Renewal & Opportunity

“Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.” Buddha

“We need quiet time to examine our lives openly and honestly. . . spending quiet time alone gives your mind an opportunity to renew itself and create order.” Susan Taylor

“For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.” ~Fr. Alfred D’Souza

“Life is always walking up to us and saying, “Come on in, the living’s fine,” and what do we do? Back off and take its picture." ~Russell Baker

Everyone has some thing or activity that helps them to find renewal as we work our way along our life path. For me, silence and solitude in a natural setting is a daily requirement. Without at least a little time spent in simple enjoyment, quiet and on my own, I begin to lose the ability to see my situation clearly and make sound decisions.

The longer that state of being is allowed to grow, the less likely I am to be able to see the opportunity hidden in what appears to be the next obstacle in my path. If I am stumbling along weary and stressed, I cannot see the day. If I can’t see it, how can I seize it? In fact, before you know it, the smallest bump in your road can start looking insurmountable without anything laudable to extract!

So, no matter how stressed or hurried I may be feeling, I always make time out of every day to simply sit and be, to soak in the sunshine and other quiet delights, to renew myself from the inside out. Symbolically, vines represent regeneration, opportunity, connection, expansion and development. Today, this tiny vine working it’s steady way up a trunk was my reminder of these important actions.

While it may feel like a “waste of time” to sit and do nothing, sometimes claiming restful solitude and silence in our daily lives is the best, most pro-active choice we can make! All the better to catch you, my dear, when the next opportunity happens along! How do you find renewal?