To Dwell or Not to Dwell

Anger is real.
Emotions are like water and need to move.  It must go somewhere.  Where it goes is up to us:  it goes out or it stays in.  When allowed to stay in, anger will fester, causing chaos in our physical body and on our emotional state.  The space left when anger is released will be filled with joy and peace if that is what we want.
When you feel anger, it's because it's there, in you.  "Dwelling" means to sit and ponder, revisiting each incident that incited anger.  This may actually cause anger to grow more toxic.  What distinguishes dwelling from moving the anger out, is the intention.  You don't have to know what to do or how to do it.  Just "intend".  Acknowledge it's existence and courageously intend that it go away.  The loving universal energy will then swoop down to help.  Your free will has just requested assistance.  Now observe and answer the call to confront, feel, release.  Observe the anger moving out.

A Time for Transition

Tides roll in and back out, change the only certainty.
Ride the wave; fighting to change it, you will drown.

Emotions flow like water, always changing.
Float safely on love, for self and those held most dear.

Gratitude and humor provide a smoother ride.
Peace will inhabit where love resides.

A time for action, strong and sure.
A wave crashes back again, struggle to feel serenity.

A time for waiting, quietly observing, healing, resting.
Uncertain, unsettled, unknown.

A time for ripening, passion rests while the heart heals.
Rests and ripens, preparing to shine again.

A time to blossom. 
Let go, and let it shine.

Moving Forward

Moving forward, stopping only to rest,
Taking care not to wallow in the muck.

Shedding layers along the way,
Making room for joy.

Always more to come,
Feeling peace on my path.

Love Them Anyway

By Mother Teresa

People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Be good anyway.

Honesty and frankness will make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People need help, but may attack you if you try to help them.
Help them anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.

Faith or Fear?

I waver between faith and fear, like I'm sure most people do.  Even the most faith-filled among us have to fend off fear sometimes.  It's all part of the plan.  When we use our free will to recognize that we are fearful and that we cannot at the same time have absolute faith, we remember that God is in control.  This is both scary and comforting to me.  I would like to think I am in control.  It provides me with the illusion that everything will be fine because I am so powerful and I can make things happen.  That may be true, until I try to control other people, my circumstances or anything other than my own thoughts and actions.
I know God has a plan and I trust that it will be much more rewarding than my own, self-imposed version.  I am not able to see the bigger picture of the universe the way God does.  When I humble myself enough to truly surrender to the miraculous power and knowing of the universe, I feel serenity. 

A Seasonal Perspective

A warm spring day, a gentle breeze.
Sun in the clear blue sky, tiny new green leaves.

Lawnmowers running again.
The scent of fresh-cut grass and sunscreen.

Kids at the park, bare feet on the ground.
Laughing and running in the sunshine.

Pleasantly forgetting what I've forgotten.
Birds singing and working, preparing for another beginning.

Calm in Uncertainty

My life is in transition now, with big decisions to be made, uncharted territory to navigate through and no certain signs of what the future holds.  I spin on my gerbil wheel, trying to get one thing settled, then another from my list.  When I reach the end of the list, is that when peace sets in?
I've felt a range of emotions throughout the last few years as I have rearranged my life, from complete agony to utter bliss.  Up and down, up and down, with bliss wedging its way in more often and the painful emotions taking less and less of a hold on me.
Though things are generally looking up, I still encounter the nagging feeling like "things" aren't quite as settled as I would like.  I have to remind myself that life is just that way.  It's ever-changing.  The goal is not to get everything into perfect order and then feel peace.  It doesn't work that way.  New issues pop up constantly.  I never know what is around the next corner, even if I thought I put an issue to rest and have moved on from it.  Nope.  Here it comes again.
The calm is not ever going to be in the "things".  It has to be in me if I'm ever going to feel it.  I want to accept my circumstances as they are and feel the peace that comes with acceptance.  If I can remember that a core of peace and love exists within me and all I need to do is relax and accept myself for all that I am, with the joy and exuberance, the anger and sadness, and the ever-changing circumstances, I won't need to fret.  It's all okay and serves a purpose.  If I can accept that, I can feel calm in the uncertainty.