Putting Things in Order

Incredible weather. Cooling at night; low 50’s. Warm and dry by day; 70’s with humidity in the 20’s. For the Midwest that is like perpetual Indian Summer. Greens are greener. Blue skies are deepest azure. Colors of flowers are vibrant. A hint of color change among the trees. Breezes are modest, even wafting.

With gentle weather comes pause for thinking. Wondering. Appreciation for feelings and relationships. A time to think things through and feel good about them. In short, putting things into perspective.

Doe Zantamata (www.happinessinyourlife.com) suggests “Taking time to do nothing often brings everything into perspective.”

To make this work for you find a place that provides a calming view. Maybe it is sitting upon a rock on a hill looking toward a horizon of nature. Maybe it’s a log in the woods with damp decomposing woods, leaves and soils underfoot while gently fluttering leaves of surrounding trees provide sheltering cool. Perhaps it is a rocky outcropping in the desert giving silence three dimensions. Silence. Whispering nature. Depth of aloneness. Just for a while. Peace.

These then are moments of ease. Feel it in your bones and sinew. Relaxation slowly bringing tensions to rest.

The brain responds. Fills the space with thought patterns. Who am I? Where am I?  What is happening? Where am I headed? Am I all right?

“The happiest people don’t have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.”    ~ www.justequotes.com

 Moments to appreciate the little things and make them big: weather, deep full breaths, strides that pull muscle and bone in harmony with a bit of stretch, a view that pleases all the senses, loved ones nearby, a sense of home, good friends puttering about with purpose and enjoyment. All good things. All so basic and simple. Like a meal with simple flavors which spark memories of years gone by, people now gone. A sip of cool water to soften thirst.

In moments such as these we reflect on meanings. We value what we often forget while busy or stressed. We do those things why? To make a happy life? To earn the means to buy food, shelter and nurture? Yes; but remember the why!

“Some people create their own storms, then get upset when it rains.”  ~ kushandwizdom.tumblr

So why don’t they create their own peace to avoid the rain and drama?!

Mary Travers cautioned us when she said, “It’s not politics. It’s ethics, it’s humanity. It’s community, trying to figure out a way to live.”

Along this pathway is found what is really important to us. It’s not about government, is it? It’s not about religion solely, is it? It’s not about power over others, is it? What it is is basic. It is about finding place for self. That rarely has value unless self is found with others. Definition of the person is found through relationship with other persons. So evident yet so difficult to realize.

This is a journey. The travel is challenging yet enjoyable. The mind alerts to differences encountered. The journey takes on a life of its own and partners with our personhood. So much so is the journey itself important that it is the destination! It matters little where we arrive or intend to get. It matters greatly that we are on the journey and seeing ourselves in new ways and different situations.

“Pain makes you stronger. Tears make you braver. Heartbreak makes you wiser. So thank the past for a better future.” ~Anonymous

And one should add,…thank the journey for providing the perspective of the past so we can use it for building the future.

We mustn’t get lost in the past. It is important to live in the present but also not get absorbed by it. These two prepare us for future. Enjoy all the tenses but move from one to the other fluidly.

Now is that putting things in order or not?!

August 21, 2012