Category Archives: hope

hope, inspiration, june, optimism, writing

Morning’s Power

Every day comes with its own challenges and celebrations. Usually I wake up feeling ‘behind’ as if I already need to work extra hard to catch up. On days like that, waking up often starts me off with a feeling of dread or overwhelm.

If someone were to ask me how I feel when I wake up, I would in all honesty say that I feel happy and blessed with the arrival of every new day. In theory, that’s always true. I know that I am fortunate to have another day and that my day is highly unlikely to require me to haul drinking water from a village well, or cope with snipers after a curfew, or wonder how far I can stretch some rice to feed my family.

If we are not starving and are not afraid for our safety, it gives us time to make up new “emergencies” that are really not important at all.

Already, in the blessing of having been born in Canada in a middle class family and in a safe neighborhood, I’ve won the proverbial lottery. If you’re connected to the internet and have enough ‘free’ time to read this post, you’ve probably won the same lottery too.

I guess, before anything else clutters our mind, we should start by remembering that. Thinking with a global mindset usually defuses a lot of the otherwise upsetting challenges we are facing. It shakes some common sense into us about the fret over a cluttered room or the preoccupation over the ins and outs of daily chores and work/family balance and the number on our bathroom scale.

I watched a person on YouTube who has created a pretty successful brand for herself online. The work she does in that forum keeps her very busy and sometimes stressed. She popped into my mind as I was writing this post because she went to Africa about 6 or 8 months ago on a mission to empower girls and women. I think she went to Kenya. I am thinking about this because for a time after that trip, her mindset was profoundly changed. She took more time to consider the things that she let stress her out and when she would raise an issue, she immediately reminded herself of the far more oppressive problems facing the people she had met on her trip, she would say “first world problem” as a way of chastising herself and reminding us all of how blessed we are.

I really enjoyed seeing that transformation. In the months after my stroke while I was living in a couple of hospitals, my mind had a new way of seeing the world. I realized that there were thousands of people like me, in the hospital. I also realized that the things that used to preoccupy me really weren’t the things that matter the most in life. It doesn’t matter if I managed to repaint my front door as much as I might let it dominate my thoughts. It doesn’t matter if I managed to see a friend for a coffee this week or not because the true friends won’t use it against me and we will be able to pick up where we left off without any worry about drama.

Anything that can’t survive real life doesn’t deserve to be part of my life anyway. A friendship that takes a ton of effort to maintain and hold drama at bay is not a friendship worth the investment. A circle of friends who make you feel ashamed of having them over for a meeting or coffee because you’ve fallen behind on some housework are not the people you need to surround yourself with. And the chores that keep getting postponed to the next day because more important things take up your time don’t merit the self-imposed berating that you punish yourself with.

Our perspective gets screwed up when we already have the basics of what we need. If we are not starving and are not afraid for our safety it gives us time to make up new “emergencies” that are really not important at all.

I think it’s useful, now and then, to check what’s eating at us and look at how important it is in the grand scheme of things.

I use a bullet journal method of organizing myself which allows me to keep running lists of things I need to take care of or whatever pops into my mind. It’s amazing how granular my preoccupations can become. I can get so picky and so deep into the weeds of life that I forget that the important thing in life is to just keep swimming (as Dory would say).

I woke up today at 5 am and I took the early morning minutes to first start off by saying thank you to God for the opportunity of this day. I then decided to focus on the fact that today is going to be a good day. I decided that I really wanted to get my Monday blog post done and then I might tackle a few more list tasks but that today would be a good day whether I got one or twenty jobs done.

With that mental conversation, my approach to the day totally changed into a victory even from the start line. It made me realize how much “failure” or “success” happens between our ears and it also made me realize the power of how you start your day. Mornings are powerful… even if your morning starts after noon. Take hold of the first few minutes of your day and wrap your arms around them and give them a big kiss. Treat the morning the way you want the day to treat you – with joy and happiness and optimism. Win the race even before your first step.

Be well,

Jen

hope, inspiration

When your hut is on fire

When your hut is on fire

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.
Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect himself from the elements, and to store his few possessions.
One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up into the sky. He felt the worst had happened and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, ‘God! How could you do this to me?’
Early the next morning he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him!
‘How did you know I was here?’ asked the weary man of his rescuers.
‘We saw your smoke signal,’ they replied.
[It’s easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn’t lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering.]
+ reprinted from “The Divine Messenger: A contact with Divine Infant Parish”
hope, inspiration

Time to Rise

Such a season of renewal!

Spring offers so many ways to remind of the blessings of life. Watching the return of the lawn from beneath the snowy blanket; watching the busy activity of the many creatures who must be celebrating winter’s withdrawal; watching the bulbs resiliently pushing their way up through warming soil… so many ways to be reminded of the opportunities in Spring.

We mustn’t forget the amazing examples we have had over the course of human history to teach us about our promise as strong and determined people. Nations have recovered after terrible losses inflicted in War. People who have suffered immense challenges have chosen and fought to live and love despite their amazing struggles. Communities have rallied to re-claim their neighbourhoods and proudly walk with heads held high and backs straight and strong.

Whatever your faith, there have been amazing examples of how to live life. Examples of how to serve others, how to suffer with grace, how to be one person in a world of many, and how to leave a place better than it was when we arrived.

Since September 2010 I have been fortunate to have had time to focus on regaining my strength (both physically and emotionally). I have also grown each day closer and closer to understanding who I am, why I survived and what I am going to do next.

If I were to write you a story to talk about the challenge of this experience it would go something like this:

“Once upon a time there was a small girl standing at the edge of a huge ocean… She had washed up on the beach some time ago and had rested enough to be able to stand and consider what she should do next.

She felt grateful that she had survived and felt hopeful that her life was meant to contribute something to the world – her work must not yet be done.

She looked out at the broad and vast horizon. In front of her, the horizon stretched over the ever-changing, mesmerizing blue sea as far as her eyes could see. Overwhelmed, she turned to her right. She saw the beautiful stretch of sandy beach and the beginning of land. 

The strong land grew out of that beach and as she looked further right she saw that the grass and hills and mountains in the distance offered a million possible paths, each travelling toward a different part of the same horizon. She looked further and further to her right, wheeling around on her heels, feeling more desperate to find her next path.

Having made a full circle seeking an indication of where she was meant to go, she was still no further ahead. 

She felt totally alone and overwhelmed by the importance of making the right decision about which direction she should choose to set out.

So she closed her eyes, breathed deeply and prayed. ‘Lord, I am lost. I cannot walk on water and I cannot fly. But I will do anything you ask me to do.’

She immediately felt a warm, familiar presence. She knew He was busy, had many to help and she wanted to help Him too, so she quickly asked, ‘Please Lord, tell me: Do you want me to head out over the seas? Do you want me to walk along the beach? Should I walk up into the meadow and beyond the hills?’

The Lord looked down at her with infinite patience and whispered to her His answer before He turned His attention to others… ‘Yes.’

She sat there patiently hoping that there would be more guidance but none came.

The sun set and she watched the tide ebb and the beach grow and she eventually fell asleep feeling almost paralyzed with fear of not choosing the right path.

When she woke up she saw an angel sitting facing her on the sandy beach. She didn’t feel the need to ask them who they are or why they were there. She knew those answers.

Letting her wake fully, the angel waited before asking her: ‘Why are we still here?’

She sighed feeling like a failure and a disappointment and said ‘I’m not sure – I think I’m just too afraid to make a mistake and waste the rest of my life in the wrong place.’

‘Well what is it that you want to do?’

‘I want to live a life to be proud of, help others who need help and leave this place better than I found it.’

Nodding, the angel asked, ‘Which people and which place?’

‘Anyone… everyone and anywhere I go.’

‘Well if that is your goal, how can you go the wrong way?’

She looked down at the sand and smiled softly. Taking a deep breath and got up brushing sand off of herself and she set out. ‘You’re right,’ she said.

She walked and walked and walked. The angel went with her in silence; calmly by her side. Finally she said to the angel, ‘Why did God not tell me that? I had a problem and I called out to Him feeling lost and alone.’

The angel nodded again, understanding her frustration, but said, ‘First of all, I think He did answer your questions and the answer to all of them was ‘Yes’ – I think He was sure you would go the right way.’

They continued to walk in silence. Then the angel added, *’When God solves your problems you have faith in His abilities.’ She nodded. ‘When He does not solve your problems I guess He has faith in your abilities.’*

She stopped walking and stared at the angel. The angel made a small wave and disappeared in a vapor on the breeze.

She took a deep breath, set her eye on the horizon and she walked on.

~ JSVM

[ * Credit to the angel who once upon a time came to my bedside and told me *those words inside the asterisks above* when I most needed to hear them.]


Friends, worry not. You are exactly where you are meant to be at this very moment. You will know when it’s time to get up and walk on.


Happy Easter to you all and I wish you a wonderful spring resurrection.


Be well,
Jen