On judgement

Today was a "bad day" for a plentitude of reasons:

1) I did not sleep well last night
2) I am not currently sleeping well right now
3) I did not finish what I would have ideally finished up at work to give me peace of mind about being out of the office for the next three days/preparing to fly in the next three hours
4) I got sucked into emotional blackmail for a short time
5) I felt insulted by someone I care about without them knowing it.

What a self-focused and ugly list.

Today was a good day, because I fought against my pessimism every step of the way. Even when 5) reared its not-so-beautiful head, I realized I was judging someone for judging another group of people who I thought might have included me (triple judgment!), so I Googled "judging someone for judging" and found this helpful little article that led me to this meaningful point:

Discernment is awareness and understanding without an emotional response. Exercising discernment feels very different from getting your buttons pushed. Judgments that cause emotional reactions are clues to help you find personal insight.

Hooray for personal insight, I suppose. But seriously, what more can I do but learn through my trials and keep my face to the sun? I have faith in this life, even when it seems to be playing a bit of a nasty joke on me, every once in while, very rarely.

Just writing all of that out makes me feel better. The person I was judging for judging, they're mostly good, as we all are. And though I had hoped to write an post about Hamas and Israel today, perhaps this bit of garbled randomness can be applied. It will have to do.

"Thank God I found the good in goodbye"

A quick conversation that makes me smile

K: Are you in the office on Monday? I want to ask your advice about something.

D: Yes, I am in on Monday. Sure! Work advice, or life advice?

K: Work advice, which is my life.


Yes! Exactly. This is why I love the people with whom I work. This is why I love the work we do. Sure, we're joking. Sure, it's hard and draining and sometimes I pull my hair out and cry. But these people, my people, are the people who get why we do what we do and are too busy doing it to do anything else but love it right along with me. We lift each other up.

Thankful

A big shout out to positive-notes for being a source of encouragement.

You know, I have so much to be thankful for always. There have been quite a few people running November gratitude lists on Facebook these days, and I suppose that is good, but really, isn't thankfulness about every breath, everyday, and the spaces in between?

The cliches we speak about "making Christmas last all year" and living in the spirit of the season don't have to be lip service. We are all living in a season - mortality - and wherever we go from here, we all know here, this piece, this part, is in some way finite, and the humans, the plants, and the animals, even the lifeless matter we interact with, is all a part of the season of finite. So why are we stuck with several months of the year being grateful? And why are these months more about commercialism more than any other time in our current global society?

I am thankful for a mind that thinks and a body that breaths, pumps blood, that wakes and sleeps. I am thankful for people who surround me, communicate with me, and bring me into their community. I am thankful for cool and warm, light and dark. I am thankful for love that never dies, which we can reach out to in the finite and be embraced by.

When I come back from Thanksgiving break, it's time to start blogging ahead. For real. I hope you'll join me.

Universal Children's Day

Today is Universal Children's Day. Do you pledge to be a voice for all children? Like, share, and take action on behalf of our children http://bit.ly/PLkEQu

How's this...

...for a theoretical route to self-actualization?

1. By experiencing life, learn what you love.
2. Allow yourself to start to hope for what you love – real hope – defined as the confidence that love (ultimately) never fails.
3. Inspire yourself toward what you love, by cultivating internal and external environments that allow you to identify when what you love is present within them.
4. When you sense the presence of what you love, move toward it. There’s no need to measure your stride. What matters is your direction.
5. Wait, hope and trust, while continuing to experience life.

Unity is a witness

My beloved brothers and sisters struggling to overcome the enemy's works of racism in the world, remember our imperative:

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

[Thanks, P and T, mentored by P, saved by Christ all.]

Our President is our brother in Christ, he is in authority of our secular nation,  and he seeks the wisdom of our shared good in his leadership.

Prayers, petitions, intercession and thanksgiving made for all people.

Unity and love within our body of Christ. This is how others will know who has redeemed us and all of creation; By our love for one another.

Hyperthymesia

I think I have this. It would explain a lot.

"Now you know."

Dear SM,

It. was. perfect. Seamless. I cried a single tear. No joke.

There will be plenty of haters to continually trash the absolutely phenomenal success you've had, to overlook your attention to beautiful storytelling and pick little things apart as they miss the bigger picture, and to just not get it - how you inspire, how you've contributed, along with JKR and SC, to a renewed youth literacy, and how girls will see your Bella come into her own for literary eternity.

I never wanted to read your books or like your story. The blessed thing about having an open mind is that one can change it to receive something of value once discovered.

I hope you enjoy the rewards of your bravery in creating the Twlight Saga, and for those lifelong fans that you've created (and mostly for yourself!), I hope you enjoy building new worlds for years to come.

Fuzzy wuzzy had a birthday!

 

This is now on my bucket list.

Order

The true secret in being a hero lies in knowing the order of things. The swineherd cannot already be wed to the princess when he embarks on his adventures, nor can the boy knock on the witch’s door when she is already away on vacation. The wicked uncle cannot be found out and foiled before he does something wicked. Things must happen when it is time for them to happen. Quests may not simply be abandoned; prophecies may not be left to rot like unpicked fruit; unicorns may go unrescued for a very long time, but not forever. The happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story.

The Last Unicorn

The 6th of November

Second weekend of Halloween

Thanks, Mom!

 Some days it's just nice to say (And feel).

Perspective