Fear vs. Faith

Sometimes my lack of self confidence overwhelms me, and I fear becomes part of my existence. I think of all my mistakes and inadequacies. I am discouraged.

AA has a saying that Fear and Faith can't exist together. Fear is on one side of the coin and Faith on the other. Which side of the coin is up? Fear or Faith. At times the Fear side of my coin is up.

Then I remember the scripture in Second Timothy 1:7 (Paul wrote this during his second imprisonment just before he was martyred.) "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love and of a sound mind." I have power to change my thinking. God loves me so I can love myself. Because my mind is sound, I can have Faith in myself.

I turn the coin over to the Faith side again and again and again. Sometimes it doesn't want to stay, but I anchor it down with prayer, and positive thinking.

Inner Harmony

I had dinner with a cousin and his wife last night. The food was delicious and the conversation insightful. He has a peace about him that is contageous. He meditates daily, finding an inner harmony that reduces his anxiety and worry. He has found an avenue to tranquility in his life that works for him.

My path to peace is different than my cousin's. But how wonderful that we can each find our own way to a life of contentment and meaning.

What is you way to peace? How do you connect with yourself?

This daily blog is one of the ways I find my inner harmony. I settle on a point of wisdom that guides my life for the day. I choose a topic that is related to my tasks for the day and helps me handle them with maturity and prudence.

Greatest Good

The greatest good we can do to ourselves and each other is to refine and cultivate ourselves in everything that is good and ennobling.

Eliza R. Snow

Courage

Real courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. Atticus Finch

Sometimes I feel like Atticus Finch. I feel unworthy - licked, but I push ahead anyway because I want to see my task through. I also know if I include the Lord in my tasks, He will strengthen my heart.

Wait upon the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart. Psalms 27:14

Listening

Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, . . .

Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee:

Job 22:27 - 28

God is listening. He hears our every wish.
Do we hear God? Are we listening to His every wish?

Trials

The trials in our lives bring us the lessons we need most.

List your trials and look for the blessings they bring.
I would not ask to experience some of my problems again,
but I can see the strengths I have gained from them.
I won't say that my trials are blessings,
but they have led me to virtues I didn't know I had.

Prayer

If your day is hemmed with prayer, it is less likely to unravel. Proverb

I hem my days with prayer:
Prayer that I might listen to others
Prayer that I will learn something new about myself
Prayer that I might serve others
Prayer that I will feel gratitude
Prayer that I can connect with God.

I am grateful for prayer.

Harvest

For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad. Edwin Way Teale

I made another batch of tomato soup today. The house smells wonderful, like that of the harvest. It will linger into tomorrow. This time of year is a time of reaping, but it is also a time for sowing - sowing thoughts and memories and soup that will last through the long, cold winter. It is a time of scattering abroad our thoughts and memories and soup to those we love.

Friendship

Today I'm feeling very grateful for friends. Thursday is friendship day because our writing group meets every Thursday night. We revel in our successes and joys and hold each other up when the rejection letters come. Sharing brings us closer.

I have lots of friends: family, church, service organizations, writing groups, my lunch bunch, childhood friends, couples we spend time with - fishing was the last expedition, and my music buddies. And I am grateful for the blesssing of each person who enriches my life. Greater riches no man could have. 

Connections

Yesterday I went to lunch with two friends that I've known since Jr. High School. As youth, we spent a lot of time together until we graduated from college. Then we went our separate ways. We have just reconnected with each other and are enjoying catching up on life and remembering past times.

I love that these two good friends knew me before 'life happened' to me. They knew me in the beginning. There is something comforting to be with someone outside my family circle that values me, not only for who I am but for who I was.

One of them said yesterday that it's nice to know that you are the same person you were as a child, although life has changed you. Through our joys and trials, we change; but we also remain the same. Being with someone who validates your sameness is comforting.

Promises

Undertake not what you can not perform, but be careful to keep your promises. George Washington

Today I have been making delicious peach fruit leather. Each year our oddly-shaped, scrawny peach tree keeps its promise of growing wonderful fruit. It is a simple gesture.

What promises have I made in my life? Am I keeping them? Today I will focus on only one of my promises and strive to keep it. That way I won't feel overwhelmed.

One day at a time I will endeavor to be true to my promises.

Happiness

Happiness comes, not from the pursuit of pleasure, but from giving service to those around you. The time I'm the happiest is when I am giving freely of myself to others.

I imagine my roses are the happiest flowers in my garden right now because they are giving me such great beauty. I love their intricate design and color. Some blooms begin as subtle yellow, blending to a warm peach color at the tips of the petals. Others are soft pink. White ones burst into multiple blooms.Their petals are so soft to the touch, and their delicious fragrances fill the air with a bouquet of aromas.

Thank you roses for enhancing my life.

Authenticity

“What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say” Ralph Keys

If my actions match my words, I am genuine.

If my actions match my words, I am reliable.

If my actions match my words, I am trustworth.

As I figure out who I am, there may be times when my actions don't match my words. If I know this about myself, I am on the way to becoming authentic. 

Peace

Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace. Buddha

I worked with a lady yesterday who was upset at one person asking her for help. When she finished telling me about that incident, she immediately began explaining her anger at someone else for looking at a situation differently than she did. At that minute her life was devoid of peace.

May we banish resentful thoughts and peace will surface in our hearts like the waters of a bubbling spring.

Connections

My mother (age 91) has a pear tree with the most delicious fruit. As small children, all of her grandchildren loved to eat the pears when they came to her house. Today they are grown and have moved all over the country. They still love the pears, so I help her dry them and mail them to each grandchild. Now the great grandchildren wait every fall to get the pears in the mail.  Connections bind us together

Discouragement

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. (Bible, Isaiah 41:10)

When I feel discouraged about my circumstances in life, the only thing that brings me peace is the knowledge that God is with me and will lead me into the paths He wants me to follow. My awareness that He is there brings me peace, and then I begin to count my blessings and feel grateful for what I have even though things are not as I think they should be.

Daily Decisions

"Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving."  Albert Einstein

I am grateful for those who have gone before me, those who are with me now and those who will come after me. What, if any, will my contribution be? I decide daily.

God never requires compulsion; He only gives us opportunity. He is always at the door, waiting for us to knock. Being compelled goes with the words "have to." Opportunity comes with "want to." When I find a "have to" in my life, I change it to a "want to."It's amazing to me that I can reaffirm my positive attitude almost immediately by getting rid of the "have to." I "want to" do everything possible in my life to stay close to God.

Today I have been to Heaven. I didn't get there for the sunrise (as shown in the picture above), but I watched the clouds create patterns in the sky and aspen leaves sift to the ground like snow flakes. It is my most beautiful place on earth because my father walked the forest and his father before him and his father before him. My children and my children's children run in the woods, chasing squirrels, looking for wild bunnies and gathering huckleberries. Six generations have loved the earth and received of its power. The land connects us to one another and gives us a sense of place - our own Heaven.

Great Discoveries . . . involve the cooperation of many minds. Alexander Graham Bell
We become better than our best when we create a synergysm with those around us through cooperation.

Love is not love until you give it away to those around you.

Perseverance

With God on my side and a lot of hard work, I'll make it through. It may not be the most eloquent of journeys, but I am wiser for having travelled and stronger because of the work I've done.

I am grateful for connections. I love watching the pink and blue clouds of a sunrise - the orange glow of a sunset. I enjoy this time of year because my roses are still blooming. Their smell permeates the air, and the memory of their beauty stays with me through the snowy winter. I am thankful for delicious sweet tomatoes and juicy peaches and ripe pears. What a wonderful world God has given us.

If you would be loved, love and be loveable. Benjamin Franklin

Cherish your human connections: your relationships with friends and family. Barbara Bush

If thou canst believe, all things are possible. Mark 9:23