t understand, yet accept. Those things we can’t see, those extraordinary and inexplicable things that sometimes happen to us. Amazing things, because life itself is a miracle.
Here’s a passage concerning some of those inexplicable events from one of my novels, historical fiction, entitled, The Wind That Shakes the Corn. The narrator is a determined woman who has been through a lot in her life, including the American Revolution. The headstrong character, James, is her grandson. The boy, Story, is her great grandson, and the son of a very unsavory British officer who the narrator has murdered.
I could not shake the notion that the constant chill on the back of my neck was Story’s un-dead father, waiting in the offing for his chance to do us dirt. I’d revealed to no one the strange, extinguished campfire I’d seen just beyond the mouth of the cave, or that when I touched it, the ashes were still warm. I did not mention my distress when, on the very next night, I saw its glow creep around the aperture in the rock and heard a sound of cynical amusement rise from behind the hedges. The dead do not come back, I told myself. Nevertheless, my fear of it remained.
I came close to cautioning James about the danger of the un-dead, but he would have ridiculed my warning as only a daydream. Already, he scoffed at the idea that his healing was a miracle, as did his nephews. Self-importance did not allow them to recognize the extraordinary, but whether they gave it credence or not, James’s cure and mine were far from the ordinary.
Always, I accepted the presence of miracles–that water flowed, that air moved and fire burned, that seeds grew in the earth, and babies formed within women. But I had paid little heed to other phenomenon, that part of our nature that draws from the divine. A man can love, beyond hating. He can hope, beyond despair.
All life–the seen and the unseen–is truly amazing. But do we see it that way?
Do we notice the goodness in others or only their pettiness? A person can be both, of course, and that in itself is amazing. It’s called ‘free will,’ that gift God gave us because He loves us so.
God wants us to love Him back, wants us to seek Him out in every aspect of our lives. How amazing is that?
The fact is that God is with us every minute of our lives. His hands reach out for us continuously. Sadly, we often don’t care enough to notice. We turn in an opposite direction, a direction that is superficial and plays only to our temporary life on this Earth.
It’s hard to believe that someone could be totally lonely in our busy—and seemingly connected–world. There are so many ways to communicate with each other. At least, electronically.
But is it ‘real’ communication? Haven’t you noticed people sitting in restaurants, across the table from each other where conversation would be easy? But they are not in conversation. Instead, they’re fiddling with their iPhones. Each of them, hoping to connect to that piece of equipment for some message they perceive as important–while missing connection with the person directly in front of them.
We are all meant to connect. Truthfully, we’re all connected to each other. Not by cell phone, or Facebook, but by the fact that we’re created in the image of God and because of that, our creation has a common purpose–goodness. Read the rest of this entry »
My husband and I are “fixing up” our house. We allotted ourselves a budget, so I looked through magazines for ideas to modernize and make our house prettier, and then I showed my husband the pictures. He wasn’t impressed.
“We have to start with the innards,” he said. “Those things that are not working correctly and really need to be fixed–like the AC, the hot water heater, the sprinkler system, better insulation, etc.”
Innards are the interior workings of a thing, the insides or guts. Innards don’t sound exciting, let alone beautiful. Often, they are hidden, so we don’t even notice them, and they don’t make a house prettier— they do, however, make a house last.
Not many of us want to look at the innards of things–especially the interior innards of our own ‘selves.’ One reason might be out of shame, because we know we could do better, and haven’t.
Another reason is that inner things are often harder to fix. It’s easier to spruce ourselves up on the outside with new clothes, hair-cuts, or make-up. We want the world to see a pretty outside, rather than do the harder work of BEING a better person inside.
How do we get to be a better person? We first have to take a good look at ourselves—especially the way we treat others. We have to be able to stand in the other person’s shoes in order to feel compassion for him or her. If we have compassion, it’s easier not to get angry with another. It’s also easier to forgive if we try to understand the person who’s hurt us.
These inner qualities can only be seen through the actions we take toward others—and ourselves, because we’re meant to love ourselves as well, and to forgive ourselves, too.
Do we want to be just another prettied up face in the crowd? Or do we want to be a person who matters in the lives of others?
Before we concentrate on our superficial looks, let’s first see if our innards need fixing and start there.
Do you feel your life is in ruins? Do you want to rebuild it?
This is a column by Luminita D. Saviuc, Purpose Fairy. One of my daughters sent it to me and I found it very valuable for starting a new year.
How to Begin Rebuilding Your Life and Make it Ridiculously Amazing
“Our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses and disappointments; but let us have patience and we soon shall see them in their proper figures.” ~ Joseph Addison
What if one day you woke up and decided that you were tired of feeling tired and that you had enough of everything? Enough of stress and anxiety, enough of anger and resentment, enough of struggle, lack, pain and poverty, enough of tears, heartbreaks, self destructive thoughts, behaviors and relationships and enough of all that is negative and toxic? What if you decided that you wanted to change yourself and your life but didn’t know where exactly to start, what then?
There are many things you can do to begin rebuilding your life and make it ridiculously amazing and today I will share with you 12 things that are meant to help you do just that. Are you ready? Let’s begin:
1. Make a commitment to yourself
I (name),
Make a commitment to myself,
To spend so much time improving myself and my life that I have no time for worry, judgement, criticism, whining and complaining;
To forgive, release and let go of my attachment to any past struggles and allow every challenge life sends my way to make me better not bitter.
Starting now, I make a commitment to let go of what’s behind me and start appreciating what’s in front of me;
To let go of all the pointless drama, all the toxic relationships, thoughts and behaviors that are present in my life and to constantly shift my focus from the bad on to the good;
To make room in my heart for love, happiness, peace and tranquility and to create my life from a place of infinite choices and possibilities – the present moment, and no longer from a place of limitations – the past.
I commit to staying true to myself at all times and to never betray myself just so I can please other people.
I commit myself to give up on toxic thought, behaviors and relationships but never on myself and my dreams.
Starting now and starting today, I will begin rebuilding my life and to make it ridiculously amazing.
Sincerely,
(name)
Once you truly commit to rebuilding your life and making it ridiculously amazing, nothing and no one will be able to stand in your way.
2. Forgive, release and let go of past hurts and resentments
Fill your heart with love. Forgive, release and let go. Not necessary because those who mistreated you deserve it, but because you do. Let forgiveness liberate you from your past. Allow it to take away all the resentment you kept in heart for all this time and allow yourself to fill in that empty space with love, inner peace and compassion.
If others mistreated you in the past it doesn’t mean you have to continue their work. Look how beautiful Mark Twain talks about this: “Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”
Release and let go of all the negativity from your life. Start small and trust that as you work on letting go of all the extra baggage that is weighting you down, you will begin to feel lighter and you will gain a lot more clarity over your life. You will feel happier and more at peace with yourself and the world around you.
3. Embrace with grace all that you face
Shift your focus from the bad on to the good, from the pain on to the gain, from resentment on to the forgiveness, gratitude and appreciation. Learn to embrace with grace all that you face.
Appreciate everything life sends your way, whether good or bad and know that “Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” ~ Melody Beattie
4. Visualize your achievements and create your destiny
Ask yourself the same question I asked myself a few years ago when I decided to let go of my attachment to my past and begin rebuild my whole life: “If there were no limits to what I can do, be and have, how would my life look like?”
Let your imagination run wild. Dare to dream big. Don’t settle for less than you are worth.
The richer your imagination, the more beautiful your life will be.
“The power of imagination is incredible. Often we see athletes achieving unbelievable results and wonder how they did it. One of the tools they use is visualization or mental imagery… they made the choice to create their destinies and visualized their achievements before they ultimately succeeded.” ~ George Kohlrieser
See in your mind’s eye the life you would love to live, the person you would love to become and the relationships you would want to have. Live your life from the end and act as if all of the things you need and desire are already present in your life. Feel the feelings that come from having all those wonderful things happen to you and allow those feelings to be with you at all times.
5. Dreams won’t work unless you do
Act upon your heart’s desire. Do the things you need to do in order to get where you want to get. Read the books you need to read, contact the people you need to contact, build the skills you need to build.
Find a mentor. Dare to ask questions. Do whatever it takes to move yourself closer to making your dreams come true.
Trust that with every step you take, your life situation will improve and you will become even more happier than you already are.
6. Take one step at a time
Because of the many years of past conditioning and the intense training you have in holding on to toxic thoughts, behaviors and unhealthy relationships, giving up on all that is toxic in your life won’t be easy and it won’t happen overnight. Chances are that you won’t see major improvements in your life immediately, and that’s okay. Be patient and gentle with yourself while working on rebuilding your life and remember to enjoy the journey.
“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.” ~ Greg Anderson
Take one step at a time and keep in mind that a journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step.
7. Develop a deep trust in life
You have to have faith. You have to have trust… Trust in yourself, trust in the people you interact with and trust in life.
Put your fears aside. Allow yourself to be vulnerable. Develop a deep trust in the wisdom of life. “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” ~ Matthew 17:20
8. Give yourself permission to “fail”
Give yourself permission to “fail” and make “mistakes”.
Trust me when I tell you that in every “mistake” there is a lesson to learn, lesson that will be very beneficial to you as you continue walking on your life’s chosen path.
“There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, they’re necessary to reach the places we’ve chosen to go.” ~ Richard Bach
9. Be good to yourself
Love yourself and be good to yourself because if you do, the world around you will start mirroring your behavior. Take good care of your mind, body, heart and soul. Exercise, drink plenty of water, eat healthy and delicious food.
Nurture good thoughts. Act in compassionate and loving ways, towards yourself and the world around you. Spend time alone, spending at least 5 to 10 minutes per day in silence will help make you feel refreshed, rejuvenated and renewed.
Go outside. Spend some time in nature. Look at the plants, the sky, the stars, the moon and the trees. Celebrate the miracle of life.
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ~ Albert Einstein
10. Give up living your life to other people’s expectations
Way too many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They live their lives according to what others think is best for them, they live their lives according to what their parents think is best for them, to what their friends, their enemies and their teachers, their government and the media think is best for them. They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, with living up to other people’s expectations, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need….and eventually they forget about themselves.
Never get your sense of worth from outside yourself. Your worth comes from inside yourself and not from forces outside yourself – people, events, material possessions. Don’t ever let other people tell you how much you’re worth, decide for yourself. It’s called self worth not others worth.
You have one life – this one right now – you must live it, own it, and especially don’t let other people’s opinions distract you from your path.
11. Discipline your mind to stay present in the NOW
Learn to be present and engaged in the present moment. Be happy with what you have, what you know and who you are right now. Don’t allow your mind to trick you into thinking that you won’t be happy until you get where you want to get.
Appreciate what’s in front of you. If you learn how to be present and engaged in the NOW, you will live a very happy and content life and no matter how many challenges life will send your way, you will become a better not bitter person.
“As soon as you honor the present moment, all unhappiness and struggle dissolve, and life begins to flow with joy and ease. When you act out the present-moment awareness, whatever you do becomes imbued with a sense of quality, care, and love – even the most simple action.” ~ Eckhart Tolle,
12. Surround yourself with loving and supportive people
Surround yourself with positive, cheerful, supportive and loving people. People who can lift you up when you are feeling down; people who will turn on the light for you when you are in the dark; people who can see you for what you truly are and who you can truly become. Take the advice of Mark Twain and “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
You need positive and loving friends who will support you in your new way of life…
Commit yourself to making the best of everything life sends your way. Be soft and flexible. Go with the flow of life and no longer against it.
Enjoy the ride and no matter what happens to you and no matter how many challenges and difficult people life might send your way, know that they are all there to help you grow and evolve into the beautiful being you so much want and deserve to be.
You only have one life to live. Make it a memorable one.
Give up on all the toxicity present in your life but never on yourself and your dreams, ok?
“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.” ~ Don Williams Jr.
How do you envision your ideal self? What about your ideal life? What steps could you take this week to move yourself closer to building your ideal self and living your ideal life? I really want to know what are your thoughts on this. You can share your insights by joining the conversation in the comment section below 🙂
This will be my last post for the next few days. I have lots of family coming for Christmas and New Years, so quite a bit of preparation on my agenda.
As people do, I’m remembering other Christmases because Christmases have the ability to track time for me, and I’ll bet they do for you, too. A year in time can change our lives.
Who was there at a particular Christmas, who was not? What things went right, or what went wrong? What was funny? What was sad? Our Christmases are filled with emotional memories.
I go back to my own childhood, and a rusty red swing on Christmas Eve–no shoes, it wasn’t cold enough for shoes that year.
I swung high as I could, nearly upside down, attempting to toe a high branch on a huge live oak in the back yard of my aunt, uncle, and cousins house, across the street from mine—- dreaming of all the toys I’d find the next morning under the Christmas tree. So much excitement! Imagination and anticipation do that.
How many of you ever actually saw Santa Claus when he visited your house ? You smile? Well, I’m certain I did on one particular Christmas Eve coming home from Midnight Mass— a flash of red just behind the chimney, the jingle of sleigh bells on a roof covered, not with snow, but pine straw.
We all have Christmas memories, some warm and delightful— and maybe others that we’d like to forget. And we do have that power to forget, to overlook and move on from Christmases that did not produce feelings of joy.
Your worst Christmas? Mine was the impending surgery of my middle daughter, three days after Christmas for a malignant brain tumor. That Christmas began many years of worry, but it began something else, too—my real joy, my total appreciation of the family I was blessed with. Remember the old song lyric—“You don’t know what you’ve got until you lose it?”
I think it’s good to Remember When— the good times and the bad, because we can learn from both.
This is a season that can fill us with strength, resolve, and a brand new lease on our lives.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!
And to my husband, my five children, nine–soon to be ten!–grandchildren, sister, cousins, and their families, too. We’ve made it through the good times and the not so good. So let’s Remember When with all the love we’ve got!
As wonderful a time of year as the Christmas season is, it can also be burdensome.
There are the decorations, the presents, the cooking, the cleaning, the extra school parties—not to mention the price tag for all these things!
Mothers with children and grandchildren are especially stressed at a time when we wish we could simply breathe and enjoy the Birthday of our Savior.
But preparation is necessary. In fact, Advent is the season of Preparation– and Waiting.
In all our busyness, we can keep in mind what we are trying to do—-create a celebration worthy of such a Birthday, but we are also preparing our children and family for the joy of receiving, not only wrapped gifts, but the joy of knowing that because of Our Savior, we have the promise of eternal life.
We will be the givers of many presents this Christmas, but let’s not forget that we are the receivers of the greatest gift of all. And when we get tired–and yes, cranky. When we want to spout off at whomever is in front of our face—let’s take a load off ourselves and give it to Him. That’s the gift God wants from us—our Trust that He will handle it all for us if we truly allow him the chance to do so.
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 …
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, no one can disagree that today’s world is obsessed with things sexual. Sex not only drives us as individuals, but also our society as a whole. We’ve come to a saturation point of sex in advertising, movies, music, books, and even changes in our language; all to accommodate this beautiful God-given drive within us that is now, so misguided.
“Every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is looking for God,” said G. K. Chesterton.
All of us are looking for intimacy. All of us are looking for love. And what is the true definition of God? God IS love. So it is God we are looking for–even when we sin, or maybe especially when we sin.
This is how Evil uses us. This is how Evil changes the image we see of ourselves in the mirror of our hearts, replacing it with a false image, and false desire.
Addictive sex is one of many counterfeits we accept in place of a fulfilling relationship with God. There is a very good article about this: http://www.pureintimacy.org/ The page is sponsored by Focus on the Family and surely worth a read.
Personally, I don’t know how much more we, as a people, can take of this saturation of sex and still remain ‘higher than the animals.’ Because the sex drive in a human being, meant to be loving and pro-creative, is being debased to the level of a garbage dump.
In the media, it’s all a matter of giving people what they want. And if this is what we want, we are surely getting it, to the great detriment of the goodness God put within us.
We want to love others, but loving is hard. Sometimes we are devoid of any fluffy feeling.
It all comes down to a decision we must make: I will love this person. I will give him, or her, respect. I will see God’s spirit in him. I may not like this person. But I’m called to love them, regardless. Because of my attempt to love, I am following the Greatest Commandment, and I become better, too.
Now, what about those who are trying to love me? Am I hard to love?
Am I sarcastic, vindictive, or mean to someone? Do I cheat or lie to them? Do I ignore them, and put my own needs ahead of theirs? Does the person who’s trying to love me have to walk on eggshells so as not to upset my sensitive nature? How can I expect someone to love me if I have traits like these?
We can make it much easier for those who are trying to love us by taking a good, honest look at ourselves. If we don’t like what we see, we must change it.
And one of them, a doctor of the Law, putting him to the test, asked him, “Master, which is the great commandment in the Law?” Jesus said to him, “‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind.’ This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like it, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.–Matthew 22:35-40
Is there someone in your life who is so hungry for your touch that they would die for you?
Is there someone behind you every step of the way, someone who gently nudges you forward, someone who lifts you when you fall?
You say no? You say you wish there was? You say you’ve been searching for that kind of relationship?
But you don’t have to wish for it. You have it now. You have our God–yours and mine. And He is hungry for our touch. He is waiting for us to remember that He is here.
So what will we do? All it takes is our reach. His hand is already out, reaching for us.
He is hungry for our touch. He is waiting for us to hear His words: I’m madly in love with you! I’m who you are searching for. Turn to me.
Remember, love is a two-way street.
It’s our choice. Will we turn our back on His invitation?
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” – Albert Einstein
Well, that would have to be the imagination of our Creator. With a magnitude that is inconceivable to us, only God knows all and understands all.
The root word in “imagination” is image. God used his imagination to create us. We are made in the image and likeness of God. We are made with memory, imagination, and will.
Free will.
For Human Beings, it is our memory that leads to imagination. And imagination causes us to freely act.
We use our memory to recall events of our life, and those events can stoke our imagination positively, such as the memory of our best Christmas or Thanksgiving so far, and that leads to next year, and then the action of how we’ll create an even better Christmas or Thanksgiving.
Memory can also stoke a negative imagination. Someone did me wrong last week, and then the action of how will I get back at him?
Our memories are entirely our own. If we choose to re-hash and re-hash past hurts, it is no one’s fault but ours that we are miserable. It’s no wonder that our lives seem dark and confusing.
We have an imagination that can alleviate that.
Our imagination can bring light back to our lives when we look at the bad situation with a different perspective. Then with our free will, we can choose to ‘act out’ in a positive way.
All this, through our imagination. But too often, we don’t, or won’t, use it.
It’s our imagination that allows us to move on and keep going, because it allows us to forgive. Our Creator never remembers our sins once we’ve repented them. If we are made in His image and likeness, and by His imagination, then shouldn’t we try to do the same?
Translating a World on the Edge 