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Are You There?

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image result for husky blue eyes

Are You There?

A couple of hours ago a storm blew into our area with winds and thunder but no rain, at least for us. I was on the couch with my earbuds in. This is why I didn’t hear the storm or our Siberian Husky, Trooper, come into the living room and sit down right next to me and stare. Suddenly I had a feeling of being watched and I looked in his direction to find his face a few inches from mine. It startled me! “What are you doing?” When I heard the thunder I realized he was looking for comfort. I patted him on the head, scratched ears and told him it was; “okay.” I guess he heard and understood because he went back to his favorite spot on the foyer floor and laid down. He’s still asleep now.

In times of uncertainty, calamity, unsettledness, and fear, what we want, need to know if someone is there for us. As adult humans, we understand that a person’s presence might not fix or solve the problem but it does remind us we are not abandoned. It is one of the deepest longings at the heart of existence; the assurance that on this journey call life, we don’t walk alone.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: #AreYouThere, #assurance, #blessings, #blew, #calamity, #comfort, #deepestlongings, #direction, #fear, #feeling, #fix, #heartofexistence, #journey, #life, #looked, #presence, #problem, #remindus, #solve, #startled, #storm, #thewannabesaint.com, #thunder, #uncertainty, #understood, #unsettledness, #watched, #wearenotabandoned, #wedontwalkalone, #whatweneed, #whatwewant, #winds, @BrianLoging

Balancing Act

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

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Balancing Act –

There is an area in our yard next to the road that is tricky to mow. It is a sharp incline and in order to the get the job done the mower and the rider has to be at a steep angle. When I mow this particular spot in the yard I sit halfway on the seat with my body leaning in the opposite direction of the incline. The balance has to be perfect. Too far off the seat the mower doesn’t sense enough pressure on the seat and shuts off. Don’t lean far enough and there’s a chance the mower and rider could topple over. It’s a twenty-five yard long, difficult and dangerous, balancing act.

Life is also a balancing act. We live in perilous times. All one has to do is turn on the television, log online, and get the sense our families, communities, nations, and world is one mistake from toppling over into a dangerous place and we may not recover.

The problem is balance. Sides are chosen, political parties picked, litmus tests are given, judgments made and those on the other side, even ones seeking a middle way, are labeled as; “the enemy.” I don’t know if we are going to make it back from the edge of disaster but I do know it takes more strength to listen than to ignore, to understand than to shout down, to accept than to reject, to see others as us than ‘less than,’ to find balance than to demand conformity.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: ##opposite, #accept, #act, #angle, #area, #balance, #Balancing, #blessings, #chance, #chosen, #communities, #conformity, #dangerous, #dangerousplace, #demand, #difficult, #direction, #disaster, #edge, #enemy, #families, #findbalance, #ignore, #judgments, #labeled, #leaning, #lessthan, #life, #litmustests, #middleway, #mistake, #nation's, #otherside, #particular, #parties, #perfect, #perilous, #political, #pressure, #problem, #reject, #road, #seeking, #sense, #sharpincline, #shoutdown, #sides, #steep, #strength, #thewannabesaint.com, #times, #topple, #toppling, #tricky, #understand, @BrianLoging, Listen, World

Where You’re Going

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Where You’re Going –

This morning, at a community group for dads, I talked with the men about the importance of “Putting First Things First.” It’s a concept which deals with knowing what’s truly the most important things in our lives and using those as a framework for how we live. When you know what’s important then every decision is made according to your paradigm, your life’s mission statement. If a decision is made that does not fit the schematics of who you are and who you want to become you make it right. Otherwise, you are traveling in the opposite direction of where you need to go.

Everything we do, walking the road of life, involves passion, energy, and time. We have limited supplies of all three. We have to choose how we are going to use them. Our life is a list of the things we do and deem important. The more items on our list the less passion, energy, and time we have to give each item. The fewer items on the list the more we have to give.

This is why knowing what’s important, where you are going, is a must. It allows us to make sure some items remain on our list, what important, and eliminate the unimportant. Direction is easy once we decide where we want to go.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: ##opposite, #according, #allows, #blessings, #building, #Choose, #concept, #deals, #decision, #deem, #direction, #eliminate, #Everythingwedo, #fewer, #framework, #give, #importance, #involves, #item, #items, #knowing, #less, #lifes, #limited, #limitedsupplies, #list, #lives, #mission, #missionstatement, #mostimportant, #needtogo, #Otherwise, #paradigm, #passion, #PuttingFirstThingsFirst, #remain, #roadoflife, #schematics, #statement, #supplies, #thewannabesaint.com, #time, #traveling, #truly, #unimportant, #using, #walking, #wanttobecome, #whats, #WhereYou'reGoing, #wrong, @BrianLoging, Energy

Turning People Into Trees

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Turning People Into Trees –

This week I had to drive into Nashville for a training. My destination was an hour and a half from the house so I made sure to leave extra early because Nashville is known for its snarling traffic. Each day I drove in, because I was early and not in a hurry I watched other zip in and out of lanes, speed past me only to end up at the same place as me when traffic slowed. People were eating, putting on make-up, looking at their phones, singing to songs. One woman was smoking with one hand and talking on the phone with the other. I don’t have any idea how she was steering. Everyone going in the same direction but getting there in a myriad of ways.

I reflected on the journey we share with others. Our path is ours alone and yet, paradoxically, we share it with many. It is easy to diminish, insult those who travel differently than we do. Wisdom tells us to be open and accepting not closed off and judgmental.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: #accepting, #alone, #blessings, #closedoff, #destination, #differently, #diminish, #direction, #drive, #early, #extra, #hurry, #insult, #journey, #judgmental, #leave, #myriad, #open, #paradoxically, #path, #reflected, #samedirection, #share, #slowed, #steering, #thewannabesaint.com, #traffic, #trees, #turning, #watched, #ways, #wisdom, @BrianLoging, People, Travel

Groovy

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Groovy –

Today I am thankful for “shoulder rumble strips” which are; “used primarily to reduce run-off-road collisions. They alert distracted or drowsy drivers that they are leaving the roadway or crossing the centerline of the road.”

This morning I awoke before sun up, to take a trip. It wasn’t especially early since the sun doesn’t come out as soon as it did before the time change over the weekend. I didn’t feel tired. I try not to be distracted when I drive but most people feel this way. As I drove down a stretch of interstate the car drifted and before I knew it I was riding on the shoulder rumble strips. They make an awful racket and the dog, asleep in the back of the car, popped his head up as if to ask; “What are you doing?!?!” I yelled back at him that everything was okay and he laid back down. Those shoulder strips can be annoying but I also see how they can be a lifesaver alerting a fatigued or inattentive driver. I didn’t feel I was either of those but admit they worked and caused me to be more careful to stay in my lane.

It’s good to have people and things which “keep us in our lane” and help us be aware, mindful, so we can continue on our journey and not be stopped or wander off in a different direction. I am thankful for those who assist me in staying the course and alerting me when I begin to drift.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: ##continue, #admit, #alert, #alerting, #annoying, #assist, #aware, #awful, #awoke, #before, #blessings, #careful, #caused, #centerline, #change, #collisions, #course, #crossing, #different, #direction, #distracted, #drifted, #driver, #drivers, #drowsy, #early, #fatigued, #feel, #good, #Groovy, #help, #inattentive, #journey, #keepusinourlane, #knew, #lane, #Leaving, #lifesaver, #mindful, #popped, #primarily, #racket, #reduce, #riding, #road, #roadway, #rumble, #run-off-road, #shoulder, #stay, #Staying, #stopped, #strips, #sun, #thankful, #thewannabesaint.com, #things, #time, #tired, #today, #trip, #used, #wander, #worked, @BrianLoging, People

Life Lost

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Life Lost –

Today, I stopped by Wal-Mart for a couple of items and headed to the checkout area. I had my choice of a person checking me out or self-checkout. The self-checkout had a couple of registers open so I chose one of them. I wasn’t in a hurry, didn’t have an appointment to go to or a schedule to stay on top of, it was simply faster and mindlessly I chose it. Instead of human interaction, an opportunity to say a kind word to a cashier, a chance to stand in line and share a smile, I went with the quickest and the most isolated.

These are the choices we face in our culture. We are able to order online, having most items shipped for free or close to it to our homes, open our doors and live without interaction, relating, or sharing our lives with one another.

At a time when communication is easier than it has ever been in the history of humankind, we are lonely. In a world full of hurting and wounded people we look in another direction to avoid seeing them. On a journey we should be making together we prefer to travel alone. Instead of caring for one another we see the other as a burden to carry.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: #able, #alone, #appointment, #blessings, #burden, #caring, #carry, #chance, #checkout, #choice, #chose, #communication, #direction, #easier, #face, #faster, #full, #human, #humankind, #hurry, #hurting, #interaction, #isolated, #journey, #kind, #kindword, #life, #lifelost, #live, #lonely, #lost, #mindlessly, #oneanother, #online, #opportunity, #person, #prefer, #quickest, #relating, #schedule, #self-checkout, #share, #sharing, #shipped, #simply, #smile, #step, #time, #together, #word, #wounded, Culture, History, People, Travel, World

How’s Your Aim?

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image result for gun church

How’s Your Aim? –

This past Sunday morning the Mrs. and I went to our neighborhood church. It’s a small country congregation who meet in a small white building complete with steeple. We arrived as the service was starting and were quickly noticed by one of our neighbors and invited to sit with them. As with most small churches guests are welcomed profusely and it seemed as if every person in the worship room wanted to shake our hands and to tell us how happy they are to see us. This is one of the reasons I love small churches.

Finally, we were able to sit down and the music minister asked everyone to stand. We sang a few hymns and then the pastor stepped up on the platform to preach. As he was walking up to the pulpit I noticed he was carrying a firearm in a holster on his hip. I began looking around and noticed the music minister, and two ushers also were packing heat! Four guns in a group of about 30 people in a room no bigger than 25 feet by 50 feet. Needless to say, I didn’t feel safer and whispered to my wife; “There are 4 people with guns in this room. If someone comes in and starts shooting there will be bullets coming from every direction. Get on the ground and stay as low as you can!” The pastor spoke on; “Guarding your thoughts” but I must admit my thoughts were on all the firepower in the room and what would happen if someone’s gun fell out their holster and start going off!

This isn’t an anti-gun post it is simply surreal that guns in church are now an acceptable casualty of our culture. It also begs the question; “What would Jesus say about guns in a place of peace?”

“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Jesus, The Master; The Gospel according to Saint John, Chapter 14

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Secrets

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Secrets –

Secrets can destroy lives. Secrets can make enemies of friends. Secrets have a way of eating at us, not giving us any peace and taking over all we say and do. Yet, most of us still hold on to them for fear the secret being found out is worse than the misery it causes each day.

Several years ago I had a friend who was ready to leave his current job for a “better” one. We went out to eat and he laid all his grievances out about his current job. He disliked his occupation, didn’t agree with his boss about the direction of the company and was sick to his gut every day he came to work. To others, he was the model employee but secretly he desperately wanted to go somewhere else. After he finished making his case he took a breath and we talked about the new opportunity and I told him I would be happy to give him a recommendation.

A few hours after our lunch my cell phone rang and it was my friend. We chit chatted a few moments and then he said; “I forgot to ask you, what do you think about me leaving?” I told him it sounded like a good job, the move on his family would be disruptive but manageable and to remember wherever he went he was taking himself with him. I went on to explain that some of his unease and difficulty with his present position was not just the job but were the secrets and burdens he carried with him. “No matter where you go,’ I said quoting one of my favorite wisdom teachers, ‘there you are. “

Don’t carry your secrets and burdens with you.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Problems

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Problems –

There are three kinds of problems; those we can live with, those we can do something about and those we must separate ourselves from.

It’s the last one which gives us the most trouble. Living with something aggravating and, at least in the present moment, is unchangeable can be a challenge. Fortunately, or unfortunately, we can tolerate a lot. This approach can create more hassles if something needs to be changed and we lack the direction, motivation or passion to do something.

Taking control, bending problems to our will, throwing our shoulder into a problem is an attitude we find easy. There’s nothing like grabbing a difficulty by the throat and forcibly doing away with it, changing it to our liking. The risk here is we can make a situation worse if we are too hasty, too stubborn or not wise enough in our decision-making.

Leaving it, for most of us, takes the greatest strength. To be faced with a problem and not change it but change ourselves, how we approach it, takes courage and trust. When we put up with it we are sullen and prone to negative thoughts and spirits. When we take hold of it and wrestle with it, we feel we are in control. When we decide to let go, step back, allow the problem to exist and find contentment at the same time, we have reached a place of genuine spiritual and intellectual maturity.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: #aggravating, #allow, #approach, #Attitude, #bending, #blessings, #challenge, #change, #changed, #contentment, #control, #courage, #create, #decide, #decision-making, #difficulty, #direction, #dosomething, #enough, #exist, #faced, #find, #forcibly, #Fortunately, #genuine, #grabbing, #greatest, #hassles, #hasty, #intellectual, #lack, #learn, #least, #Leaving, #letgo, #live, #livewith, #living, #maturity, #motivation, #obstacle, #ourliking, #ourselves, #passion, #place, #present, #problem, #problems, #prone, #reached, #shoulder, #situation, #spirits, #stepback, #strength, #stubborn, #sullen, #takehold, #three, #throat, #throwing, #tolerate, #trouble, #trust, #unchangeable, #unfortunately, #wear, #well, #will, #wise, #worse, #wrestle, moment, Negative, Separate, Spiritual, Thoughts

Blind

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Blind –

Last night a mighty storm with fast blowing winds and rain came through our area. I sat in the house listening to dead limbs being shaken from the big Oak tree in our front yard, the rain pounding on the roof. There were a few times I went outside to see the storm but the sun had already set and with the clouds overhead there wasn’t much to view. Then the power went out. It wasn’t surprising because of the fierceness of the wind. I went outside again and nothing could be seen but I could feel the wind threatening to blow me over as it had a couple of our potted trees. Finally, after a few hours, the storm had passed, the lights were back on, and I was thankful the storm has passed.

I don’t like storms at night. The biggest reason is that I can’t see anything, not even the direction of the blowing wind. As I sat in a candlelit living room, everything quiet but storm raging outside, I was reminded of life and the storms we face. There are times we see the storm coming but there are other times when one comes out of nowhere. It’s ferociousness rocks our lives and we feel blind as we try to feel our way forward. These can be the scariest of all because there is seemingly no light to see by, to make us feel safe, or to tell us we are nearing the end. The only thing we can do is wait, trusting that no storm lasts forever.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Born Again

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Born Again –

I desire to be born again, each day emerging from a blanket cocoon, different from the person I was yesterday. Each day we take steps toward who we will eventually be at the end of our lives. Some are making progress toward love, grace, kindness, and peace, others walk in another direction.

What we do today determines who we will be tomorrow. This is a truth I try to live by. What we put our minds to, invest our emotions in, allow our spirits to inhabit, shapes the person we’ll be tomorrow and in the future. We underestimate the “big” and “little” experiences we encounter each day. We dismiss character flaws, hidden hurts, negative habits, and other behaviors and attitudes that either place chains on our souls.

To emerge, new each day, takes work today. We choose where our path will go, not what our path will go through, but its destination. We can’t make our path easy or difficult but we can decide how we handle both. The decision isn’t on tomorrow’s agenda but today’s.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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to Lead

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image result for churchill movie

to Lead –

Last night I finished watching a movie about Winston Churchill (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill) and his role and his role in what would end up being the last year of World War II. Churchill was against “Operation Overlord (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Overlord) also known as D-Day because of a similar strategy that went horribly wrong in World War I that Churchill had championed.

The movie focuses mainly on Churchill’s resistance to the Allies plans to invade France and his leadership being questioned until he was sidelined as only a voice to rally the people instead of being involved in the day-to-day fighting the Nazis in Europe. The crux of the film was whether or not Churchill would accept his diminished, but still needed, place in British society. Ultimately, he discovers that he was still a different kind of leader but one his country still looked to and found hope.

It was a good movie and a stark reminder of true leadership. Too often we see leadership as forging a new way, dragging people kicking and screaming in a direction they do not wish to go, or cozying up to the right people to get them and then others to follow. While leadership has some of each of these, lasting leadership is understanding what people need, how best to serve them, working and walking together on this path of life and taking on the challenges and difficulties united in purpose and passion.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: # understanding, #best, #challenges, #cozying, #difficulties, #direction, #dragging, #follow, #forging, #kickingandscreaming, #lasting, #leadership, #newway, #passion, #path, #reminder, #serve, #stark, #together, #true, #united, #walking, #wish, #working, purpose

Answers

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Image result for zen silence

Answers –

I was reading an excerpt from a book by #LaurenceFreeman this past week. One sentence has stuck with me; “Answers are not what we need. What we need are questions which cannot be answered.” I read and reread this selection many times.

We live in a world, perhaps humanity is made this way by our cultures and societies, in which answers are what we seek and find. While certainly, we would want answers, conclusions, discoveries, of the sort which would end poverty, crime, diseases, however, the most important answers are the ones which cannot be answered.

This is a paradox. Answers comfort us, direct us, help us find our way in the world. However, answers do not lead us to the most important of all truths. God, for example, is by definition, one who cannot be fully and completely known. The deeper we dig to find knowledge of God the more questions we find. It is the same with our existence, our purpose our place in the universe.

Silence as the answer to life’s biggest questions. Many say if you cannot or will not look for the answer then why ask the question? It is when we are able to be still and silent in our souls with the greatest questions unanswered that we find the path of wisdom.

blessings,
@BrianLoging
thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: #answers, #comfort, #complete, #conclusions, #definition, #direction, #discoveries, #fullyknown, #journey, #paradox, #path, #steps

Go

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Image result for green light red light

Go –

This morning, on my way to work, I was stopped at a traffic light. There were two vehicles ahead of me and one, after stopping, turned right and the other one moved up. He was turning right also and was waiting for a break in the traffic to make his move. He watched and waited, watched and waited. He was so intent on finding a moment when he could go that he didn’t notice the light turned green and he could proceed anytime he wanted to. Finally, he looked up, saw the green and took off.

On the rest of my drive to work, I thought about the driver and life. Many times we are looking for signs, indicators, epiphanies to tell us when to go, what direction to take, the path to follow. Paradoxically we can be so intent on a special signal we miss the ordinary, everyday sign posts which are right in front of us.

Perhaps it is a good word from a friend, a scripture read, a persistent thought, the desire itself. Each of these could be the “Go!” we’ve been looking for and missed because it wasn’t where we thought we’d see, sense it.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: #blessings, #direction, #go!, #goahead, #indicator, #move, #moving, #proceed, #signal, #signpost, #waiting, #watching, #wisdom

Destination

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Image result for good choices bad choices

Destination –

I heard a business investor say today that; “Right choices bring the wrong results and wrong choices bring the right results all the time when it comes to investing your money.” Luckily, I don’t have enough money to worry about whether or not this is true but it did cause me to think about the consequences of our decisions.

One of the core principles I try to give to the men I work with is that; “Choice is destiny. What we do today determines who we will be tomorrow.” I believe this to be true but I am also old enough to know life is never predictable and the unexpected could be around the corner ready to smack you!

As I thought about this gentleman’s words today I realized they were indeed factual. Making bad decisions could lead to something unexpectedly joyful but the odds are long. Also, we make good decisions, not just because they will lead us to something better, but because of who we are in the deepest part. We certainly hope our lives will be blessed by choosing fidelity to ourselves and those we love but no matter our destiny. We choose to be good because we know it is the better way.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: #badchoices, #choices, #choosewisely, #decisions, #direction, #endgame, #goodchoices, #goodorbad, #life, #rightorwrong

Where We Look

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Where We Look –

The last two mornings, as I’ve taken the dog outside for some personal time, there has been a beautiful Robin (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Robin/id) looking for food. When I’ve spotted the bird I become as still as possible and see how close it’ll get near me. My breathing slows, my movement stagnant, my attention heightened as I watch it hop around looking for breakfast. The rain we had over the weekend has softened the ground and it isn’t long before it’s meal is plucked up from the ground and the bird flies away. I exhale and the world around me comes alive again. The Robin had been my sole focus and until it leaves, by choice or being frightened, and my awareness of the world was dependent on it.

Wisdom tells us that where we place our focus, set our awareness, is life. Where we look, the direction we face is ultimately the direction of our journey. If we only look back we can never go forward. If we’re unfocused, trying to see all directions, we won’t be able to choose a fixed point and begin to travel toward it. Though paradoxical, stillness is the key to knowing and navigating this path called life.

blessings,
BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mindfulness

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Tags: #Choose, #direction, #fixed, #focus, #forward, #journey, #knowing, #life, #navigating, #paradoxical, #path, #setourawareness, #unfocused, #wisdom, Stillness, Travel

Steady as We Go

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

A great video. Two friends who found each other on this unpredictable road of life.

When I first watched this video I couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the squirrel. Frantic, hyper, always on the move, never slowing down, just viewing it wore me out. I watched the rodent run circles on its caretaker’s torso but the man was steady with his walking, gentle with his petting and their relationship was positively symbiotic.

I reflected on times and seasons when I was anxious, jumpy, antsy, on edge but friends and loved ones were steady, still and grounded. They brought an assurance to me by their unwavering ways that; “all shall be well.”

Life can injure us. It can make us uncertain of our chosen path. We are indeed blessed if, in our unsettledness, we have companions on the journey who keep us safe, connected and moving in the right direction.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
http://www.thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: #direction, #journey, #life, #path, #squirrel, #symbiotic, #ways, #wisdom

This Lane Only

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

There’s something about visiting a town for the first time and understanding their traffic patterns. This morning I traveled to Tullahoma, TN for a legislative bruncheon at the National Guard Armory. It was an opportunity for legislators to inform the audience of mental health and family wellness advocates about their progress over the last year and their plans for 2016. It wasn’t non-stop fun but it was worth the hour and half trip.

On the way home I was approaching a traffic light while driving on a two-way highway. Almost to the intersection I noticed only one lane went the way I needed to go. The GPS showed me where to proceed but not how. I was surrounded by traffic, did not see any signs which would offer help, and had to wait and see what direction was in my future. Fortunately, the lane to my right was a turn only and the vehicles in my lane were able to go straight and I made it home safely without any further anxious moments.

As I proceeded through the intersection I thought about all the times we needlessly worry about things which are out of our control. Sometimes life takes us in one direction or in another and we’re just along for the ride. We may fight it, try to control, coerce and cajole it but in the end; we go with the flow because we don’t have a choice. There are times when it doesn’t go well for us and others it turns out ok, maybe even better.

The key to contentment is allowing life to unfold in front of us and trusting the path maker to take us home.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
http://www.thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mindfulness

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Tags: #direction, #election, #thislaneonly, #trump, #trust, #turn, #wisdom, Home

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