Heartfriend Originals

Progress has been made in my learning to not run Rose Buds as a way of life.  This morning I am writing from the comfort of my own home........my own room.  Looking around, I am rather looking forward to having some extended time to be here in my home.  I like it here.  I just don't like it when it becomes simply a place to clean....like to sit and enjoy it.  Have time to savor the little nooks and places that our place offers.  Time to do more than glance at the flowers that I labored to plant.:)  They smell so good.  Time to smell the roses is an apt phrase.:) What about you?  You taking time to live or are you so busy planning the next thing that you are missing this thing?  Life is to be truly lived.  Savored.  Like good food, it demands time and attention and not just wolfing down.  I have to say that Deedee taught me best this idea.  How to slow down even when the world is going out of control.  How to rest when "I have so much to do."  And you know, sometimes in doing that, I actually get more done than when trying to slog along and keep up.  Putting my heart into life.  My energy.  And yet, knowing that life is not about the doing or accomplishing, but about the experience, the learning, the noticing, the cherishing.  It's about taking time to think.  And reflect.  That looks different for everyone, but we are all made in the image of God.  And in that image, we plan.  We create.  We think.  Not just do.  And sometimes, we need to just rest.  You know the kind of rest I mean, right?  The no guilt kind.  Not the kind where you sit or lie or walk while thinking about all you have to do.  I tend to worry about such things.  Like to plan things out.  That's not bad.  Unless my plan is unrealistic.  Unless my plan supercedes actually seeing the day that I'm walking through.  I don't condone laziness.  But I also don't condone busyness.  Balance.  Finding things we enjoy.  Doing those well.  Honoring who we were made to be by actually being that.  Knowing that while everything is not always perfect, it's always just what it is.  A dinner party is perfect for some if all looks luscious.  For others if the house is immaculate.  For others it's the people. For others it's the wine choices.  And sometimes, we get so busy trying to please everyone that we forget that what people really need is to enjoy the who of who we are.  So, my dinner party would be all about the people.  It would be my priority to let them know to make themselves at home.  To relax.  To do what makes them comfortable.  If I came to your house and you are a clean freak (oh, I'm sorry, was that derogatory?:)) then I can enjoy not just your clean house but how much pleasure that brought you.  How you brought your personality to the party.  So often we get lost trying to be everybody.  Instead, it seems that we should take the time to be who we are and let others be who they are so that life is richer and more full.  Just like in cooking, a variety of spices complement one another and make the food delicious.  But using too much of one spice and none of the others makes it unbearable.  So stop for a minute today and figure out what you bring to the world.  Ok, it might take more than a minute........maybe a lifetime....and try to be that today......while enjoying who the people around you are as well.  Life is a celebration.  A gift to be opened each and every moment.  You got up this morning.  Maybe even showered.  Made some breakfast.  Did the routine.  Don't forget to live.  To smile.  To think.  To hope.  To dream.  To be vulnerable.  To ask questions.  To be curious.  Inquisitive.  Don't forget that in the midst of the most mundane tasks there can be great moments of inspiration and beauty.  But if there's not, get it done fast and go to the next thing!!!  The sun is shining here today.  The trees are really green after the rain.  My plants shot up from all of this moisture.  As did the weeds.  But there will be time for the weeds later.  Right now I want to enjoy the flowers.  They are so pretty.  What are you enjoying?  What takes your breath away?  Everyone seems to think that I'm crazy to dream about going to the ocean this year with very little to no money.  Hmm.  Maybe I am.  But I dream and hope anyway because frankly, it absolutely takes my breath away.  It makes me feel more alive and closer to God.  It makes me stop.  It makes me see how small I am and yet still important.  It gives me time.  It is so dependable and yet so powerful.  It changes things every day and yet remains somewhat the same.  I am ready.  I hope to go.  I can almost hear it because I am hoping so desperately.  Makes me feel like a child.  How they want something with their whole being.  How come we knock that out of people?  I am going to start replanting it.  Find a dream today too.  Hope for it with great abandon.

blessings, rhonda