What’s A Girl To Do?

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How long has it been since we’ve felt “normal”? It has been a long time! I’m speaking not only of the circumstances of pandemics and other pertinent national and world events, but also the resulting emotions that reflect those particular situations. I’m an author, creative and influenced by an ability to observe my surroundings and basically report upon them. Yet for a long while now, I have had very little, if any, motivation to write or notate events. The nation in which I live and the world around me seems dire and strained of those positive influences that normally stoke my creativity in the first place!

I’ve felt bereft of the calm inner spirit that enables fluid observation and the positivity of messaging that was my usual manner of observing and then reporting on it all. I’ve not lost my hope, my faith, or my beliefs, but I have lost some of my calm resolve as a witness to all that is transpiring of late. For the last few years, the upheaval in my nation has seemed so consequential and far too repressive to just blithely note the simplicity of life playing out in my garden, or in what became a trivial topic as a result of all the ruckus of politics.

People say not everything is political, but everything in the last few years has been made political. And so the venom of politics has tainted almost everything from relationships, to our choice of business associations, our media, our entertainment, and as a result, our daily thoughts. My thoughts have been subjugated to the willful repositioning of politics as the all-consuming topic of national preference.

What’s a girl to do?! I must purposefully choose to disengage my thoughts from the all-consuming political frenzy to events, topics, and other observational opportunities not exclusively tied to the combative political realm! Wish me luck! I suspect what we’ve endured the last year or two will not quickly dissolve, but I will do my best to seek a balance through other notable pursuits of subject, one of my favorites being the inspiration found in gardening and gardens in general.

I Choose To Bloom…

29 Sunday Jul 2018

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Beauty, Choices, Contentment, Gardening, Joy, Nature, Outdoors, Peace, Seasons, Uncategorized

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Animals, Nature, Summer

It’s been a really hot week here, but we’re somewhat used to that smack dab in the middle of Summer here in the Sonoran Desert in the Southwest USA, so I’m trying to bloom where I am currently planted! But when the temps rise beyond 110 F. and hover there day after day with double-digit humidity rather than our early Summer drier conditions, it wears on even those of us more-seasoned desert dwellers! We are in the middle of our monsoon season here, which means there is a chance most afternoons of a thunderstorm developing and bringing with it the possibility for highly desirable rainfall! Even the wild creatures which cohabit my parcel of this desert seem to be attempting to cope with the monsoon seasonal weather challenges.

Each afternoon, I can look out the windows of my house to see a variety of birds and bunnies hovering under the shade of the more-lush plants which I planted closest to the house. I water those plants every morning and evening during hot spells like this to keep those plants from drooping in the afternoon sun, but also to keep a more comfortable and favorable environment for all those birds and bunnies which gather there! They find the moist, shaded soil cooler for their bodies, and often the bunnies stretch out to make as much bodily contact as possible with the soil. The quail which are native to this area also kick out some of the groundcover and soil to burrow a bit further down in and around the plants. Then the peach-faced lovebirds which made themselves at home on my street about twenty years ago find refuge in the shady bright-green branches of the shrubs I have growing there. At times, I have counted eighteen lovebirds along with several quail and bunnies all sharing about a 3′ x 7′ space. It’s magical to peek out the windows to see so many creatures taking their rest and comfort, all so readily visible from inside my house. In a way, their search for comfort provides for me a great opportunity to witness daily such beautiful animals, but also a responsibility to continue providing for them such excellent a refuge!

It’s not always easy getting up early to water and do my landscaping chores when the morning sun is already so intent on heating things up. And it’s not at all easy going out in the evening before the sun goes down to re-moisten the area with a fresh spray of water. But it is more than rewarding to witness how appreciated my efforts are by the creatures which rely upon my provisions! I make sure to keep birdbaths as well as water features clean and refreshed, my numerous plants provide shelter and food, and I even try to leave the area under my windows undisturbed so as not to frighten away the oodles of each specimen which are hanging out there from midday to evening. They bring me pleasure, so it’s the least I can do in return!

Taking the time to notice life as it plays out before our eyes each day is our choice! And I surely have made it my practice to notice the beauty of the natural world unfolding each new day before my eyes, regardless of the heat! I’m eager for the end of Summer, as by the beginning of August the long, really hot weather starts to wear on even the most tenacious, seasoned desert gardener. But since I cannot control the weather, hasten time passing, or alter the conditions in which I now find myself living, I choose to bloom where I am planted by making something good out of it!

Time to Flex My Creativity Muscles . .

02 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Change, Creativity, Gardening, Happiness, Inspiration, Opportunity, Outdoors, Purpose, Surprise, Uncategorized

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Creativity, Gardening, Imagination, Re-purposing, Salvage

I’m going to take on a little bit of salvage and repurposing, it’s time to flex my creativity muscles! It’s not something I get to do every day, but I feel prompted to try after the completion of a household project! After having a tune-up and refresh of the outdoor, in-ground pool, I have a used fiberglass filter pod leftover. Now, it’s not an item of beauty, to say the least! It’s big, beige, round, with points of entry for various tubes and a piece removed on top where my pool man gained access to remove the sand which was held inside. To replace the filter with a new one means that a whole new pod has been located in the very spot this one sat, filled with clean, new sand and ready to begin a renewed phase of pool usage. So, with the old sizeable pod sitting there staring at me, I felt compelled to be creative and to discover a new use for it! Rather than seeing it find a home in some landfill, there must be a way to make this lackluster gizmo shine with reuse!

It’s not the first thing I’ve nurtured into a new life. Last year, I took on the remodel of an antique wheelchair which was rusty, partially disassembled and rather ugly. It was purchased at a flea market years ago, almost forgotten, it sat in my outdoor shed for years. Now its wood seat, back, and arms gleam with coats of protective spar varnish, a cushion sits upon the seat for comfort. It’s useful in a new way, fortunately not as it was originally intended! After all, I would much rather not need a wheelchair anytime soon! It will never be perfect, but for my taste, it’s a charmer as an extra seat!

And so, I endeavor upon the repurposing of this strange pod-shaped thing. It’s not heavy, so I’ve moved it safely to another area of the yard until I figure out what it’s meant to be. It might be a water feature, as I can imagine all sorts of plumbing opportunities, given the natural openings it already has. Or it might become a planter of sorts, as it surely is a container of sizeable proportions. I might turn it into part of my edible garden next year, perhaps tomatoes or melons will find it a delightful growing space! Needless to say, it’s going to be reused. I just have that itch within to turn it into something unique! I’m pretty sure whatever I do, no one else will have the exact same “whatever”!

That’s the fun of gardening and outdoor spaces for me! I’m not one of those people who want everything to be perfect and just so, as I realize life and all living things are never perfect. It’s the imperfections and the individuality of each person’s personal patch of nature that makes it special! In this domain of mine, I can paint a landscape of color, texture, and beauty all my own! And this pod will soon find a home among the plants and other elements which make up my landscape. I look forward to the dreaming, designing, planning, and implementation! It’s all part of the fun of creating!

Time Is Leaving Their Memory Behind . .

28 Sunday May 2017

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Blessings, Courage, Freedom, God, Gratitude, Uncategorized

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Gratitude, Memorial Day, Military Service, Remembrance, Sacrifice

Today I had the tremendous honor of personally thanking and embracing two World War II veterans, who were called to stand for acknowledgment in front of the congregation at church, in honor of Memorial Day tomorrow. It surely was a momentous moment for our church, given how few of those from the greatest generation remain! Both these gentlemen, members of my church, are in their 90’s now. Time becomes more precious each and every day we are fortunate and blessed by their presence in our lives. And when speaking with one of the men named Joe, he mentioned how much more proud he becomes of his service in both WWII and the Korean War as time passes! I responded that my gratitude for all those who’ve served this nation has increased with age as well, given my heightened understanding of what such a sacrifice entails! It means time away from loved ones, the risk to life and limb, and it requires a heart of unselfish discipline often under unimaginable conditions!

Although Memorial Day is set aside for remembering our fallen servicemen and women, our church congregation chooses to single all veterans and active military out on each of the national holidays which honor our military. At the start of each service prior to, or on such an occasion, the minister(s) asks for those who’ve served in each conflict and war to stand to receive our grateful applause. Now some people object to confusing Memorial Day’s fallen recipients of honor with Veteran’s Day, which honors all those who’ve served – living and dead. But I believe there’s a pressing need to honor service whenever possible! In the case of those who served in WWII, time is leaving their memory behind and fewer veterans of that conflict are alive to serve as obvious reminders! I personally would rather be honoring their service and celebrating their presence among us rather than standing graveside with those same sentiments after they’ve passed! Too many of those who’ve served this great nation have gone to their deaths unaware of how very esteemed and infinitely valuable to the preservation of liberty their sacrifices were in service to our nation! What a shame it is to imagine how many men and women have sacrificed everything for the sake of securing and protecting this nation’s freedom without really knowing our full measure of gratitude!

My heart aches for such overt love, as is mentioned in the Bible: John 15:¹³Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. And in this life, we are all “friends” in our common humanity. Surely those who sacrifice everything for this nation in the military service branches do so because they value their families, their loved ones, their communities, their neighbors, this nation and their freedom more than life itself! Preserving and protecting our precious freedom is reason enough for so many to choose to voluntarily enlist these days! Liberty persists because of the sacrifices of all those who serve this nation and for that, we cannot possibly express ample enough gratitude!

Memorial Day is a special day set aside to honor those who died in service to this nation and our hearts should be filled with somber gratitude and remembrances of them all. Such a history of personal sacrifice through voluntary and involuntary service to our nation throughout our history have cemented for us a continuous freedom, prosperity, and peace unrivaled by most other nations! Our nation’s history is filled with amazing heroism, valor, and personal sacrifice for the sake of preserving and protecting America for generations to come! But forgive those of us who take the opportunity to include veterans still living in our remembrances on this special patriotic day, especially those dear souls advancing in age who are within earshot of our accolades and our applause! We must take advantage of every opportunity we’re given to show them our gratitude, being thankful for their long, indelible lives as part of our nation’s most honorable contributions to the prevalence of freedom in the world! I wish you all a blessed Memorial Day! I pray for the families, loved ones, and souls of all those who perished in service to this nation, may God be with them all!

In The Midst . .

11 Thursday May 2017

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Attitude, Blessings, Celebration, Conquering Fear, Gratitude, Joy, Life, Nature, Opportunity, Uncategorized

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Dolphin Pods, Nature, Ocean, Whale-Watching, Whales

Last week, I was so fortunate to be in the midst of a super pod of common dolphins! I am not sure of their number but suffice it to say, the numerous dozens, if not hundreds of dolphins, were feeding near our boat for a couple of hours while we were out whale watching between Santa Barbara, California and the Channel Islands. The dolphins were just one type of sea creature we got to see while on what had to be the most exciting whale watching trip we have ever taken! And we’ve probably taken somewhere between 10-15 boat trips over the last two decades designated as whale watching excursions. We also saw humpback and minke whales (http://acsonline.org/fact-sheets/minke-whale/), as well as sea lions, those dolphins, and a slew of birds. It was truly a great trip!

Since I’m ecstatic about being a former seasickness sufferer, every trip I get to take which doesn’t include being seasick while leaning on or hanging over a table in the boat’s cabin is a great joy! This trip was the fourth boat trip in the last two years on which I haven’t gotten sick per usual, and the first trip I actually walked outside on the moving boat to take photographs and to observe because the ocean itself was so calm! It is a welcome change to what had sadly become my status quo for years prior. I missed seeing three different types of whales on a boat trip out of Anchorage, Alaska about ten years ago. Everyone on that boat was over the moon having seen so much sea life and then also life on land from the boat. In addition to the orcas, the gray whales and the beluga whales we saw that day, we were also afforded sightings of black bears, brown bears, moose, elk, sea lions, and oodles of birds of prey from our boat! Even having to lean over the table inside the boat as I did, I would have proclaimed it a fabulous trip for those who got to actually see and enjoy the abundant sea and land life! But the trip last week out of Santa Barbara proved to me that I could not only enjoy boat trips sans seasickness, I could also revel in such great sightings of abundant sea life! I’ve now become one of the eager whale watchers and participants in the experience!

There is a mystery to the ocean, it holds amazing riches in the form of the living creatures dwelling under the waves besides the obvious beauty held in its power, majesty, and expanse. But it is not always so easy to find those creatures or to see them in their natural habitats there under those waves! Fortunately, we’ve managed to have some truly incredible sea life viewing days on our recent boat trips. It’s been a great way to gradually overcome my residual dread of being on the boats too. After all, if I’m going to be okay and not endure any seasickness as a result, then I can focus on enjoying my trip and viewing those amazing, mysterious creatures which dwell in the ocean! Seeing the super pod of dolphins around our boat for hours the other day was incredible! Even if we hadn’t seen the two species of whales, that experience would have been enough for me. I’ve learned to be so appreciative of just enjoying the boat trips now that anything I get to experience while on those boat trips is icing on the cake! And I’m looking forward to more!

My Version of Paradise . .

09 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Beauty, Celebration, Exploration, Gratitude, Happiness, Nature, Uncategorized

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Beauty, Exploration, Gardens, Nature, Plants

I am reeling from a few days in my version of paradise! I have to say, if there is a favorite activity on vacation, it’s visiting private or public gardens in the city or place in which I find myself. I have visited a lot of famous ones, and lesser known ones which I discovered by accident, including those on the road to Hana on Maui. There is even one called the Garden of Eden on that slightly treacherous descent, which made for a suitable and beautiful pause in my action-packed drive to Hana. No matter where I go, I look for gardens or plant centers to buy a suitable plant souvenir. And those with whom I frequently travel know this is my passion!

So recently, as I visited my sibling in Los Angeles, I was treated to two separate trips to the Huntington in San Marino, near Pasadena. It’s one of my favorite public gardens on the planet, covering over 150 acres of themed gardens. The grounds of the once private estate have been routinely filmed in movies, commercials and used for various concerts and gatherings. You’ll recognize numerous locations from decades of filming! And I personally have taken thousands of photos of plants, animals, nature, and the artwork which is housed on the property in various buildings in the numerous visits I have made to the Huntington over several decades now!

The first visit of my recent travels fell upon the day set aside for free admission. We had no idea we had timed our visit accordingly. The crowds and the heat made for a rather brief visit that day, as both considerations made our visit more complicated. We did our best to enjoy it though, and lingered mostly in the Rose Garden, as the roses were at the height of their blooming season seemingly that very day! It was lovely to behold the hundreds of varieties, new and old, in full and glorious bloom! I took as many pictures as I could around the crowds wandering along the rows of beautiful blossoms. Unfortunately, we all ran out of steam early on in the day because of the heat and humidity which prevailed. So we left and promised a return if possible on the weekend, even though rain and the significantly cooler weather was forecast. After all, this day’s visit hadn’t cost us a thing!

By Sunday the weather had turned enough to allow us to revisit the Huntington again. This day was about 30 degrees cooler and rain threatened from the dark clouds hovering nearby. Determined not to let the threat stop us, we walked around the much emptier garden pathways, taking in all we hadn’t been able to on the prior visit just a few days earlier. We were greeted by families of geese, protecting their young, and we reveled in the glorious lighting provided by the puffy clouds moving overhead. There was a gentleness which hadn’t been there just a few days prior, as the weather and the number of other visitors were less frenetic! I again took hundreds of photos, which is my normal behavior given so much perceivable beauty all around me!

We visited the Rose Garden anew, although the heat from a few days earlier had taken some of their strength and beauty away. They were past their prime in many regards, but still lovely. The Huntington is so rich with beauty that no matter what is blooming and when you visit there is always something glorious to behold! And so I was in heaven for having had two visits in a long weekend visit to California. The final grandeur came with a day trip to Santa Barbara in between the Huntington visit days, on which I was able to buy a souvenir plant to bring back home! It’s an absolutely beautiful Bambino Bluey Bougainvillea, bursting with bluish-lavender bracts and bright green leaves. It’s a new cultivar and will make a great addition to the varieties I already have growing in my desert garden. And so, I happily accept the weather highs and lows, the plan “B” mentality we had to adopt and the explorational flexibility which came accordingly. Every day is different in a garden, every moment varies by what is blooming and what nature has to offer at that particular moment! And I love every single minute of it all!

New Day, New Week, New Season . .

20 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Attitude, Contentment, Faith, Gratitude, Joy, Peace, Uncategorized

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Contentment, Gratitude, Joy, Peace

A new day, a new week, a new season, this day represents a new start for so many reasons! Actually, every day is a new start. We needn’t believe only certain days are important or more meaningful. Every single day we breathe and have life is important, meaningful, and truly exciting for the potential it represents! It’s just our perspective and our attitude which enables that mindset! Every morning, upon awakening, it is our choice to view the day ahead with dread, in our despair, with our worries, or by choice, with the eyes of gratitude!

If we begin each new day with the sense of how very special a gift it is, for the renewal and possibility it represents, we cannot help but be more grateful, more appreciative and also more excited to see how it plays out! Too many of us begin our present day with the remnants of utter dread or despair from something hanging over from our yesterdays or with the fearful threat of all the unknown of our tomorrows. Looking backward or forward all the time causes us to neglect the here and now. That habit also causes us to dwell almost continuously in guilt, shame, regret, fear, and worry rather than trusting calm and peace. And now is really all we have, even if we want to cling to our regrets or wrap ourselves up in our fearful worries!

Our propensity to dwell in the past, to hang onto days we can no longer change, or to constantly evoke our inner fears about what is yet to come, is often the source of a lot of our life’s pain! The past is over and done! We can go forward, but we cannot change what occurred back then. And we cannot know exactly what will happen tomorrow or years from now, so why do we give so much of our today thinking we do? We cheat today of its fullness and its promise because we aren’t present! We lock ourselves up in emotional prisons of our own making, focusing only on things we feel about our past or things we dread about our future. We must learn the faith-filled habit of trusting God for all of our days, especially for our today. His grace is enough for today, and tomorrow, His grace will be new and provide for us then. God’s grace is the key which opens our self-made prison cells. If we turn to Him for our keeping, letting our yesterdays have less weight upon our souls and giving every tomorrow a rest until we actually encounter it, we can turn our emotions towards all that brings us peace and calm within!

I know, some of you are doubtful! You’ve carried those weights and burdens so long, they are now your badges of honor! You should take comfort in that which you’ve overcome, and surely you should feel what you must as things occur, but you shouldn’t let your emotions from one moment in your life hold you hostage for the rest of your life! And the fears you have about what may be in the future cannot and should not take one moment of your joy and peace from today!

Today is the new day, a new week has begun, and a new season lies ahead! But today is the day! As each day begins, remember to center yourself in the purposeful awareness of how special, important, meaningful and promising that day is! God gives us each day as a gift, even if we’ve never seen it that way! Let us endeavor to celebrate each new day as it is, for what it is, and to show our gratitude by making today a priority over all other days past and future! Spend some time right now wherever you are focusing on today. And anytime you choose to focus on your gratitude, you add infinite value to your life! Gratitude always evokes emotions within us which are more positive, uplifting, calming and joyful! Today’s the day, get at it!

Freedom or A Prison For All . .

30 Thursday Jun 2016

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Character, Choices, Discipline, Ethics, Freedom, Maturity, Self-Control, Uncategorized

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Ethics, Freedom, Self-Control, Self-Discipline

Our nation was built on inherent rights which serve as the backbone of human freedom, but those become meaningless when citizens no longer hold themselves to the standards of behavior necessary to maintain such freedom! It is indisputable, people simply cannot do whatever they want without regard for the consequences. There is freedom, as we know it from the day we are born, but with maturity, we have to learn to be lawful and civil to dwell with one another sans chaos. Self-discipline and self-control are essential counter-balancing measures for people to live lives which shun the additional restraints other men seek to place upon them. Someone or some other entity (like a government or a law-enforcing body) always step in to take up the slack for our lack of self-control and self-discipline. And every time that is necessary, a bit of our freedom is eroded!

Thanks to the eroding behaviors of the lawless, a free society like ours can no longer maintain the same state of freedom which feels comfortable for the entirety. No man is able to decide for another how he should live his life, but that is exactly what happens in a society in which morality and civility decline! With fewer of us caring to self-regulate our behaviors and accepting personal responsibility for those errant choices we make, external control by some other entity becomes a dire consequence we all must then endure. We all must endure more laws, more regulations, more restrictions and more controls upon our freedom and choices, even though the chaos still grows more noticeable from the burgeoning lawless portion of our society. What is obvious is that the lawless already not obeying laws or self-controlling their behaviors will not respond to even more controls and laws!

The answer to our societal problems is always found within each individual, making them responsible for their own actions and behaviors is essential. No one else has the right to say for another how their life is to be lived, unless and until that person has ceded their own self-control and self-discipline by a choice or a series of choices. Otherwise, what we have, as a result, is a national “prison” of laws, restrictions, regulations, and rules which bind the law-abiding right along with the lawless. That is why “we” should stop asking for more laws and controls to be placed upon society as a whole from a faceless, growing government of gigantic bureaucratic agencies unable to keep themselves in check. “We” should start calling for enforcement of the laws already on the books and accountability for those who are truly at fault when laws are broken. If you consistently enforce the value and necessity of morality, ethics, civility, and insist upon lawfulness by insisting that people are held accountable and pay their debt or recompense to society, a society stands strong against the chaos of freedom left unchecked and unbalanced! And this standard must be set from the top down at a universal Federal level all the way down to our communities and households! Each and every single one of us must be a responsible participant and each one of us must be accountable for our choices. Only those who are unable to self-regulate and self-discipline, such as children prior to maturity, are excusable for not exercising self-control. Such freedom as is inherent in us is hard to restore once bound and restricted! And if we lose our freedom here, God help us and the world!

One Foot In the World . .

14 Monday Dec 2015

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Attitude, Choices, Christianity, Commitment, Discipline, God, Growing, Maturity, Uncategorized

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Acceptance, Faithfulness, Obedience

Ever try to walk on two different surfaces or levels for any length of time? It is hard. So it is when we walk with our lives compartmentalized . . we’re faithful here, we obey there; but we still love our earthly lives so much, we cannot let go of this or that! As believers, that is referred to as having one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom. It doesn’t work in the long run, as we lose our footing eventually; we fall so repeatedly from the more difficult trek, to take more frequently the easier, most comfortable path.

Many will choose to remain this way, straddling the realm of the finite things of this world, to preserve the fun and pleasure for now; all while endeavoring to keep just enough tied to God for their salvation’s sake. It’s truly a shame, as by giving up the growing process which comes from having a life fully vested in the Father’s will, they usually miss the best part of forming a solid, fulfilling relationship with Him! For it is in our loving and willful obedience and surrender to Him, that we learn truly who we are and what we were meant to be, for His sake! If we choose to conform to what is of this world more that we choose to be apart from this world (as His Word directs us), through our stubborn disobedience and a willful determination to remain as we are for the sake of enjoying this world and feeding our own egos, we then cease to convey to Him our trust, faith, hope and especially, our real abiding love for Him.

We might still find our salvation through the Lord, we might still make our way to eternity; but what if we are just disobedient and willful enough to sever our ties to Him through our conformance to this world? We might just convince Him with our determined effort to abide in this world, unknowingly to us, that we aren’t really committed to serving Him while here or spending eternity with Him when this life is done. Truly that is something to consider when we let our egos direct our steps, rather than giving the Lord full reign and letting Him guide us completely for our entire lives! We cannot compartmentalize our lives when it comes to our relationship with the Lord; we are apart, separate and not of this world, because we are His! Where do you want to belong? As we grow closer to the Lord in our relationship with Him, obedience and non-conformity becomes easier for us; we actually understand and accept, through the Spirit within us, our own separateness from this world!

Some Will Never Grasp . .

02 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Choices, Contentment, God, Hope, Joy, Peace, Positivity, Uncategorized

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Faith, God, Hope, Love

Some will never grasp how much beauty and joy there is in life. They’ve made up their minds that because they don’t live in a bigger house or have all they want or make more money or realize all their dreams or . . well, they just find endless ways or one reason to write all their life off as failed, terrible, rejected, horrible, miserable or worthless. No matter the beauty around them, the love of others, the gift of one more day or the bounty of life’s miracles played out each second, they’ve decided to view all of life as negative. Perhaps they’ve endured tremendous things which took their joy. But in letting their joy lapse every day since, they’ve given their power over to others or to situations or to circumstances which negate their contentment, joy and peace of mind for the rest of their life! If I tried to convince them that there were blessings all around them, joy in precious moments, gifts of time and breath, or a bounty of life they’ve chosen to waste, they simply would not believe me easily or readily. They’ve made up their mind, this life sucks!

Unfortunately, they would miss seeing the examples of others whom I have witnessed. Perhaps they have not taken notice of those souls, pressed with possible peril or up against unbelievable odds themselves, who are determined to be joyful in spite! Possibly they refuse to notice for themselves the very nature of life’s daily persistence; how it pulls us into each new moment we’re given whether we like it or not! How I pray daily that every soul could experience such a sense and awareness of life’s preciousness and meaning; as well as the very worth of each person, every creature, each bounty of abundance or the infinite blessings in every single day. Unfortunately, some people have made up their minds that this life wasn’t bountiful enough. Sadly, they’ve chosen to believe nothing is a real blessing, not even their own beating heart. Tragically, they don’t respect or value their own infinite worth, much less believing that about others. All of their life is lumped into the negative overall mindset they have created for themselves or experienced. Maybe it takes God’s hands and His will upon our lives to realize our own failings in that regard; for that would be my explanation as to why I see everything as I do. It would be my response as to why I refuse to give into life’s overwhelming negativity and the daily chaos which threatens my peace of mind and my positive spirit. I am not sure even then that some souls will ever understand the true value, meaning and purpose for their lives, if they refuse to let God be a part of theirs. I only know that without an understanding as to what love truly is, from Whom it comes, people feel dejected, adrift and lost more often than not. Life becomes increasingly meaningless when there is nothing of meaning to enrich it. God is my tether in calms seas and storms! He gives my life its meaning!

Without sensing a purpose greater than themselves for being, life itself must seem tragic, cruel, hopeless, fatiguing or brutal at times. God gives my life such infinite sense of worth, purpose, hope and love; like a big safety net around my soul, He gives me beauty for my chaos, a will to not cave in and a hopeful desire in His promises to faithfully expect what awaits me beyond this breaking world. Some may think me foolish for believing as I do; but if they believe THIS is all there is to life, only the chaos and madness of this world, I would believe them the fools! Comparing and contrasting the mayhem, failings and futility of humanity to the promises of God is always going to leave humanity lacking. And so we have a glaring perspective on what is happening in the world right now. Humanity is failing more and more the further it extricates itself from God! Souls are perishing in the futile void created by human will without hope, faith and an understanding of their value in life or God’s will for their lives. A life with God is not going to be trouble-free or seem idyllic. In fact, there will be challenges as a believer which often can make things seem harder! But His love, promises and the hope which He instills offsets the challenges, difficulties, trials and failures; washing over the faithful, restoring and renewing their souls and spirits. How sad for those who miss the chance to have contentment, joy and peace of mind in this life as well; in knowing God and His love!

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Category Archives: Uncategorized

What’s A Girl To Do?

Featured

I Choose To Bloom…

Time to Flex My Creativity Muscles . .

Time Is Leaving Their Memory Behind . .

In The Midst . .

My Version of Paradise . .

New Day, New Week, New Season . .

Freedom or A Prison For All . .

One Foot In the World . .

Some Will Never Grasp . .