Teen smiles

Over the years, the Teen has decorated her door on a number of occasions. It has held photos of herself with her cousins, school projects, art works and other items.
It’s current incarnation is a collage of photos of herself and her school friends (taken in the school yard) and many of the things that they say.
Many of the photos, match the sayings that have been stuck around it.

Tuesday Quote – Peace

Funnily enough, this was the quote on my calendar last Tuesday.
It really spoke to me. Although I’m sure that when these words were uttered by John F. Kennedy they were to do with the state of the world at the time, I looked beneath the words and I think that I will choose to apply them to my life.

Quote of the Day.

“You know Mum, I reckon cats are just like teenagers…

all they want to do is sleep and eat”.

That they do my child. That they do!

Have a blessed day 🙂

What Life Isnt!

Malcolm Fraser who was Prime Minister of Australia from 1975 – 1983 has been quoted as saying “Life wasn’t meant to be easy”. He later declared that he had borrowed the words from George Bernard Shaw but that he had used them many times throughout his political career. Whilst I grew up remembering Malcolm Fraser saying them and not Mr Shaw, these words are now used in relation for everything from foreign policy to human tragedies.

So Mr Shaw has enlightened us on two points now – Life wasn’t meant to be easy and life isn’t about finding yourself. Drawing on Mr Shaw’s experience, he also tells us that a life spent making mistakes is honourable and life does not cease to be funny when people die. It appears that Mr Shaw appeared to know a lot about what life is (and isn’t). I took a quick poll (okay, I asked the Garden Gnome and the Tween) what they thought what life was not. Following are some of their responses:

* Life is not a tree

* Life is not a destination. It is a journey. (Yeh good one remembering the magnet on the fridge).

* Life is not something you can just walk through

The Garden Gnome then posed the question “What is life? Who tells us what life is or isn’t”? (Now technically that’s two questions but I wasn’t going to argue since he was humouring me by answering my questions). And you know, he has a very valid point. He quoted some other things that he has heard and offered his insights on these saying “Nobody can say that life is going to be easy (or not) because life is a mystery. You have to take it as it comes. If we knew what life was all about, it would become boring.” Sometimes I am just blown away at the depths of this man (and I am so not being a smart aleck).

My question is: Who are these people telling us what life should and shouldn’t be? Are these the same people who are telling us how we should respond to things in a certain way?

My thoughts are that the myriad of quotes that abound about life are those made solely based on that particular person’s experiences as they journey through this intricate maze called “Life”. What may be true for one person may not be the same experience of another. What it all comes down to is our DNA or what makes us tick. Not everyone will succumb to insurmountable obstacles and not everyone will fall apart when tragedy strikes. But there are many of us who do. And when these bad times come, the dog comes along for the ride. At these times, we clutch at the inspirational sayings of those who have gone before us and attempt to apply their wisdom to our own lives in order to drag ourselves from the gloom that fogs our mind and senses. And by golly, sometimes it works.

I have found that the more we repeat inspirational affirmations and sayings, the more our mind begins to believe our words. In reality it is creating a new habit. In this case, it is creating a new way of thinking. But in case you think it’s going to be easy (a bit like life apparently), it isn’t. Any new habit worth forming takes approximately 21 days of commitment. So in many cases when we are working at reprogramming our brain, the fog closes in after a few days and we end up back at the drawing board and we have to begin again. Reprogramming our brain to be happy takes time but it can be done! I choose to believe it can because after all –  Life is Beautiful! 🙂

Have a blessed day 🙂

Peace and Stillness

I purchased some posters a few months ago on Peace and Zen Living and I have put a few up in my craft room and the spare room. The Tween finds some of these sayings funny.

The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step

Lao Tzu

She read this one out and said “Well duh. You can’t walk anywhere unless you take a step first”. By jove I think she’s got it!

We cannot see our reflection in running water

It is only in still water that we can

Taoist proverb

To a Tween who has difficulty in keeping still and is always pirouetting or doing high kicks around the house, this was something she had difficulty in grasping. Looking at it literally she said “Of course there is no reflection in running water because it keeps moving”. I tried to explain its meaning but I don’t think she got it.

The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear

Zen saying

The Tween response to this “Well that’s obvious. If you don’t shut up, you won’t hear anything”. I think she’s got this one too. 🙂 With that in mind, I’m not sure though that she will get the saying about Peace in my graphic.

How difficult it is to remain peaceful and calm when all around you is noise – particularly at this time of the year. The pace tends to become so frantic as people rush to complete things before year’s end. Add in the social engagements and other commitments and it begins to spiral out of control at times. Take time throughout the coming days to take a few deep breaths, calm your heart and close your eyes and be still.

Have a blessed day 🙂