ContemplativeJourney

Sometimes I read things that are so deeply inspirational, I simply have to share the information with someone else...last week, I picked up a Joel Osteen book ("It's Your Time") to read on a plane trip to Atlanta. While browsing through books and magazines, I knew that I wanted something fairly light to read, but encouraging and positive. I have been delighted by the encouragement found in Joel's book, and read something last night that struck a deep chord... The passage talks about the fact that we all face major challenges in our lives - the loss of a job, a broken relationship, an illness, death of a loved one - and these circumstances could easily bury us in despair. Negative and painful thinking can become overpowering, creating a downward spiral that pulls us ever deeper into feelings of hopelessness. Here's what Joel says about it: "Yet there is a difference between being buried and being planted. That difference boils down to the expectation of what h...

So...I took a trip to Stone Mountain Park outside of Atlanta this past weekend...with us was a good friend's 11 year-old daughter. Wanting always to see the 'kid' have a good time, I enthusiastically suggested that we take the "Sky Hike." The 3-story ropes course wasn't too bad at first...safely harnessed of course, we were offered 2 options at each stage of the hike...a challenging option, and a less challenging one. I took the road less challenged... Until, we came upon a section with no less challenging option...you see it pictured here. While the angled boards might look less challenging, they are not...mostly due to the fact that they move back and forth, and the swinging makes balance difficult. The other option...? A single tight-rope. Safety harness or no, I was terrified. I tried to step onto the tightrope, but couldn't go through with it...pulling back onto the platform, I was frozen. There was no stairway down from the platform...and people com...

A couple of weeks ago, I was in a meeting where folks were talking about how to handle those moments in life when the answer is "no." The "no" might be about a new job, a raise, a relationship, an answer to your prayers, physical healing from illness...or anything that might be meaningful to you. "No" can be a very difficult word to hear, especially if the subject involved is something of deep importance to you. How do you handle the "no"s in your life? If we were to ask my parents (let's don't)...I'm afraid they would confirm what I already know about myself, which is that I don't usually handle "No" very well. I don't "roll over" easily when someone tells me "no." In certain situations, this can be a terrific character trait...other times...not so much. So...back to the discussion group...a guy was talking about the loss of a relationship in his life, and how poorly he handled his grief...how he...

Are you the kind of person who is kind and gentle with puppies and kittens? If you are not, and would find it easy to be harsh and cruel to these adorable little furballs, read no further, because the ideas shared here will not resonate for you... I want to talk about self-care today, and what it means to be gentle with ourselves...as well as with others. Sometimes we need visual aids in order to really "get it"...and I think the image of these sweet and vulnerable babies can help... Not too long ago, I wrote a blog about being a "high maintenance" person, and what it means to take care of ourselves. While the idea may seem a selfish one, I continue to believe that good self-care inevitably leads us toward better relationships with other people (and animals), and that a failure to take good care of ourselves also has an inevitable ending...a bad one. Some of us grew up in nurturing homes and with loving and encouraging families. Others of us grew up in broken homes,...