So, your blessing arrives and….

So, your blessing arrives and it is nothing like what you were trying to create; however, it is much better than what you had in mind! How about them apples?!

That said, what about what you were trying to create? What about the money you spent? What about the classes you took? Is it all for nothing? Does regret want to sneak in? Do you feel as if you’ve wasted something?

This very thing is happening to me right now. My husband and I spent so much money attempting to redo a very old family house. We’re talking in the 10s of thousands of dollars so far sunk into it, along with our own personal sweat and tears.

Then, something awesome came along, the perfect home for us. You may be asking why were we even looking at something else while we were clearly working on the original idea. Well, some of it is that we discovered the original idea would take a great deal more money to finish and another bit of it was simply to consider another option.

So, along came this better option and we’re going in that direction. How do we know it’s the right direction? There were LOTS of signs pointing to this home for us. From the first phone call I made to the woman selling it to the walk-through we made shortly thereafter, and everything in between…connections were being made.

Okay, so, back to the original thought…what about all of the money we put into the older family house? Well, regret could happen, crying could happen, feeling wasteful or sad could happen…but…where would that get me in today? Will regretting putting money into the older house change the fact that we did that and tried that route? Will crying because we just couldn’t make that happen make me feel better today? No, none of that.

The truth is, today is a day we came across something that is working in our favor about where we’re to live. This is now a clear direction in which to go and whatever else we tried before this moment was okay in THAT moment. We will now go forward with a home, one we’ll actually live in, and be at peace with how the path went for us.

I hope you can find something in these words to see a perspective in your own life so that you will let go of regret and upset by things you can’t change like that, but to accept the new path and go forward knowing your life will become better by this clear divine direction.

A Hotel Analogy

I recently got a job at a small, three floor hotel in my little town. The hotel mainly services the railroad nearby, but also travelers looking for a place to rest. I knew the hotel serviced the railroad. There is a smaller hotel on the other side of town that serviced the railroad to begin with many years ago.

As I work there, I begin to see what a beehive of a hotel this is. There are people checking in and checking out at all of the hours of the day. Each one coming or going based on their work or traveling needs.

Some of them don’t say anything as they move about, some give a simple “hello”, and others introduce themselves as regular guests of the hotel.

As I worked through the hotel rooms, cleaning them one by one, the front desk lady rents these rooms out. I had cleaned one room in particular and, shortly thereafter, it got booked out.

That helped me see just how things really do come and go. Then I got to seeing it from a deeper perspective of, each person has their own room and space. Sometimes I don’t see any guest at all, sometimes I see one or two, sometimes they talk to me.

That’s how life is. We meet some people, pass by others, really connect on a deeper level with those that stop and have conversations. Sometimes it may seem like nothing, but it’s always something being created, moving, and even being quiet.

I find it fascinating! As you go about your day, I want to encourage you to make new friends, reach out to those friends you value, let go of those that no longer serve your needs. Notice it’s all an ebb and a flow, things moving around you and can move according to your own choices.

A Flower Garden

I asked God what I should write about this morning. I figure it’s Mother’s Day here in the US and some people consider this day a little more than ordinary.

As I was stirring my coffee, God showed me a flower garden. One of those full, happy, colorful gardens that really do soothe the soul just to look upon all of those colors. That one.

He showed me the roses, the little growing flowers, and lots of different sizes in between. He reminded me that each flower holds its own individual beauty.

The rose is busy being the rose and nothing else. I want you to consider, lots of people aspire to be the rose. They think their low growing lily-of-the-valley size just isn’t show garden worthy. I want to show you something about that rose.

If you’ve ever noticed, lots of rose bushes are very skinny, tall, not really well rounded plants. They also have thorns, not being very friendly of a plant either. Yes, they are beautiful, but they do have some unwholesome qualities too.

Take a dahlia for example. Those range in size from a golf ball pom to a dinner plate full 11″! That’s amazing really. I haven’t seen one yet, but maybe I’ll grow them sometime? They actually produce a lot of greenery though. No matter the size of the flower, there’s lots of “stuff” behind the flowers. It’s like they put themselves on display, yet draw you in for that green healing color too.

The lily-of-the-valley. I’ve always admired this plant. It’s such a very modest, unassuming plant. It doesn’t draw attention to itself very much, but does show gentle beauty when looked at…almost like fine china.

One more, the carnation. This used to be my favorite flower. If I had to describe me in a flower, this would be it. It’s a beautiful spot of color. It’s got some greenery, but not so much that it overpowers the plant. It’s a tall plant, one that wants to show itself to you. It wants you to see it’s beautiful color for your color soothing pleasure. However, it’s also got rough edges on every petal. There isn’t much “refined” about the carnation. She’s not polished, she’s not fancy, she’s rather ordinary and probably does things differently.

This is, literally, life in a picture. Each person is their own beautiful flower and shows themselves in a different way to the world. Have a beautiful day!!

Perspective change and flowers

I do not have a green thumb at all. I have bought many plants, trying to build up a garden from time to time. At this writing, there are two flowering bushes/trees doing really well and two that hopefully made it through this winter. That’s it. My ratio of lovely plants to what I’ve bought is like 1:8. I’m just not good at it. To prove the point even farther, I killed an aloe vera plant. An aloe! I thought those things were hardy!! I guess not in my hands, nope. lol

So, in my dream world, I’d have a really beautiful flower garden. The kind that gets photographed and put in a magazine, like Southern Living. 😀 For now, I buy several at a time and hope one survives.

I realized something today though. I started crocheting little flowers last year. I think they’re lovely bits of happy that can be tucked into a note or given as a token of care. Today’s realization was that I AM making beautiful flowers. I AM creating that sort of garden in a way that’s lasting, colorful, and just as lovely to have.

I made so many last year and new ones this year, even given some as tokens in letters I’ve written, and still have lots left. I really do enjoy making them. It’s the colors, the craft, the care all wrapped in one. I am considering a little business from this outlet. Making pretty lapel pins to adorn myself with an everlasting flower, maybe others can do the same.

I like this idea and look forward to where it can take me. Everlasting flowers. 🙂 This may be even better than the garden I originally had in mind. It will allow my “garden” to be all over the world…to wherever they are purchased or given. This is the most beautiful thought of today for me. 🙂 Thank you for being a part of it.

Ps. Here’s a picture of one flower. To me, they are so happy!!! 😀

rose with info

Learning from baking Biscuits

Like that title? You wonder how that can be the analogy for a perspective shift? It can be and it completely is. Read on….

I do all of my baking in a little toaster oven. Recently, I wanted to make biscuits as part of supper. However, my biscuits don’t really ever come out right in that little oven. I didn’t understand why. I cook most everything else in there just fine. lol

Well, being that it’s a toaster oven, I figure it was best to turn the oven temperature down slightly so that it wouldn’t cook the biscuits too fast on the outside before cooking the inside. What resulted was that five biscuits didn’t rise and barely cooked. I left them in the oven for over 30 minutes. Yes, they finally cooked, but did not rise much.

The next batch goes in and my husband puts the temperature up slightly higher than the temperature recommended. I figure my idea didn’t work so it was definitely something to give his a go. The biscuits came out beautifully!! Just the happiest little bits of bread! lol

In that whole baking experience, I realize that some things we are pushing for in one way, may need tweaking to be aimed for in a different way. If I’ve tried many times to do something in one way…hoping for good results each time…but not really getting them…then I really do need to try a new way to do it.

The new way may fail too, but it also may make things better!!! I definitely knew the old way wasn’t working though, but I, myself, couldn’t see what a new way was. My husband presented a new way for me and it was a success!

Hmmm, this leads me to a deeper thought. While we may look at things and know they are not working, a particular situation or item of cooking, we may not, ourselves, see a solution. We may sometimes need a partner, someone to tell of our situation, and allow them to offer a new solution we haven’t, ourselves, yet thought.

I saw it in biscuits…all of this. I also see it’s what I do for people. No matter your path, no matter what your belief system, I want to be that person who gives you that perspective shift to moving forward in a happy new way so that you can, once again, delight in an area of your life, like biscuits. Cheers!!

Imperfections and Talents

As I lay down for a nap today, the thought came to mind, “I have imperfections, but I have talents too. The talents win!” That is a great set of words to use as a mantra or positive thinking focus.

All of us have imperfections. There is really no such thing as a perfect person. All of us also have talents. There are things that people are drawn to us for, either what we can do or how we make them feel. It just occurred to me that’s part of the yin/yang of us as people.

When we look at someone, do we see the talents shining forth or do we see the imperfections they sometimes show first? Some of us choose to put more of our life into what we’re good at, despite the flaws we have. Others choose to live in the flaws, thinking they’re only as good as the next need or that there’s a sour note in every aspect of life.

This is a huge revelation to me. This is really how we see things or act. Maybe we can be more consciously aware of this in ourselves and decide what we could be looking for in others and in life. Most importantly, we should be shining our best and brightest if we want to light up the world. 🙂

Talents shine bright. Imperfections are shades of grey we hide behind. How will you go about this life from this day forward?