Day 10-Blessings and Gifts

Good morning my lovelies,

Today is going to be great. Why you ask?  Simply because I say it will be.

Life is full of blessings.

I once clipped out a single Family Circus cartoon from the Sunday paper when I was much younger.  Of course, just now I was able to find it on the internet (Lord bless everyone who uploads stuff all day, every day)  so I can actually show it to you: 

Now we have all heard this quote at some point. I remember liking this so much when I was around 12.  I have no idea why it spoke to me enough to clip it out, but it did. I still have it in one of the boxes I haven't unpacked.  It is such a simple phrase, but so true. 

I have since switched my quote preference to this one from Master Oogway (Kung Fu Panda):

 It's funny how more than 2.5 decades later the same basic phrase stuck out to me. 

Yesterday IS history, it is a part of your history but it does NOT define todays gift.  Tomorrow is an unknown, no matter how much we plan, something may or will be different than we envision.  Today however is a gift wrapped in the color of the sunrise and full of endless ability and love.  Full of tiny treasures like seeing a bee butt wiggling in a flower as it collects pollen or that delicious cup of tea you may be drinking right now.  Full of opportunities to brighten the day even more with your smiles, laughter, and kind words.  Full of big moments where you get to literally write your own story, one small gesture at a time. Full of the promise of today, not tomorrow.  Each moment is a gift.  Even the worst moments can be a gift if we allow them to teach us and help us grown.  Yup, pain is even a gift.

As Dumbledore would say:

It's your greatest strength for a couple reasons:

1-You have an opportunity to grow every single time.  Each pain, if we allow, will show us a way we need to change and grow internally.  If someone says something that hurts you... why does it hurt you? Dig deep. You will find that kernel of insecurity/fear/etc at the core of it.  And then when you face THAT.... the pain goes.  And that particular pain can end up never coming back again. If you can find that kernel, and address it, you can heal a part of you.  Heck it may be a part that was hidden so well you had no idea it existed! You can grow as a person through everything!

2-it means you are capable of feelings and connections and have not shut down 100%.  Congratulations, you are not a psychopath!

This morning for example, I had to put gross stuff in the laundry.  I didn't feel negative about it. I literally thought "I'm so grateful I have the sweet child who puked on this.  I'm so glad he's feeling better.  I'm so grateful I got to put on the sheets I bought months ago they are SO COMFY!  I'm so grateful he slept well because he needed it.  I'm so happy I have a washing machine.  Lord, please bless abundantly the inventor of the washing machine."  Then I went and got my tea and sat down to write and didn't think about it again until JUST now.

See the whole thing about yesterday being history... that can also apply to the last hour.  Or even seconds.

EACH current moment deserves our engagement. Even if that engagement is to sit and do nothing and appreciate the air filling our lungs.  Even if it involves tears.  Feel it, then allow it to pass and move forward. 

Easier said than done, eh?  

Yes, it is.  At first. 

Then somehow, it becomes easier every single day.  Like breathing.  Your mind and body learn that the fear of tomorrow and the sorrow of the past don't matter.  Not really. 

This doesn't mean we don't plan! (seriously, you should see the way I plan for trips!) I doesn't mean we don't dream (I have a bucket list.  A to do list.  A "I want to do now" list.) or think about our future.  We have to plan a little or we would be in pretty dire straights!  When you get your paycheck, do not "live in the moment" and blow it all on gummy bears, chardonnay, and books.  You receive it with gratitude, even if it's less than you would want, and you take a moment or 40 to access where it must go, do that, and then you are back to not thinking on it.  Because it's moment has passed.  You, in the present, did what was needed and prepared for the near future NEEDS.  You don't dwell on how much more it should be.  Or how big it was.  Or if it will always be there.  You simply accept the gift and keep moving.



Thoughts that have helped me get to this point:
-Will this really matter in 5 years? 10?
-Who am I worried about reacting?
-Why does this upset me so much? What is the root of the fear/pain?
-How can this be a blessing? (I'm up at 3 am.  wtf. ok.  well, this gives me a few hours of alone quiet time.  I can take this time to do a few things or to read or to watch that show I've been meaning to!)
There can be a benefit to damn near every single situation IF you allow it.
-Is this worth loading on my back?(more on this later)
-What is beautiful about this moment right here?
-What can I learn?