I have been reading about all the terrible forest fires in my state of Oregon. I am grateful to the thousands of firefighters risking their lives in unimaginably hot and dangerous conditions. I thank them today and everyday.

Today I found my lovely neighbor cleaning our community mailboxes. What a kind thing to do. She told me she has been doing it yearly for many years. I thanked her and feel so grateful for her kindness and presence in our community.

“Contentment, that is peace.” This is very meaningful to me at this time in my life. I recently retired and worry that I am not doing enough. But when I truly check in with myself, the feeling I have is one of contentment. Thank you for this wonderful story today.

Fair treatment of all living beings.

The night sky.

I appreciate the struggles that so many of my friends and colleagues from other countries dealt with (and continue to do so). To change cultures and everything about your former life to survive–and thrive–in a new place is monumental, and a quality that I deeply admire.

It makes me happy to see bees visiting my flowers. Seeing my friends. Greeting my husband in the morning. Looking at the trees outside my window. Breathing fresh air. So many things bring me joy.

Learning to see relaxing as an essential part of living, rather than a sign of laziness.

Retirement. Getting the covid shots. Visiting family afterwards.

Day by day, all is well.

By listening to my friends who need to be heard.

As a recent retiree, I feel happy and grateful for the open time. However, I am wondering if I am “doing enough” with my newly freed up time. I do worry about the moments that I have let pass by and how to rearrange my life and time to be more productive, i.e., in service to others. My whole life and career was devoted to helping others–shouldn’t I be doing more? And how to keep a balance in my life?
I would appreciate anyone’s thoughts on how they handle this.

I treasure my legs. They are strong for all the walking I do. I also treasure my feet. Despite the usual issues that I and many women have after wearing heels and poorly fitting shoes in our youth, they still carry me around!

Nothing is certain in life. Every morning when we get up we are facing uncertainty, especially as we age!

Wow. This makes so much sense to me. As a non-religious person but still a spiritual one, these words spoke volumes to me. Thank you for posting this, Carol.

I love your interest in doing new things, Elaine! Something I need to do now that I am retired.

I love your perspective!

I get this, as a recent retiree. All the best!

Thank you Holly. This was helpful. 🙂

Thank you, Mica. That is good advice.