Lovely friends
Another Tuesday has arrived and although I am grateful every day for this community….this day is special. Our common prayer day…a gift from our dear Ursula. I imagine her joining us in spirit from the heavenly realms.

Although I am still struggling with overwhelming fatigue, I am grateful that I was given this day to practice simply being. My guided meditation was one of affirmations and acceptance of being human. And learning to speak truth to myself. Ursula would approve.

In love I share these affirmations that spoke to my heart.
~Om Shanti friends ♥
Inner Strength
Centered in God, in good, I am steady, stable, and strong.
Wholeness
Every cell in my body knows divine wholeness
.

Dearest friends:

Life has been happening and my energy reserves are low.
It’s been a challenge lately to stay encouraged when I am having to micro-manage and discern how to spend my time and limited energy on any given day. I powered through the Thanksgiving holidays and the residual effects of that effort are still lingering.

Despite this struggle, It was a joy to be able to host my brother and his partner for a couple of days, to celebrate Thanksgiving with them and my daughter, home for a quick visit after her recent move to Colorado. I also had a gathering of extended family for brunch the morning after. And I am so grateful to have been able to do that.
These events took their toll on my health and I haven’t fully recovered yet. Living with chronic illness I understand the need to pace myself and give myself time to ‘recharge my batteries”. But sometimes I rail against the limitations!

Still, I have much to be thankful for. I can hear the rain as I type this…it’s such a lovely sound, especially when sitting warm next to our wood-burning stove. My husband has pointed out that some of the pain and fatigue I am experiencing in my body is due to worry and anxiety over our daughter’s well-being as she has begun her new life out in Colorado. Yet, just last night she signed a lease to live in a charming house with 3 other young professionals. My older daughter and her husband went with her to make sure it was a safe location and to meet the other people living there. They were able to give me assurances that it will be a wonderful place for her to live until she can afford a place of her own.

I am grateful for these blessings….and I am, once again, ever learning to let go and embrace what is. With an open heart. With an awareness of Divine Presence. With loving-kindness towards myself and with peace.

~Om Shanti dear friends ♥

I would like to believe that I am aware and grateful for the blessings of each day….but I find myself taking simple pleasures for granted. Heat and hot water for bathing, fresh water to drink from the tap, electricity, a refrigerator and pantry that contains food, a flushing toilet…..these are things that far too many people don’t have.
Another evidence of this in my life, that has been shown to me recently, is that I am desirous of attention, applause, approval, and expressed (gushing?) gratitude from others. I have begun to question my motives when I am giving, serving or opening my heart and home to others. This awareness was painful for me to face…I can see clearly that I was feeling “entitled” to admiration for my good deeds.
I’m grateful for this awareness of how I may not have overcome the illusion of entitlement.

Good morning lovely friends:

On this our common prayer day….so happy to see Alicia has checked in after her surgery. My prayers for your continued healing dear Alicia. And so wonderful to hear of your healing Palm…and may you continue to sing and dance! 🙂

I am grateful for the strong appearance of Brother Sun these last couple of days. The weather was so delightful yesterday and I am grateful for my walk, albeit brief, down the road to visit with the horses. And so very grateful for the visits I had with 2 of my elderly widowed neighbors. These ladies don’t realize the depth of my gratitude for their presence in my life….but I do try to convey to them the blessings they are to me.

This morning when I awoke and wandered into my little kitchen for a cup of coffee, there was a fire going in our wood burning stove…what a lovely surprise! I am grateful for my husband making me this fire before he left for work. I am sitting at my kitchen table next to the roaring fire as I type this. I always wanted a wood burning stove in my home and finally got one when we moved here 4 years ago. It makes the (seemingly) long winters here much easier….grateful for this hygge practice!

I pray never to take simple pleasures for granted…the smell of coffee when I arise, the wood-burning stove that we enjoy so much, Brother Sun lighting and warming up our sun room on this cold morning, the soothing music that is a balm for my tinnitus and lifts my spirits. Music is magical!

I don’t know yet what I am going to do with this day that has been given to me. But I do pray to be a blessing to someone today…and to be fully present and aware of the presence of Divine love. And I pause to remember our dear Ursula and offer up a prayer for her family…that they will know a measure of peace amidst their sorrow.

~Be well this day my dear friends. Sending you all my grateful love♥

Good morning lovely friends on this our common prayer day. 🙏

It is also my brother’s birthday today and so my thoughts turn with gratitude for the gift that he is to me. And to so many others whose lives he has touched. I am so proud of him for all that he has overcome with humility and grace. He has a kind, gentle and generous spirit and I am so blessed and grateful that he is my “little” brother.

Sitting in our sun-room early this morning, there was a ghostly fog settled over the farmland…..combined with the brightly shining sun, it was quite eerie….but in a good way! I woke up with an unnamed generalized anxiety but sitting there for a time, absorbing this early morning gift before it faded, helped bring calm. Grateful once again for my little sun-room where I sit each morning for meditations, my buddha fountain bubbling happily and a birds-eye view of the birds at our feeders! 😊🐦

With grateful love for the blessing this sacred community is in my life ♥ Om Shanti dear friends

Dear Julie….thank you for sharing. And welcome to this sacred space. My dear friend Pilgrim has given you the gift of her wisdom and grace. I will simply say “amen” to all that she shared with you.

And I will only add this because I believe in serendipity….just last night while watching public television I saw an interview with someone who shared that she thought anger is an emotion that gets a “bad rap”. It intrigued and delighted me that she said this….I think because I am on a journey to acknowledging and accepting without judgement whatever emotion/feeling has decided to pay a visit to me. Only then can I let it go if it is not serving me well.
I hope you continue to share here…as Pilgrim said it is a safe place
~Om Shanti Julie ♥

Cara Anna….I’m picturing you relaxing underneath your cozy blanket! You are an ocean away from me my friend yet maybe we can imagine being on the sofa together practicing hygge.😊

I’m glad to hear that your blood pressure is ok…and so happy that you are listening to the ways in which your body is speaking to you. As you know, anxiety is a frequent visitor of mine…sometimes appearing for no apparent reason. I think being extra kind to ourselves on those days is important…and you are doing just that! Brava mi amica 👏

~Sending you love and a un grande abbraccio ♥