Is it the Season to be Jolly?

It's that time of the year again, when we all scramble to decorate our homes, buy the perfect gifts, host the best parties, bake cookies, take photos with Santa......

The question is just how jolly do we feel when we're running around doing all these things.

I for one, don't feel so jolly when I'm wandering around the mall aimlessly trying to buy gifts for loved ones who have just about everything.

So this year I promised that I would slow down and not do so many things; in fact over the last few years I've been systemically sloughing off Christmas madness.
And it feels great!
Last year, on Christmas Eve, in lieu of individual gifts our family participated in steal a gift which made us laugh for hours. That night we found joy in the merriment of the game, not in the gifts themselves.

I love the warmth of the season; when people are a little kinder and care to do for others.
Shouldn't this always be our way of life?

No matter what our faith, it is a time to be grateful for all our blessings.
And I am!

Sunday Morning Coffee and Memories

Sunday Morning Coffee and Memories

A year and a half ago my oldest son, Daniel, left home. Seven months later my second son, Matthew,  followed suit.

Was I ready?

I don't know. Is a  mother ever ready?

The whirlwind of packing, buying furniture and setting up new homes, left me little time to think about what was happening. Although deep in my heart I knew that the "busyness" was my way of keeping the heartache at bay.

But, just as surely as the night comes, so did my my profound sense of loss.

The loss was born of knowing that we would never be the same; our family for all its antics, joys, hardships, and deep love was changed forever.

I was and still am conflicted.

They are no longer my little boys (but will always be). They are men on a new course.

I find solace in knowing that they're happy and now walk a path with women they love.

A mother can ask for nothing more.

For no riches can supersede finding a soul mate.

And on Sunday mornings,before my daughter and husband wake, I enjoy my morning coffee and blanket myself in the beautiful memories of their childhoods; early morning hockey practices, homework, the din of video games, the bustle of holiday preparations, the arguments, the tears and most of all the sweet sound of laughter and family.

We are not perfect but we are perfect in our love for each other. No matter where life takes us, I find great comfort in knowing that my children know that nothing can break the bond of family.

My daughter Liana and son Matthew

Stephanie (Daniel's fiance) & Daniel

Me and Liana

Mia (Matthew's girlfriend) & Matthew

Liana and Daniel (Liana's boyfriend)

Tony (my husband) & Me

Every Morning We are Born Again!

Every morning we are born again. The worries and problems of yesterday are one day older and we are one day stronger.

It's a new day!

 The possibilities are endless.

We can laugh with abundance.

We can make wiser choices, have new thoughts, be a little kinder, love more passionately, be grateful and remember that our journey is a fleeting one.

Buddha said it best,

"In the end only three things matter; how much you loved, how gently you lived and how gracefully you let go of the things not meant for you."

And so I wish you a happy new day!

Quiet Moments

Age has a way of changing our perspective. What we found important in our youth no longer matters as much; we forgive more easily, feel more profoundly, care more about the human condition. We place greater value on relationships.

We become reflective. Speak our truth with care.

We care less to impress.

We walk away from snobbery and pretentiousness.

We see the true colors of the ones we love.

We slow our stride and see all that is beautiful.

We make time for quiet moments. 

We enjoy our own company.

Most of all, we come to know that we cannot hold time at bay.

So we ride the wave, laugh the laugh, embrace the joy, the suffering, the sweetness of all our blessings.

And we say,

Thank you!

Really?

Do you ever get tired of looking at posts that talk about new beginnings, throw out the old, appreciate what you have, live for today. Their endless! People posting quotes about being a better person, enriched existence, spiritual connection.

Really?

How many people actually live what they post?

 We read a nice quote, get captured by inspirational words, read a touching story and for a brief moment we think,  "I'm going to live that way."

Two minutes later we go back to the norm.

That's not to say that there are not thousands of people who live by exceptional standards. They are the ones that mentor us to greatness, if we chose to follow their examples. People like Nelson Mandela, and Mother Teresa. They lived their words and so, if we are open to it, they inspire us to find the best in ourselves.

In the Box!

To be self absorbed is to live in a box of your making. Too consumed with the drama of your own life you fail to see that others walk difficult paths too. 

You miss the sun bursting into the sky early in the morning, you fail to see the beauty of the dew drops hanging precariously on the edge of  leaves, you miss the sweet sound of chirping birds as they greet a new day.

You listen but do not hear.

You see but do not observe.

You work but find no passion.

You breathe but do not inhale.

You smile but are hollow.

 You seek but never find.

You take for granted the gifts that lie before you and eventually, if and when you surface, they are gone.

The Dash

This might seem a bit morbid, but trust me it's not!

On rare occasions, I find myself attending a funeral.

When the final blessing is said and everyone leaves to return to the "busy" of their own lives, I often find myself drawn to the tombstones around me.

I read the names, see the photographs and dates etched in stone and I wonder.

What happened in between those dates-what secrets does that tiny little dash hold.

It tells us nothing but knows so much.

It is the journey of the person buried below; the keeper of their hopes, dreams, travels, joys and sorrows.

It is not the date of birth and death that matters so much but how that person lived every moment in between.

Sadly, only a few will know the depth of the dash of each person's life. And when those people are gone the dash of the lives that came before them is no more.

Live your life with abandonment, leave no stone unturned, love freely, play, sing and dance, travel but most of all have no regrets.

Make your dash a good one!