Tag Archives: summer

Late Summer Sweetness

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It’s getting to be late summer in the Pacific Northwest. As the days are beginning to grow shorter it is also time to find the ripening berries. It is time to pick the ripened raspberries and blackberries. In my life, it is getting to be the late summer and fall of this incarnation for me. It is time to pick The ripened berries of my life. Their sweetness and my wisdom gained from all of my years is now time to share.

I do not look for the future with the optimism of youth. I look much more into the present moment rather than looking into the what is possible and what could be. Though I am aware of lessons learned from my past, I attempt to mitigate the anxiety from most past trauma in ways to see the present without the filters born from past difficult learnings. I find Gratitude for all the lessons… Past Joys and Sorrows can be equally Blessed.

These days with less judgment, I enjoy the sweetness of my life and of the world that surrounds me. It is a time to reflect on lessons learned, even with sour taste or the bitterness of certain life challenges. It is time to find the joy in working through the lessons that I have experienced and the things that I have accomplished. Not every ripe looking berry picked is sweet. The Joy which can be found in sour life experiences can find sweetness as shared wisdom.

There are times when I have to put my head down and walk into the breeze which my day presents. It is refreshing and yet requires extra effort to weather any storm or any headwind that I may encounter. It is also time for me to share value from my lessons in a way that may save some of the time and energy for the witnesses of these conversations. In sharing, I am acting in service from the perspective of my current incarnation. As a possible guide or beacon, my learnings may light the way and offer perspective to those souls I am lucky enough to connect with.

Without the metaphors, this past Wednesday, August 19th, I celebrated what would have been my 36th wedding anniversary. My bride passed into her next life over 8 years ago but the sweetness and the joy of our lives together still vibrates within me. The difficult lessons We learned, I learned, are ever present and awaiting any appropriate chance to share, with gratitude, my memories and learnings. That is what life masters attempt to offer when appropriate. I no longer need to force my grief on others. I can share when the time is correct for a soul whose life buzzes close to what I encountered. The richness of learning from difficulties can be of service and give me a sense of value… (In sharing I also find perspective and value in my “old” story.)

It is not that I do not care about the future. The future of the world. The future of my children and family. It is that I am not as attached to the outcomes. I am not living with the expectations that the world is going to be easier or better. My lessons have taught me that the struggles have been the most valuable thing in my learning. And it is time to acknowledge that everyone must work through their difficulties as these are the lessons that they have come to learn from in this life.

It has come time to acknowledge that if I were to die today, I would have no regrets. I have found a level of acceptance of myself and of the accomplishments that I have made which allow me to find peace. One of the goals in life is to learn about oneself. To develop deep self knowledge. And to find a way of accepting even the flaws I may find as tools for mastering or changing my life and then living in the most positive ways.

Living your life is a miracle. It is a treasure. But to be too attached or anxious about your life seems to me to be an unwise use of time and energy. Self-love and self acceptance seem so important to me as I near the end of my seventh decade. There are adventures and appreciations in life yet to be AND I honor all that has been presented to me along my way…

You are a Miracle! Thank you for being you.

Thanks for your time and consideration. Your insights and experiences are unique and a blessing, so please share these…

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You are a Blessing! You are a Master! Your wisdom from your life experience can have great value to other pilgrims on the path toward awakening and enlightenment.

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End of Summer, Back to Work

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For those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere, September signals the end of Summer and the transformation into the Fall season. Days are getting shorter. The temperatures will begin to drop. The rainy season (if you have one) may be starting to approach. In the U.S., children return to school and vacation time ends. Many people begin to gear up for the work push that starts now and continues until the mid-winter holidays.

At work, we have discussed the late Summer vacation trips and now prepare for the Fall Firestorm of Frantic Fanatics. In mental health, this means that people who have ignored their symptoms because of Summer time distractions will now charge the office and demand assistance in dealing with their depressions and anxieties. The world governments are gearing us up for the cataclysmic “Swine Flu Pandemic” that is about to hit. (Remember to “WASH Your Hands AND Cough Into Your Elbow (if you have a cough and a spare elbow.)) (This reminds me of the drop to your knees and cover your eyes if an Atomic Bomb explodes in your neighborhood advice that we were instructed to do in the 1950’s.) So craziness resumes in every sense imaginable.

In the Fall, we need to gather our resources to prepare for the short, darker days of Winter. Many of us will turn our focus to inward or indoor thinking. People will be more pressed together in school, at work, or in social activities. Communication will be tested and so our communication skill-set will benefit from improvement. Thank goodness we will have something relevant to discuss like the Baseball playoffs or the football season or who will win on “The Voice.”

In fact, I believe that it is time to take stock in what you require. What keeps you healthy? Do you need to make time to exercise? Do you need to pay attention to what you eat? Do you require a long term goal and plan for things that are fun, important, or financially beneficial (or all of these)? Do you need “Healthy Relationships” in your life and where do you go find these? And do not forget, make time to celebrate and participate in activities that truly feed your spirit and your soul!

Yes, the coming season of the Fall, can be a time of positive self-reflection. Take the opportunity to assess or to re-assess what you require for health and how to achieve it.

Please take good care of yourself.
Stress Education Center

It’s Springtime, Baseball is Back!

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In the U.S., the “boys of Summer” refers to the people who engage in the Spring-Summer-Fall activity of watching or playing baseball, “the national pastime.” They are NOT all boys… The frustration and love for your favorite team always begin with HOPE. We hope that OUR team will play well, win games, and “make the playoffs.” Some cities/teams have long histories of success, like the New York Yankees, and some cities seem doomed to frustration and disappointment like Chicago. BUT, at the beginning of the “season” there is always the chance that the players and the managers and the owners will do their jobs and the team will win and the glory will be shared by all the fans.

 

I love baseball. I love watching baseball. I loved playing baseball. I loved my son taking up the sport and watching him play baseball. To many people, baseball is boring and too slow to watch. One of my favorite childhood memories was sitting with my father on a Sunday afternoon and watching a baseball game on television while he explained to me what was happening and what was going to happen. Playing “catch” with my father was a tradition whose memory still brings tears to my eyes as I recall those precious moments (not unique to my history.) Baseball is not for everyone. If you love the game you understand the rules and may have knowledge of the history of baseball which is often told in statistics. Statistics are unimportant numerical facts about baseball performance that, to the worshippers of the “game,” may mean something that you can argue about with other “believers.” There are a lot of numerical facts and understanding the game means you may remember these “facts” (stats) and cause you to expect something that will happen, based on these stats, in the game you are watching. In much of baseball history, players stayed with “their teams” for long periods of time and lived in their team’s city so the fans could know and love their local “heroes.” Loyalty to team and the sport was based on love for the local “boys of Summer.” Today, the “game” (of baseball) is more a money making business so players, even teams, will move around and loyalty and “tradition” are not honored in the same way.

 

A stress management expert would have you notice that “hope,” “loyalty,” and sitting in the sunshine on a warm Spring/Summer/Fall day, involved in the game, is a stress management experience that has positive effects on many fans, especially when the “home team” wins. Losing ourselves in sporting competition gets us away from other life stressors and allows a release of pent up emotions and stress. Enjoy the mental (and physical) vacation from your life. Celebrate the majesty of the Summer and the “world’s greatest game.”

 

And, before your team gets too far into the season, feel the HOPE for a season of success. Enjoy every victory and the very best that your team’s players can achieve. For the love of the game, “be in the moment” and relish the experience!