Courage

“Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow.” 

~ Mary Anne Radmacher

The outstretched hand...

Sometimes, reaching out and taking someone's hand is the beginning of a journey.

At other times, it is allowing another to take yours.” 

~ Vera Nazarian

Listening

It is a rare gift.  We all possess the ability...but we need to realize how important it is....and take the time to simply listen!

“This is the problem with dealing with someone who is actually a good listener. They don’t jump in on your sentences, saving you from actually finishing them, or talk over you, allowing what you do manage to get out to be lost or altered in transit. Instead, they wait, so you have to keep going.” 

~ Sarah Dessen

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” 

~ Stephen R. Covey

Sleep

For a variety of reasons.....there is no more left of me tonight.  So I will  get to bed early, rest and recharge.....and still curse the alarm clock in the morning.

“There is no sunrise so beautiful that it is worth waking me up to see it.” 

~ Mindy Kaling

A helping hand

As you may know the taskof leaf removable is very stressful to me.  I just don't possess the talent or tools to take care of the vast population of leaves that jump to their death in my yard.  We were fortunate enough to borrow some leaf blowers and Alex and I spent a good deal of time outside on Friday trying to gently coax the leaves to the wooded areas that border our yard.  We went inside weary, but feeling like we had made a dent.  Enter the Nor'easter of this past weekend.  I looked outside on Sunday to see that it almost didn't look as if we had done anything.  It was very disheartening to me.

I arrived home from work today to find that Alex had been outside almost since he had arrived home trying to put those darn leaves back in their place,  That little bit of help from him made all the difference in how I was feeling about the task of removing the leaves.  I joined in and by the time we went inside, we both felt like we had really accomplished something and the rest of the task is able to be done.  

Sometimes, all you need is someone to give you a little help....to be in it with you....and the workload suddenly seems lighter.....and for that help to come unexpected from a teenager who usually needs to be begged and cajoled....well let's just say that doubled the blessing!!

“I wished for someone to hold me up. Suddenly someone was there.” 

~ Christie Watson

Light

This has been a quiet and restful weekend....which I welcomed after the crazy amount of activity of the last month.  Yet, this weekend is always my most dreaded each year.  This is the weekend that I officially bid a fond farewell to the light.  I know the days have been getting shorter and the darkness sneaks up on me a little earlier....but on the night that we turn the clocks back....it's official....winter is just about here.

It didn't help that this particular weekend, as if to emphasize the point, a nor'easter came to visit....and as it left, it took my power with it.  I got to thinking about that sequence of events.  That is exactly what the light does for me...it gives me power, hope, the will to get through today and tomorrow, no matter what they have in store.  But when the darkness encroaches....with my light, goes my power.... the darkness makes me tired and weak and robs me of my will to some degree.

I am sure no one reaches my age, but they haven't had to deal with some measure of darkness in their life.  It's painful to remember those dark hours...when not a glimmer of light could be seen....when you just didn't know how you would make it through that tunnel...tired and scared and weak.  And yet....I somehow had soaked up enough light to see my way through that darkness...the light came from somewhere deep within...and I emerged on the other side with my light not diminished...but more brilliant from the experience.
So I bid the light a fond farewell and I will be joyfully waiting it's return....but in the meantime...I will try to shine as brightly as I know how... to light the path of those who are stumbling in those dark places.

“It's not what you have on the outside that glitters in light, it's what you have on the inside that shines in the dark.” 

~ Anthony Liccione

My saints

Today, November 1st, is All Saints Day.  I did a little research and found information about who celebrates it and how it is celebrated. It is a day to remember the saints....those known and unknown...and those who have passed on.

I like the fact that there is a day to remember some of the people who have left my life.....this life.  It's necessary to me to have a day ....that I can circle on the calendar and pause in the busyness of life to intentionally remember the lives of those who I loved...who I continue to love.

I look at their faces and I think of who they were, of how they lived their lives...of their personalities, their stories....their struggles and successes.  It's important to me that there be a day to remind me to spend a moment giving thanks for their lives.  But the truth is....they are never truly gone from me for long.  I pause, maybe only momentarily to remember them in a thousand things...in a song or a story or a joke.  I often think of them at a specific time of year or when I come across a tangible reminder that I have saved.  Sometimes I remember them as I look at a family member who brings them to mind.  I think of them when a look, a smile, a laugh, or gesture brings them to mind.  Or perhaps...it is when I am alone that the thought of them just floods over me.....unbeckoned....and I feel an overwhelming sense of their presence......and I wonder....

I often question if, during the course of their lives, they ever wondered if they would be remembered.  I believe that if you love and share that love....you will always be remembered and always live in the hearts of those who hold you dear.  And so today....I remember the saints in my life.  I give thanks for them and all the days we had together, all the meals and laughs shared....and I give thanks that I was fortunate enough to be chosen to share some of their very precious time on earth. So on this day.......and so many others, I give thanks for my saints.

“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” 

~ Thomas Campbell