Counting life's blessings (2)

This week it would seem that sod's law was operational in full force!  As we left our meeting geared up to start the week anew with a philosophy of hope and optimism, an increased storm of trials and tribulations seemed to be upon us all as we stepped out into the world. 

I think all of us are battling with the temptation to give into life’s little annoyances as they plague us a little more than usual, testing our resolve.  It's the mid-year crisis: end of financial year, nearing the school holidays, work pressures, personal problems, and it's cold and rainy!  But from what I hear, the group is standing proud and facing up to all these little monsters with grace and gratitude!


But it has made me reflect upon the question: does being grateful and grace-filled mean we have to take it all on the chin?

I am no stranger to the words of many great writers, teachers and philosophers that all talk about the importance of acknowledging our emotions.  Negative thoughts and feelings, bearing grudges, stored resentment, frustration and pain all contribute to not only our state of mind, but our state of being - our physical health and strength.  And so whilst trying to meet our temptations with new-found grace, it is also important to take a moment to recognize the emotion that accompanies the situation. 

Our emotions and actions do not have to be the same thing.  We can acknowledge anger, frustration, disappointment, fear, sadness but still go on to act with grace.  In fact, often recognizing how we are feeling often aids the process of letting go of the situation and allows us to move on a little. 

So, whilst practicing the art of gratitude don’t forget to claim a pause for yourself.  Naming the emotion attached to the situation may make your subsequent action much easier.  Recognizing how we feel may well be the glasses that we need to see past the grey with grace-filled eyes.

Counting life's blessings (1)

I thought I had won the lottery last week!  Well, not the actual lottery, but my own lottery-equivalent.  You know the thing that you desire the most and think will change your life?...For some it might be a job, a traveling opportunity, a family blessing, or an actual lottery win!  Well, I came within a hair’s breadth of mine last week but sadly it slipped just out of reach, timing all wrong I am guessing. 

What do you do when you have to pick yourself up from such disappointment?

Our first lesson to live this month is ‘Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good’.  Pretty appropriate given the week I had last week, or possibly quite challenging when all you want to do is hide in a heap and feel sorry for yourself!  But despite how I might be feeling, I cannot escape the fact that I have so many other things to be grateful for in my life, and when I stop to reflect on them they out-run my disappointment by a mile. 

As I laid in bed last night thinking of this first post I remembered visiting the Grand Canyon years ago.  Last week I felt like I had fallen from the edge, rolled down the rocky cliff side and landed in a heap at the bottom of the canyon.  This week, I am able to pick myself up and realise despite being at the bottom, I am surrounded by beauty that I wouldn’t have otherwise seen.  The view can be just as beautiful from below if we have the grace to see past the fall.  

This month our challenge is to face our disappointments, stresses and strains with grace.  Every time we feel that it is all a little too much, just pause and try to find just one thing in your life that you are grateful for - remind yourself of all the good stuff!  As difficult as it may sometimes be, celebrating our fortunes is so much more uplifting than being overwhelmed by our disappointments.   

Stopping to smell the roses - Book club begins

I have been wanting to be a part of a book club for a long time - not that reading has been happening in my house much these last few months; I have a new hobby... writing! and it seems to have taken over.  It was whilst writing away one day about the trials, tribulations and philosophies of life that this idea came to me....instead of a book club where every month we devote time to reading then get together to talk about it, how about we instead reflect upon the book that we live daily - Life.  

Life presents us with a different book each week, sometimes each day!  We can encounter a thriller, mystery, weepy and even a romance novel all rolled in to one.  And yet often these chapters pass us by without the chance, or time, to reflect on what we thought about it, how it affected us, changed us, challenged us or inspired us even!

And so, combining this whacky idea with some inspiration from an email that I found entitled '50 Life lessons' (by Regina Brett) - The Book-of-Life-club idea was born. 

A small group of us are going to meet once a month having committed to trying to apply one of the 'life-lessons' to our daily lives for the duration of the month.  Nothing to read every night, no study guides for this club - just life, and all its daily ups and downs.  

Every day we complete so many amazing acts of kindness, patience, love and joy and yet we all often go to bed with only the failures or annoyances on our minds.  The aim of book club is to pause, to stop and smell the roses, and in the process learn a little bit more about yourself every month!

It is so important that we all feel validated in our lives, and largely that comes from feeling that we are heard, and respected.  I believe that we do not have that enough in our lives. And so, as a group we are going to try and validate each other in what we say and share by instead helping each other to see what strength, courage, wisdom, patience, insight, love or gift it took each of us to live through our life experience each month rather than just getting together to moan about the negatives!   

Each month, our groups life-lesson will be posted here for those of you who want to check in and report how you are doing, or just stop by for some encouragement or inspiration when you think that you all ready have enough to do in your life without stopping to do something for yourself.  

We are amazing, and Life is a gift (although I am not sure where the pretty bows and ribbons went!) and we are going to celebrate that - together!

welcome!