Though through tears we may grieve,
with regrets we may mourn,
until the day dawns
and the shadows flee away,
Your love is sufficient.
◊
Let us treasure one another…every moment.
Wishing all a beautiful day.
🌷
The Gift of Each Moment
Why I Love the Morning – A Poem
By Cynthia Cady Stanton | Featured Contributor
It’s the quiet…
the ease of peace
that permeates –
just as the light gently travels
through the trees
and into my soul.
It’s the anticipation…
of yet another chance
for lessons to take root –
and new directions
to unfold.
It’s the trust…
that all the days past
have been worth any pain,
and there are no regrets
which can darken this new light.
It’s the love…
that gratitude which shimmers
and brightens my vision
to just how blessed it is
to have this life,
this very day.
I am but a bird singing,
a flower opening,
a cat purring,
and a baby giggling.
Mornings have this affect on me.
They elate.
* * *
Climb In
By Cynthia Cady Stanton | Featured Contributor
Come float with me, dear one.
Climb into my boat.
I will grab your hand
and lift you in.
We can ride this out together.
The current will take us in its way
but we can see a new shore
over there.
If we work together,
we can point the boat
and use our muscles
to reach that new
and beautiful land.
The journey may be hard –
but inch by inch,
wave by wave,
we will make it.
So, climb in.
The invitation is clear.
Together we are safe.
We can make it
because we are strong.
Float with me.
Let’s rise above the current.
◊
To Not Lose Hope
We have highs and we have lows
The power is in our hands
We can dance or
We can cry
It’s up to us
To make the right decision.
Yes it’s hard
Like pushing a wall
That doesn’t seem to move
But once you look back
You’ll see you’ve come so far.
So don’t lose hope
When things are bad
Just hang in there
You are bound to reach
The top of the hill soon.
◊
Thank you, Victoria, for these encouraging words.
Let us never lose hope.
Wishing you all a restful weekend.
🌷
Keeping the Faith
By Pam Kimmell | Featured Blogger
The road that we each travel
Is full of twists and turns
There are detours and temptations
Lessons each of us must learn.
If life was always perfect
And we never faced the bad
We’d have no real reflection
Of the happy times we’ve had.
Adversity brings the challenge
Of working towards new goals
Finding new solutions
Is balm for weary souls.
God never gives us more to handle
Than he knows we can take on
Remember following the darkest times
God provides a bright new dawn.
◊
The Beauty We Miss
Stop and smell the roses,
Smell that sweet aroma,
Admire the dew
on each crimson petal,
Simple pleasures
to let sink in and settle.
The beauty that you miss,
can truly be bliss.
Wake up to a gallery
of wonders every morning,
Marvel in every little detail,
it is ever so revitalizing,
In this busy world which we live,
we must remember one thing,
Slow down…life is for savoring.
◊
Thank you, Duncan, for this beautifully penned, timely reminder.
Wishing everyone a lovely day.
🌷
Let Us Be Those
When all are in trial,
When all are in denial,
Let me be the one
to share a smile.
Let me be the one
to share a dance.
Let it be an advance,
to be enhanced,
when all are weary,
let me be the one
to share thinking clearly,
to share being ever so cheery.
This is what I ask.
Because I don’t want us to wear a mask.
So let us join hand-in-hand, for this to be our task.
◊
Lovely words by Autumn reminding us to always encourage and uplift each other.
May we be those willing to share a smile…even from a distance.
Wishing you all a beautiful weekend.
💙
Just To Be Thankful
Gratitude
unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough
…and more.
It turns denial into acceptance,
chaos to order,
confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal
into a feast,
a house into a home,
a stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past,
brings peace for today
and creates a vision
for tomorrow.
-Melody Beattie
◊
May we each be grateful for today. Wishing you a beautiful week.
💙
Loved Within
“Having compassion starts and ends with having compassion for all those unwanted parts of ourselves.
The healing comes
from letting there be room
for all of this to happen:
room for grief,
for relief,
for misery,
for joy.”
-Pema Chödrön
◊
You are beautiful. You are loved.
You are worth it.
Wishing everyone a blessed day.
💚
A Gift of Moments
“No matter how we think the future might be,
it always seems to work itself out.
Life is made of moments.
Learn to appreciate each moment.
Each moment is a fresh opportunity to be happy.
This moment is your change to walk in love with others.
Today is a gift to enjoy and to rejoice.
We only have to teach ourselves to love the journey
and not the destination.”
◊
Wishing you all a most blessed day.
💙
Hope Was Not a Loss: A Story About Measles Encephalitis
By Barbara Leonhard | Featured Contributor
In this article, I would like to share my story of how an illness I suffered as a child affected me. Particularly with the climate of today, I hope this will help inform people of the consequences that can develop in young children who are at risk of getting certain illnesses.
It was the summer of 1957, and it seemed to have happened all at once, where I turned from an active six-year-old girl to a helpless baby overnight. At that time, my family was living in Lewistown, Montana, where my dad was a Presbyterian minister. Mom was at home with three children, aged seven to four. That summer, all three of us contracted measles. But while my siblings’ illnesses took a more benign course, I developed a life-threatening complication: measles encephalitis—a serious and potentially fatal inflammation of the brain that can occur either during the rash phase of measles or following the illness itself.
I have often contemplated my own battle with measles encephalitis…because it did indeed nearly kill me.
Continue reading “Hope Was Not a Loss: A Story About Measles Encephalitis”
Just One Heart
One tree can start a forest
One smile can begin a friendship
One hand can lift a soul
One word can frame a goal
One candle can wipe out darkness
One laugh can conquer gloom
One hope can raise our spirits
One touch can show you care
One life can make a difference…
Be that one today.
-BJ Gallagher
◊
May we be those willing to take the first step.
Wishing you a beautiful weekend.
💙
A New Day
I give thanks for arriving
Safely in a new dawn,
For the gift of eyes
To see the world,
The gift of mind
To feel at home
In my life,
The waves of possibility
Breaking on the shore of dawn,
The harvest of the past
That awaits my hunger,
And all the furtherings
This new day will bring.
-John O’Donohue
◊
I am thankful for today…for today is a new day.
Wishing you a blessed one.
💙
To Be Human
“If you start living for the smallest reasons,
that’s when you know you’re really living.
The smell of rain after a thunderstorm,
the shades of pavements when it’s autumn,
the mediocre midnights and the color of the sunsets,
the warmth of oven when baking Christmas cookies,
the thickness of paper when flipping through magazine pages,
the smell of new books and new clothes and new things.
When you start looking at things,
really really looking,
you’ll start living.
Because then you’ll understand how it is to really be a human…
in this world full of people.”
◊
May we recognize the treasure within the little things.
Wishing you a beautiful day.
💙
What Are You Grateful For?
When you start each day with a grateful heart, light illuminates from within.
♦
I am thankful for so much, but at the same time…for not enough. Even in the darkest of nights, there is beauty to be appreciated. Today, I want to appreciate more.
What are you grateful for?
Words That Inspire: What’s Yours? 🌼
“If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.”
♦
This is one of my favorite poems from Emily Dickinson. These words—among others—have helped guide my heart and hand in the care for those suffering.
Do you have a favorite quote or mantra that you live by? It can be heartfelt, witty, or profound. Let’s inspire each other with some positive words today.
Love,
Phoebe 💙
What’s YOUR Message?
If you could send one message of encouragement to the world, what would yours be?
♦
Everyone suffers. However, what I have learned as a caregiver is that humans have a remarkable ability to hide their personal sufferings. At any one time, I may be suffering—but you wouldn’t know. At any one time, the blogger leaving the comment before yours may be struggling—but how would you know?
We live in a world where it’s become so easy to connect with one another. So if you could share a few positive words right now to someone you didn’t know who is currently undergoing hardships, what would you say?
Remember—the comments you leave are for each other as much as they are for me. So if something you read resonates with you, let that blogger know. Feel free to converse with each other and make new connections…even outside of the formal Meet & Greet.
Let’s aim to affect someone in a deeply positive way today.
Love,
Phoebe 💙
Let Us Not Live in Vain.
Dear friends,
As we start a new week, I would like to encourage you with some of my favorite words from Emily Dickinson:
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
Wishing everyone out there a wonderful and blessed week.
With love,
Phoebe
💜
Symphony.
Curtains raised
upon this stage
lifted shadows
one new day.
Encores played
familiar piece
kindred players
different key.
Life’s gavotte
a gleeful tune
every third beat
ends all too soon.
So what is left
now but to live
moments to take
and those to give.
To learn to love
and risk to lose
each turn a jewel
the heart will prove.
So let us grow
as rhythms flow
this one new day
for us to know.
•
5 Things Doctors Wish You Knew (that will empower you)
Have you ever left a doctor’s office somewhat disappointed with your visit? Maybe you just spoke to a physician, but instead of having all your concerns addressed, you find yourself with even more questions? Do you ever wonder what doctors secretly wished patients would do that would make caring for you a smoother process?
My purpose in writing this post is to do two things: to provide practical tips that you can use today that will 1) help prepare you for encounters you might have with the health care system in the future…whether it’s a routine doctor’s visit or an unexpected trip to the ER, and 2) help you make the most out of your interactions with your physicians.
Therefore, without further ado…
Continue reading “5 Things Doctors Wish You Knew (that will empower you)”
Pearl.
Twilight rent by a glittered moon
betray truth of a latent fear.
A gilded smile, a heart once proud,
joys tarnished by the salt of tears.
Captivate this wearied soul,
serenade her with a love divine.
Let the grains of silt that wounded her
be patterned for a jewel’s design.
•
The Hug Token.
Today, I had the feeling I needed a hug.
So, I hugged a mom…
…then I hugged a friend…
…why, I even hugged a taro plant…
…because sometimes, we all need a hug like that.
🙂
The Find.
I search amongst the trees.
Hollow voices, rusting chimes
haunt my thoughts beneath.
Shadows bared by waters of black
reveal a conscience frayed.
Silken hope, luminous,
I depart to its embrace.
•
