Makin' A Difference Today

Spring is my favorite time of year!  Well, that is until, the next season rolls in with its own special trait that swings me in its direction of favoritism.  For living in the northeast United States, we are given all of the glory and the fury that Mother Nature can bestow upon us.  Now, in springtime, the buds are peaking out, the birds are nesting, the various blossoms on the trees and flowers provide glorious scents and are a vision worthy of paint and canvas.

“One is not born into the world to do everything 

but to do something.” 

― Henry David Thoreau

With Spring however, comes the inclination that it is time for "Spring Cleaning".  Yuck!  I am not Suzy Homemaker who has to have the dishes done the moment they hit the sink.  I'd rather sit with another glass of wine, or slip away with a cup of tea and a book to a soft location and relax.  And, I DON'T DO WINDOWS!  However, with a dog and a cat around, the sweeping and vacuuming are an endless chore.  I hate it! Laundry, well, thankfully everyone in this household does their own laundry. I think that transpired over the years of everyone tossing the previous owner's load aside to some god forsaken basket, getting buried with the incoming dirty laundry, and of course losing at least one sock from every pair that went into the load.  Somewhere there is a sock heaven.  It is not beyond anyone in this house to wear socks that do not match.  It has become a normalcy that comes from wearing boots all the time.  Nobody sees that they don't match!

“I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, 

but still I can do something; 

I will not refuse to do something I can do.” 

― Helen Keller

Today, I am on the Spring kick...I will make a difference today.  The curtains are all down and in the wash.  They will dry in the sun today and provide that terrific smell of line dried linens.  The buckets are out with the Murphy's Oil Soap to scrub down all the wood that stares at me daily.  And an extra scrub for the living room after the chimney fire this week.  Whew, were we lucky there!   And later, when all is done...I will create a work of art!  You just watch me!  Yes, I am on a mission to make a difference today!

 

Peaceful, Easy Feeling

Onward...

"Watch your thoughts, they become words.

Watch your words, they become actions.

Watch your actions, they become habits.

Watch your habits, they become character.

Watch your character, it becomes your destiny."

~anonymous 

As I ponder my own actions and feelings of late, it is apparent that I am really in a good place right now.  The daily stresses be damned...I have a beautiful family.  We are all in good health.  We have a roof over our head, (thankfully after the firemen came to put out the chimney fire before the house became fully engulfed last night).

So with all this realization that comes from not having your house burn down, I am beginning a peaceful journey forward as I prepare to let my baby fly.  Yes, it's that time when the last child prepares to go off to college and I, as the mother, look back and wonder where all the time went.  

It's had its ups and downs...however, it is abundantly clear that, the ups outweigh the downs by far.  My life is full! 

"I have found that most people are about as happy as they make up their mind to be!"

                               ~ Abraham Lincoln

When looking forward, it is important to draw on memories that have made you laugh.  Try to think back to the light hearted moments when nothing really mattered at the time...nothing, but that you were having a great time full of fun and laughter.  

An aha moment, like the one I had when I went to see the Steelers play the Oilers at Three Rivers Stadium for Monday Night Football with a friend...(aging myself again, as the Houston Oilers and Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh are both long gone)

There we were on the 50 yard line, just a few rows up having a great time when the TV camera came rolling by panning the crowd of die-hard Steeler fans.  Since I could not be seen on the 50 yard line, on national television, on Monday Night Football when I was supposed to be somewhere else, (like work) we ducked.  We put our heads way down, while the entire crowd that surrounded us was cheering and waving into the camera with Iron City draft beers in hand...now that was one of the funniest moments of my life!  And thankfully, one that recently came to mind prompting me to take the initiative and contact that old friend and have a great laugh all over again.

Yes, though I often tell my children, "Don't look back, you're not going that way"... that happens to be where the past lies.  Good and bad.  And the past is what has brought us to this point in life.  We are what our past has allowed us to become.

Draw on the good...learn from the bad and move on!  The good is where the laughs are and the laughter is where the fun is!  Having fun is the best part of living.

 "Don't take life too seriously.  

You'll never get out of it alive."

~ Elbert Hubbard 

Hope Springs Eternal

  "The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring."

-Bern Williams

Well, Spring is finally making its way to the Northeast.  It has been a very long winter and I am thrilled to see Mother Nature doing her job and forcing new growth to transform the dull, brown winter dregs to the softly colored inspirational peeks that only Spring can provide! 

 

When we think of Springtime, we automatically believe the best is yet to come.  We are hopeful. There is a powerful force at play here.  We believe that the blue sky will always be there when we look up.  Sure, the clouds will come, and with them the rains, and if we are lucky, a rainbow will grace us with its own gift of beauty and wonder... but the sky remains all around us, blue or not.

"Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems."

-  Rainer Maria Rilke

 Spring helps us to see the good in people.  For when the daylight hours are extended, people are more cheerful. They find hope in their own meanderings wherever they may lead.  Perhaps one may be inclined to perform a simple random act of kindness, prompted by a gentle smile or a kind word from a friend.  Or better yet, from a stranger.  Stranger things have happened...

As for me, this Spring is providing me with a rejuvenation or a reawakening of spirit that has gone through a tumultuous turn of events these past couple months. For a truth has come to light, and while I have been in some sort of denial of this "bigger than life" truth, it continues to gnaw at the very essence of my soul.   

It is simply new found knowledge that I must seek to find a purpose for.  For even though it is not something I can act on, and even though this new found knowledge really changes nothing at all, it has affected me in such a way that my only choice is to try to extract something positive from it.  Perhaps the brighter days of Springtime will reveal a brighter purpose or meaning for me.

How dreadful knowledge of the truth can be when 
there's no help in truth!

-SOPHOCLES, Oedipus Rex