Hello New Year!

It's going to be a good year.

There. I said it.

The intention is out there.

The seed of belief has been planted.

I will nurture it and water it and watch it grow.

Bloom and grow baby!

Yup. It's going to be an excellent year.

New Day, New Mood, New Attitude

Find yourself in a bad mood?

Change your attitude!

The rubber band idea is working.

You might think it a bit barbaric, but it actually works!

Every time I start having negative thoughts

or start feeling yell-y (ready to yell)

(yell-y may not be a real word but my first choice was crotchety so you pick)

I snap my rubber band.

Oy!

Note to self: snap on back of wrist, not inside, to avoid numb fingers

I've been practicing the rubber band method of positivity for a few days now.

The method is a bit hard when those around you are the ones being negative.

I certainly don't want to snap myself for someone else dragging me down

so I am learning to walk away.

This morning, after I woke, I made myself a nice mug of green tea.

I sat down in my favorite chair and journaled. 

The last bit I wrote, was a list of gratitude.

I closed the journal and looked out the window.

This is what I saw...

Fog and Frost.

The perfect ingredients for a grey mood?

I think not!

I checked my attitude and grabbed my camera,

headed out the back door

and had some fun!

A week ago I would be frustrated at my lack of time to play.

I would feel inferior due to my status as a beginner (wishful) photographer wannabe.

I would wish for less shaky hands and time to edit.

Today?

I gleefully grabbed a few minutes in the snow in my slippers.

I am okay with beginning as you have to start somewhere.

I am thankful for my hands. Shake adds character to all that I do. tee hee

Time to edit? I'll get there. Time with my children is my number one.

 

   

Nourishment

I went to a little Amish style country store yesterday.

I was out of almond meal.

Waking kids in shifts so early in the morning makes for weary eaters.

Making breakfast cakes with almond and blueberry tempts their palette

and nourishes their bodies.

I also made homemade soup from a smoked turkey leg.

It turned out better than imagined.

Soup nourishes body and heart.

(the following definitions from my trusty Merriam Webster Dictionary© 1994)

nourish (vb): to promote the growth or development of

nourishing (adj.): giving nourishment

nourishment (n):the action or process of nourishing

The words themselves sound satisfying and fulfilling.

Some associated words might be love, care, wholesome, nurture.

All positive.

When we think of nourishment we most often think of food.

But what about other forms of nourishment?

What do you feed your heart?

Your soul?

In order to thrive we need proper nourishment.

The same goes for all parts of our "selves"

Do you nourish your creativity? your dreams?

Do you nourish your relationships?

What area in your life is suffering?

Perhaps you simply need to tend to it with proper nourishment.

Feed your hopes, dreams and desires.

Promote their growth.

Nourish them.

With love,

Lynn

Mastering Meditation

It's lamb season at the farm.

Watching those sweet fuzzy babies brings peace to my heart.

Today's news headline brings hope to so very many.

Peace and hope.

Important words.

Light words.

Love words.

I have tried for YEARS to meditate

finding it near impossible to shut down the chattering of my brain.

To focus.

My breathing is not steady and I struggle in that area as well.

I am ecstatic to say I have cracked the code!

Not everyone wants to meditate.

Not everyone who practices has difficulty.

For those who do, you have to find what works for you.

Some approach meditation traditionally.

Some walk and meditate.

Some use visualization.

Some use prayer.

I am going to share my technique in hopes it will help someone else

who is struggling, find a way that works for them.

 *******

The term "Let go and let God".

Valuable

You do not have to be religious.

You do not have to be of a particular religion.

Consider God to be God, Higher Power, Divine Being, Energy.

Whatever your belief.

I have practiced "Let go and let God".

It has been important to me.

I tend to have control issues.
I tend to take on too much.

I tend to live cranial.

One night as I was sitting in bed

very troubled

trying to meditate

I decided to let go and let God.

Something clicked.

I applied it to meditation.

As I exhaled, I thought "Let go"

(let go of worry, anxiety, control, all the negative, exhale it out of your body)

As I inhaled, I thought "Let God"

(bring in the good, the love, the peace, the positive, inhale and fill your body with good)

Exhale = Let Go

Inhale = Let God

Exhale

Inhale

Exhale

Inhale

As I said those four little words

visualizing all negative leaving with the exhaled breath

and all positive entering on the inhale

I achieved my first successful meditation session.

Call it prayer,

call it meditation, 

call it whatever you wish.

It works for me

and perhaps it will work for you as well.

May you have a Peace and Hope filled day!

Happy Monday!

Thanksgiving Poem

On this Thanksgiving Day

I am not only thankful

but I pray.

I pray...

 

For those less fortunate

may they feel many blessings

for those feeling pain

may it lessen

 

I pray for hate to halt

for love to grow

the war to stop

for everyone to know

 

The love that is possible

is not just for you and me

it is for everyone in the world

it's called equality.

May this day be filled

with thoughts of peace and love

being sent from our homes

being sent from above

a gift of the spirit

riding safe in the wind

may it land in the hearts of those in need

let the healing begin

I pray for the earth

who feels inflicted pain

to be healthy and whole
to be vibrant again.

 

May the whole world unite

in feelings of love, hope and peace

may the sentiments combine

and the energy increase

Let this feast represent

union of heart

tying love around the globe

doing our part

I am thankful for the ground below

for the sky up above

I am thankful for you

I am thankful for love

~ Lynn Retzlaff

The picture below is from a few Thanksgivings back. We had some cousins over a few days prior.

The adults and children all traced our hands on construction paper and cut them out.

On some hands we wrote something we were thankful for. Others we left blank.

We made a turkey and used the hands for tail feathers.

We took it to the family dinner and taped it to the wall.

The string you see hanging held a pen at the end.

We encouraged other family members to pick a blank hand and add their thanks!