Wowed by the gift of everyday

Day 215 of 1000 days

  When you start realizing each day is truly a gift.  Something interesting starts to happen.  Each moment starts to be more valuable.  My days are feeling more like treasure hunts than a never ending treadmill of days blending into each other.  I have found the time I used to spend watching TV has almost become extinct.  Over the years, minimizing TV was often a goal.  Plans like, no more than 7 hours a week were my norm.  It was about giving up something- not adding something else.  Now I don't even think about TV I'm not even interested I'm busy living.

  As I start adding wonder and appreciation for each day, I find myself moving further and further away from things that were really just killing time.  If I'm tired I pause and sit down, or take a nap.  Sometimes I'm thirsty and that is why I'm tired, other times I'm hungry.  Filling my tired with mindless TV only further depletes my energy.  

Yesterday, I took a long nap in the afternoon.  Before my nap, I found myself wondering from project to project with no focus.  I hated to waste time by taking a nap....... After my nap, I was happier, had more energy and ended up spending most of the rest of the day outside in the yard.  The power of rest is a good healer.

My original plan on this 1000 day journey was to smile, write and run everyday.  As it turns out what I needed was to learn to listen to my inner voice, my mind, spirit, emotions and body.  I needed to learn to discover myself and discover the day as it unfolds in expected and unexpected bends and turns.

  Each day is truly a unique treasure that will never be duplicated.  At night I try to pause and think what my favorite blessings or moments of the day were. Yesterday it was:  Mowing my neighbors lawn,  making homemade chocolate( or maybe eating it was my favorite), and chatting with a friend on a morning walk.

  Maybe these feeling of gratitude and wonder are just a phase or part of the spring season but I truly hope that what I'm experiencing from this journey is how life really can be because it is amazing.

Wishing you great joy in discovering your own journey of each day!

       Denise

Composting life

Day 198 of 1000

What inspired me today?  What made me smile?  What kindness did I offer?  Did I say thank you?  Did I listen?  Was I heard?  Was my breath deep or was it shallow?  Did I savor this day or will it fall into the compost pile of days gone by?  I don't know.

With spring comes new life, beginnings and swift change.  I set new plans and goals.  Ideas spin webs of design though my head.  I eat peas and asparagus with grass fed hot dogs and an egg for dinner.  I watch a movie about food and then look at my writings from Aprils gone by.  Do you ever feel like you know all the answers?  And then do you feel like you know no answer to any question?  The second is how I feel tonight.

It's not that I'm without inspiration and creativity, it is more of a wondering question.  Am I on my right path, do these little ponderings and practices make a difference- in the long run or even today?  It is like the universe is within us, each of us.  At the same time it is like we are only a particle of dust within the universe.

I read a quote from Mother Theresa once and I'm not sure of the exact wording but it went something like this:
   We are only drops in the ocean, but the ocean would be so much less without those individual drops.

It is true an ocean is a collections of drops.  We all matter.  And yet we are all one ocean.  Maybe my contribution to this world matters more than I realize, maybe there are days I'm essential and other days I'm part of the compost pile.  Even a blade of grass in the compost pile matters. Without each ingredient there would be no black gold, no foundation of rich soil.

And so as I ramble on before heading off to bed this Saturday night, I pause and say thank you.  I don't know what matters most.  Before my grandma Ella passed away, she taught me a wise lesson.  All her life she took care of her belongings and did the right things.  But in the end what mattered most were her relationships.  Maybe it is our relationships that do matter most.

Tonight, I'm thankful for food, spring, books, family and friends.  I'm thankful for the wise women who have come before to clear our path.  I'm thankful for the little rain drops sitting on the leaf tonight as Sally and I went for a walk.  I'm thankful that I get to keep on trying, exploring and smiling.  And at the end of the day, I'm so very thankful that I have a warm and safe bed to sleep off the day and life compost.

Wishing you a beautiful journey,
        Denise

Your natural rhythm on and off sugar

# 196 of 1000

     After 196 days on this journey, it seems what I have let go of has been more important than what I have added.  One of my most significant reductions has been sugar.  The sweetness in life, turns out has a counterpart, an unruly distant cousin called sugar.

   I have a natural sweet tooth but I am learning to embrace my more savory side.  My sweet tooth has seen me through the ups and downs in life.  Or so I thought but what my sweet tooth has done was create those ungrounded ups and madding and often tearful downs.  This sugar induced rhythm isn't the natural rhythm I'm looking to discover on my 1000 journey.

  Before bed, I had a little bowl of petite baby peas lightly steams and tossed in garlic ghee.  It was pretty sweet the label gives it 4 grams of sugar.  The label also shows it also has 4 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber.  It was both comforting and yummy.  I have been craving peas lately.  They are a good spring food for my spirit.  My skin seems to soak up its spring green color- chlorophyl and as funny as it sounds they make me happy.

   As I write this blog, it is the wee morning hours on a Friday.  Last night I went to sleep quickly but not instantly, there were a few minutes I could breathe in deeply and completely relax- 21 breaths.  And then this is the good part, I slept without any waking pauses until one minute before my alarm went off this morning.  I woke up to spring birds singing.  It almost sounds like a fairy tail.  But it was a real tail.  I reflected back on what I did last night that created such a lovely sleep and I remembered the peas!

4 grams of sugar is the equivalent of 1 teaspoon of sugar.  So if a label says it's product has 12 grams of sugar then this means you are consuming 3 teaspoons of sugars.  Labels are tricky little guys.  If you look on the ingredient list, sugar may not even be one of the top ingredients.  (You do read your labels right???)  But if you look a little deeper you may find sugar listed in a variety of ways.  Brown sugar, turbinado sugar, honey, high fructose corn syrup.....  this is a big list I believe there are something like 56 different sugars commonly listed.   Label reading has almost become a course in chemistry.  Keep it simple.

By keeping it simple, your life is not only greatly enhanced but also so so so much easier.  Like last night the ingredients in my little bowl of baby peas were three:  Peas, garlic-ghee.  And yes it did have 4 grams of sugar but those 4 grams are naturally occurring and surrounded by protein and fiber.  I am not a chemist nor a nutritionist but I can tell you this- 8 hours of uninterrupted, restful and delicious sleep, waking up before my alarm to birds singing and then being inspired to write is better than any sugar laden product out of a bag or box!

Giving up sugar is not easy, I understand this from the crumbs at the bottom of my cookie jar.  But and this is a huge BUT, the benefits to your spirit, your energy, your skin, your bright eyes, your deep restful sleep, your productivity, your immune system, your natural rhythm, your life are soooo worth the couple of days of cravings.

From my own experience, I can tell you this...giving up sugar is not a destination but a journey.  Some days will be like waking up after eating peas and some days will be trying to avoid the land mines of a family gathering.  Do not be hard on yourself, be kind on this journey.  Celebrate your successes, notice how your body, mind and spirit feel on and off sugar and then let your body tell you what to do.  This life of ours is a long journey.  Consider the impact of what sugar can do over a course of a lifetime.  And then consider what your life would be like following its natural rhythm and getting off the roller coaster of the sugar ride.

I wish you great joy on your journey.  And if you find yourself at a crossroad on your journey, try eating a little bowl of peas before bed!
        Denise