Our struggles can serve us…

An interesting thought from spiritual author and teacher Marrianne Williamson:

“In order to create their beautiful plumage, peacocks sometimes eat thorns. Hard, pointed, razor-like objects are processed in their abdomens and then contribute to feathers with colors and shapes unmatched throughout nature for their extraordinary beauty.”

She continued saying…”So it is with us. Often that which is the hardest to digest, to process, to integrate into our life experience is what ultimately transforms us in a positive way. We become who we are meant to be sometimes by having to eat some hard-edged, bitter thorns of human experience.”

Who among us hasn’t stumbled? We may have grieved the loss of a loved one and then come through the experience more appreciative of every day we have with those we love.

We lost at business and then looked back at the loss as the business education we obviously needed.

We may have failed at relationships, and then those failures propelled us to more deeply understand what relationships are for and how to master the art of loving.

Life certainly provides us with an abundance of opportunities to learn, to grow, to move forward. It’s up to us to recognize the opportunities inherent in our struggles and to let them refine our abilities to live a more fruitful and significant life.

A well-known affirmation from another spiritual teacher and author, Louise Hays, is something we can all incorporate into our thoughts, words, feelings, and behaviors:

“All is well. Everything is working out for my highest good. Out of this situation, only good will come. I am safe.”

And so it is…

What is enough?

What is enough? Saying that “I am enough” or that “I have enough” or even that “I’ve done enough” often sounds like I’m settling for less than I could be, have, or do. (And probably isn’t even the truth!) We could consider the option of replacing the word “enough” with the word “plenty.” Notice the […]

We also get some right!

Here’s one of my favorite stories from 6 years ago: Little Emma is 6 years old and in first grade and it’s the end of the first week. When Mom picked her up from school, Emma bounced happily into the car. “How was school today, honey?” Immediately and very happily, Emma answered: “I had my […]

Why are we comparing?

I bet you know someone(s) who is(are) brighter than you, is(are) cuter than you, or is(are) more creative than you. Then there are the folks who are on the other end of the scale who have less money, have more health issues, or have more dysfunctional family members. So what? What is the comparison for? […]

This new season…

September is such an invigorating idea! It’s back to school and time for some new projects. It’s unofficially the beginning of fall. And though fall is really only 3 months long, that’s plenty of time to look at the “clean slate” that it provides us. I invite you to join me and stop “doing” for […]

How did YOU spend your summer vacation?

Do you remember having to write about how you spent your summer vacation back in grade school? I do! Over the years my vacations had gotten shorter…from those couple of months to a week to three-day-weekends. Now from the view of retirement, I can take as much time as I want. I find that the […]

Can procrastination be good?

That last-minute panic as a motivator? Maybe…maybe not! Most of us decry it, deny it, or defy it, but still continue to see procrastination as the bane of our lives. But did you know..? Researchers now suggest that wasting a bit of time here and there can actually be good for us! When it’s used […]

Do these make any sense?

Ever wondered why some of these sayings don’t seem to really make sense? And how about…confirmed rumor, or unbiased opinion, or military intelligence? Each of these is called an oxymoron, which a dictionary defines as “a combination of contradictory or incongruous words.” Still another dictionary defines an oxymoron as a “wittily paradoxical turn of phrase […]

Are we there yet?

Vacations are a national tradition (as is this perennial childhood complaint!) I’m sharing some actual complaints received by “Thomas Cook Vacations” from dissatisfied customers. They have made quite the rounds on the internet. I think you’ll enjoy them as much as I have! “We had to line up outside to catch the boat and there […]

Not perfect?

My sister is a lot better at knitting than I am. It is painfully obvious when she tackles a complex pattern, makes changes in it, and then finishes it before I’ve figured how to get my project going. She’s a regular whiz at it! And by comparison I’m slow and my projects are much less […]