Today is the kick off of what I lovingly have come to call Hell week, it means I will bust my ass to pull off a fabulous event this week for unknown numbers of people. It’s still early in my corner of the world, hell I haven’t even finished my morning coffee yet. However this morning I was reading Sarah Ban Breathnach’s Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy as I do every morning and today’s piece resonated so deeply that I just had to share. While the piece is about the 12 Days of Christmas, frankly as far as I am concerned it’s applicable to anyone dealing with winter holidays. Enjoy!
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On the first day of Christmas, I gave to my true loves:
The gift of my Undivided Attention
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On the second day of Christmas, I gave to my true loves:
The gift of Enthusiasm
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On the third day of Christmas, I gave to my true loves:
The gift of Creative Energy
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On the fourth day of Christmas, I gave to my true loves:
The gift of Simple Seasonal Pleasures
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On the fifth day of Christmas, I gave to my true loves:
The gift of Tenderness
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On the sixth day of Christmas, I gave to my true loves:
The gift of Good Cheer
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On the seventh day of Christmas, I gave to my true loves:
The gift of Beauty
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On the eighth day of Christmas, I gave to my true loves:
The gift of Communication
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On the ninth day of Christmas, I gave to my true loves:
The gift of surprise
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On the tenth day of Christmas, I gave to my true loves:
The gift of Wonder
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On the eleventh day of Christmas, I gave to my true loves:
The gift of Peaceful Surroundings
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On the twelfth day of Christmas, I gave to my true loves:
The gift of Joy
simple abundance
Seek serenity not security
Its a busy week up here in Maine, work deadlines and monthly female woes have me under the weather so I may be a tad sporadic in posting this week. That said, I wanted to share something that I read this week from this book SimpleAbundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy. The author wrote this book during the economic downturn of the 1990’s but clearly with the financial happenings going on at present the lessons can be applied to our current day.
Too many of us of, yours truly included seek security in having financial stability yet as we are learning in this downturn, our so-called stability from either our seemingly stable jobs (not) to our hefty savings in 401K’s and other financial instruments can be taken away at any time. Even those plastic cards we keep in our wallets can suddenly mean less if the card issuers decide to take away our high limits.
So in these turbulent times, I invite you to join me on the quest for financial serenity…to seek peace no matter where we are financially. If you are like me, you may have a mountain of debt yet if your basics such as shelter and food are taken care of, then you have much to be thankful for. In today’s NY Times, there is a piece about the growing numbers of families across the country who have lost their homes but are living in motels…folks who were formerly middle class and at the moment are not being tallied as homeless, they are living below the radar. It goes without saying, these folks are having a rough time.
It also served as a reminder that as I look at my large house that through God’s grace and blessings, no longer carries a mortgage, though I will of course have to pay insurance and taxes that I am indeed blessed. So while the daily news is grim, lets look at what we have and be thankful.
Catch ya later…happy Hump Day!
