Love the ones you're with

This is a plea from me to you... cherish the time you spend with those you love.

Yesterday, as I was getting ready to go to my Mom's for a Thanksgiving lunch she was having for my Aunt and me (yes, I know it's American Thanksgiving and that ours was last month, but it's ok to give thanks any time, isn't it?)... as I was saying, while getting ready to leave something occurred to me: I really take all this for granted.  It didn't seem like such a big deal to me, spending Saturday afternoon with my Mom and my Aunt; it didn't, that is, until it hit me that there may just be more times spent with them behind me than those still to happen.

As we sat at the kitchen table, long after lunch was over, I consciously immersed myself in the moment.  I listened to the intonation in my Aunt's voice, saying things the way only she can say them; I noticed the expressions they used, things I remembered hearing their aunts & uncles say; I watched the charming way my Mom sometimes covers her mouth when she laughs, which reminds me so much of my beloved Grandmother; and I held in my heart the obvious love passing between the three of us.  It didn't matter what time it was, we just talked and talked as if that was all there was to do, and it was so wonderful.  I came away from there feeling whole and refreshed, and realizing that I had once again learned things about my family that I had never known (like the fact that my Grandfather's favourite saint was St-Francis of Assisi, who has also always been my favourite saint!)

It is so easy to take these wonderful moments together for granted and expect that they will always happen.  People who have been in our lives forever - family members, dear, close friends - are the people we most need to be consciously thankful for because they are the ones who have helped shape us into who we are.  And they are the people we will miss the most once they're gone.

It is so important to realize that time spent with loved ones is precious and that we should cherish every moment we spend together. 

Small victories

Sometimes in life you've got to grab hold of and hang onto those small victories.

It's not easy when doubt is always trying to come and snatch them away, minimize them, or make them seem unimportant.

However, those small victories may just prove, in the long run, to be turning points - or even big victories - when we look back on them.

It's easy to get caught up in the doubt that makes those small victories seem smaller and smaller until soon enough they seem almost insignificant.  But it is oh so important to cherish them as these small victories are what help us move forward.

And it's not just our own small victories that we must celebrate.  We must help others recognize and celebrate their own small victories.

So this week, no matter what's going on in your life, take a second look at recent small victories, yours and those of people close to you, and celebrate them.  You'll feel better for it, guaranteed ❥❥❥

Sacred Sundays

Sundays can sometimes be difficult days for me.

Oh they start out well enough: a good breakfast lovingly prepared for me by me, classical music wafting through the house, freshly brewed coffee savoured slowly, a good book or a long walk outside.  However, as the day wears on I feel the heaviness of the chores weighing on me, the quiet house gets quieter, and with every passing hour I feel more and more isolated.  If I give into the mood that usually accompanies all of this, I don't accomplish much and end the day feeling anxious.

However on days like today, knowing full well how things can go, if I make up my mind that it will be a good day and not stress about what needs to be done but rather just go with the flow of the day and feel good about it, at the end of the day I feel good about myself and my Sunday feels almost sacred.

That's what happened today.  I woke up feeling good and decided that that would be the prevailing mood of my day; and I knew just what I needed to do to ensure that this would be so.  First I let my creativity loose and took some pictures of the autumn leaves in my yard.  Then, this afternoon I went to visit someone very special, someone who has been in my life forever and who means the world to me.  I knew that sitting with her and feeling her love would do me the world of good.  And indeed it did ♥ I left there feeling content and knew the rest of my day would be good.

Life is really what we make it... and Sundays can be sacred if we allow them to be.
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Such an inspiration

Sometimes, when I feel like I'm drowning, I'll flail about trying to grasp any little bit of sanity and encouragement I can find.  Sometimes I find it, sometimes I don't.  Sometimes I'm lucky enough to find it right here, inside of me.  Other times I am lifted up by people around me who, not even knowing how I'm feeling inside, say or do something that makes me feel good, and sometimes that's all it takes.

We place such importance on stuff outside of our reach and it's silly, really, because our greatest happiness cannot be found on the outside.  It's in those tiny little moments, the ones that make our hearts smile, that the real gold can be found.  Yet we insist on searching high and low for that one thing that will make us truly happy.  We forget that if we're not paying attention to those moments, if we don't remember them and cherish them, we can never truly be happy - because those moments are all we have.  I'm not advocating living in the past; I'm saying we need to learn to appreciate them as they're happening, and know that they are what happiness is really all about. 

I've said it here before, and I'll no doubt say it many more times before I'm through, Terri St. Cloud really inspires me; she really seems to have this all figured out.  When you read her blog - honour yourself - you'll understand why.  I just read her post from yesterday called "Bucket Lists..." and that's when it all hit me - it's the moments and only the moments that count; the rest is just noise.  So lets cherish those moments...

Happiness is not a destination; happiness is the journey.
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