“It happens before you know it…the handprints get higher and higher…then suddenly they disappear”
So embrace every moment. There is no time to waste. Live, Explore, Make Memories. Relish the thought of sticky handprints and dirty soccer shoes. In the time it takes to clean them off, the season has passed. Look around, at all of the beauty in the making.
For more renditions of “Free Spirit” click here.
GO
© Joy Cannis and Even A Girl Like Me, 2012
“When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.” ~Paulo Coelho
The topic for this week’s FMF post could not be more timely. Selfishly I like to think that God put it on Lisa-Jo‘s heart just for me.
I am experiencing change all around me. It’s not all bad, but unsettling nonetheless. The quote at the top of the page came from attempts to calm my nerves through hours of reading what different authors say about change. It sums it up well for me right now.
Change is a funny thing, it brings to the surface two very strong, competing emotions, fear and excitement.
Fear of the unknown.
Excitement for what the future holds.
For me, today, in this moment,
Change = Adventure.
I’ll keep you posted.
“All that you touch
You Change.
All that you Change
Changes you.
The only lasting truth
is Change.
God
is Change.”
~Octavia E. Butler
STOP
Wanna participate or just read more takes on the word change? Click here
“We must be entirely honest if we expect to live long or happily in this world.
We have entered the world of the Spirit. Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness. This is not an overnight matter. It should continue for a lifetime. Continue to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment and fear. When these crop up, we ask God at once to remove them…
Love and tolerance of others is our code.
And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone… For by this time sanity will have returned. We react sanely and normally, and we will find that this has happened automatically. We will see that our new attitude has been given us without any thought or effort on our part. It just comes! That is the miracle of it. We are not fighting it, neither are we avoiding temptation. We feel as though we have been placed in a position of neutrality – safe and protected. We have not even sworn off. Instead, the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us. We are neither cocky nor are we afraid. That is our experience. That is how we react so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition.”
~ Taken from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, page 84-85 ~
AA is a group of individuals from all walks of life, who share the same ism. It is a program to which I owe my life.
My eyes open and I draw my first conscious breath of the day
I must get my bearings after a night of seemingly constant dreaming
It’s morning
Everyone else is sleeping
The Master beckons me into his presence
As I sit in the stillness of time before dawn
I am surrounded by silence
Yet, it is peaceful
reassuring me that
the one who knows me best
holds my future
and
it is very bright.
“The grace of God is equal to…
the most unfavorable circumstances.
It’s glory is to transform a curse into a blessing
and show to men and angels of ages
yet to come that where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound.”
~ A.B. Simpson ~
“Whenever we feel lost, or insane, or afraid, all we have to do is ask for His help.
The help might not come in the form we expected, or even thought we desired,
but it will come, and we will recognize it by how we feel.
In spite of everything, we will feel at peace.”
~ Marianne Williamson ~
© Joy Cannis and Even A Girl Like Me, 2012
I am walking into a time of uncertainty.
It’s exciting and terrifying all at the same time.
It’s both beautiful and wretched.
And the thought of it makes me feel free.
Possibilities are once again within reach.
Those things that I thought had withered and gone
are springing to life
and waking the potential that the future holds.
Fear can be paralyzing
or
fear can be liberating.
If it’s going to come regardless of circumstances,
why not use it for certain change?
Why not seize the change that awaits?
Why not relish the opportunities that are waiting just beyond
this one act of faith?
Uncertainty is capable of breeding dissension
or
providing the way to enlightenment.
I choose the latter.
© Joy Cannis and Even A Girl Like Me, 2012
While shooting pictures yesterday for something unrelated to birds on a wire, I turned around and saw this site that had to be captured. It goes right along with how I have been thinking and feeling. It was as if it was placed there just for me and all I had to do was look up.
I laughed while thinking, “I wonder if this bird ever looks around and thinks, ‘Why don’t I look like they do?'” You have to admit, he kind of stands out. Do you think he sees his uniqueness as a blessing?
My temperament is one that craves relationships and interaction with many different people. I invest heavily in the lives of those I love and enjoy doing so. However, when I am experiencing inward turmoil I want to retreat and be quite. Lately, while going through certain stress I have been unable to withdraw which forces me to interact with others when I am out of sorts. This can be disconcerting.
In the past couple of weeks I have found myself looking around and thinking, “How does she do that?!”
“How does she work full-time, grocery shop during the week, run her children back and forth from soccer practice, gymnastics and piano, keep her house clean, volunteer at her church, serve on the PTA and have dinner waiting when her significant other returns from work? And what about doctors appointments in between and the unexpected illness?”
So tell me ladies, are you one of these women? If so, are you really doing everything that it appears you’re doing? Do you have hidden super powers? Are you saying affirmations in the mirror multiple times throughout the day to keep up the pace?
Most days, I feel more like this chick…
I can relate to the white bird on the wire. Sometimes I feel that my uniqueness is a gift and adds to my awesomeness. Other times I see it as a hindrance and something to be overcome. Here is what I know about feelings, they are constantly changing. Feelings in and of themselves are not to be trusted. So I must rely on truth, grace and the love that I know to be unchanging.
What are your thoughts? Am I way off base or do you know exactly where I am coming from on this?
Even A Girl Like Me 