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Reach!

Image result for crunch and munch

Reach!

He was trying his best to reach the last few boxes of Crunch ‘n Munch on the store shelves. I was checking off items on my list and heard him jumping. I turned around and asked the boy; “You got it?” He responded in the affirmative as he grabbed one and took it down. Another second and he was jumping again. I was about to leave when a meek voice rang in my ears; “Can you help me?” “Sure,’ I replied, walked over, grabbed the next to the last box and handed it to him. ‘Do you want the other one?'” He shook his head “no” and then ran out of sight. I smiled and hoped he enjoyed his snack.

I reflected on the young boy’s attempt to attain what was out of reach and how easy it was for me to go over, grab it and hand it to him. I thought about how some things are easy for some and harder for others. What might take all the strength one has to barely, perhaps never, accomplish a difficult task, others can do effortlessly. At first glance, it might not seem fair but I think it highlights our need for each other. We are made to work together, to be the strength to another’s weakness, to give courage when one is about to give up, to be their legs to help them stand, their hands to grab or let go, to connect when all else seems distant and unattainable. Of course, it works the other way when we are in need as well. Only together can we fully live and accomplish all we were meant to be.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: #accomplish, #allthestrength, #attain, #attempt, #barely, #blessings, #Canyouhelpme, #connect, #difficult, #distant, #easy, #effortlessly, #enjoyed, #firstglance, #fullylive, #givecourage, #giveup, #grabbed, #handed, #handittohim, #handstograb, #harder, #highlights, #hoped, #legstohelpthemstand, #letgo, #madetoworktogether, #need, #needforeachother, #Onlytogether, #outofreach, #perhapsnever, #reach, #reflected, #seemfair, #strength, #task, #thewannabesaint.com, #unattainable, #voice, #weakness, #weweremeanttobe, #workstheotherway, @BrianLoging

Almost Finished

Jul 6

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image may contain: tree, sky, cloud, plant, grass, outdoor and nature

Almost Finished –

I started mowing the grass today around 10:00AM. According to the weather report, a front was pushing through our area near 1:00PM and it takes about 3 hours to mow and weed our yard. It was hot and humid when I began, the skies were blue with puffy clouds. It was warm enough to sweat even though I was on a riding mower. I stopped to drink some water when I finished the back and noticed a patch of dark clouds coming my way. I continued mowing and all of a sudden the wind picked up, the temperature dropped and the skies grew dark. I increased my speed and hoped to get finished in time. Fortunately, I did complete the mowing but the bottom fell out of the sky and I couldn’t squeeze the weeding in because of the heavy rain.

As the rain pounded on the tin roof of our porch I reflected on life and all that is done and left undone. We fill our lives with appointments, events, occasions. We think we have time to do everything which needs to be done. The sun shines on us, the blue skies and the beauty of being alive gives us the illusion that time is on our side. Then a storm of disappointment, disillusion, danger, and death reminds us that time is limited and we can’t take even a moment for granted.

#BenjaminFranklin said; “Be careful with every moment. For these are what life is made.”

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mindfulness

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Tags: #according, #AlmostFinished, #appointments, #beautyofbeingalive, #Becareful, #benjaminfranklin, #blessings, #blueskies, #complete, #continued, #danger, #death, #disappointment, #disillusion, #done, #everymoment, #fillourlives, #finish, #finished, #Fortunately, #granted, #hoped, #illusion, #increased, #leftundone, #life, #lifeismade, #needstobedone, #noticed, #occasions, #pounded, #reflected, #reminds, #skiesgrewdark, #squeeze, #started, #stopped, #sunshines, #thewannabesaint.com, #think, #time, #timeislimited, #timeisonourside, #todoeverything, #way, #wehavetime, @BrianLoging, Events, moment

Everywhere

Jun 10

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image result for wasp on wood

Everywhere –

This morning, sitting in church with my arm around my wife, I felt her stiffen up and begin looking nervous. I bent my head to her ear and asked; “What’s wrong?” “Wasp!” was her reply. I looked at the window behind us and there was the feared insect. My wife is allergic to any kind of sting and we did not have her Epi-pen. We hoped it would stay there and turned our attention back to the preacher. A few moments later the insect flew between us and landed on the top of a pew about 10 feet away. The woman sitting in front of us and directly behind the wasp saw it, took out a hymnal, and; “Whack!” No more bug, no more danger. We both breathed a sigh of relief.

Reflecting on the wasp’s last flight I am reminded that no matter the place or the time there is always and everywhere a danger lurking. Maybe it’s a sense of unworthiness, a reminder of a loved one gone too soon, a habit, a hurt, a hangup. We must be aware and empowered realizing we are not helpless. There is a difference between living life scared and living it vigilantly. Freedom comes from knowing your enemy not from having no enemies. The difference makes all the difference.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mindfulness

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Tags: # moments, #allergic, #attention, #beaware, #behind, #bentmyhead, #between, #blessings, #breathed, #danger, #difference, #differencemakesallthedifference, #directly, #empowered, #enemies, #Everywhere, #feared, #freedom, #gonetoosoon, #habit, #hangup, #hoped, #hurt, #knowingyourenemy, #livinglife, #lovedone, #lurking, #nervous, #nomoredanger, #place, #reflecting, #reminded, #scared, #senseofunworthiness, #sighofrelief, #stiffen, #tense, #thewannabesaint.com, #vigilantly, #Whack, #Whatswrong, @BrianLoging

Can You Hear Me?

May 19

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image result for listening ears

Can You Hear Me?

Earlier this week I had a frustrating conversation with someone (not Beth). I was attempting to explain and they weren’t receptive to my words body language and insistence. Finally, we decided we’d try again at a later date when cooler heads would prevail.

It is amazing how difficult it can be to communicate; listen and speak. It doesn’t only involve ears and mouths but minds, bodies, times, temperaments, and most of all the willingness of both parties to check their egos at the door. This is where I made my mistake. I was attempting to force someone to listen, to see and understand what I was doing and it wasn’t taking. Forcing people to do anything rarely, if ever, works. After we both stepped away I realized the whole situation was my fault. I wasn’t showing empathy but exasperation and that’s never a good head-space to be in when trying to speak to someone.

Thankfully, when we came back together I was able to recognize where I went wrong and tried a different way. I instructed and acted more respectfully and thoughtfully. I made sure not to try to cram information into someone but to let them absorb it. When it was over I apologized for my shortsightedness and hope this is a lesson I will take to heart.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mindfulness

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Tags: #absorb, #acted, #amazing, #apologized, #attempting, #blessings, #bodies, #bodylanguage, #bothparties, #CanYouHearMe, #communicate, #conversation, #coolerheads, #cram, #decided, #differentway, #difficult, #ears, #egos, #empathy, #exasperation, #explain, #fault, #force, #Forcingpeople, #frustrating, #head-space, #heart, #hoped, #information, #insistence, #instructed, #involve, #know, #language, #lesson, #minds, #mistake, #mouths, #prevail, #rarely, #receptive, #recognize, #respectfully, #see, #shortsightedness, #speak, #stepped, #temperaments, #Thankfully, #thewannabesaint.com, #thoughtfully, #times, #together, #wholesituation, #willingness, #words, #wrong, @BrianLoging, Listen

In the Heart

Mar 28

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

In the Heart –

Earlier this week a friend called and during our conversation, she mentioned the weather forecast called for beautiful weather now and the foreseeable future. I explained it was overcast in Tennessee and rain was expected the next several days. The conversation then turned to something she needed to talk about and as I listened it dawned on me that my outside weather was cloudy and rainy and this mirrored her inside on a certain subject.

I hoped my advice helped, at least in part, to help the clouds to dissipate and for her inside and outside to match. The experience was a reminder that we carry seasons, weather in our souls. There are times and places where things are clear, warm, light, easy. There are others where our spirits are dark, overcast, dreary and difficult. Wisdom helps us monitor, adjust, and accept our inside forecast. We change what we have the power to and trust that even the worst of our inside days do not last forever.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mindfulness

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Tags: #accept, #adjust, #beautiful, #blessings, #called, #carry, #certain, #change, #clear, #cloudy, #conversation, #dark, #dawned, #days, #dissipate, #dreary, #earlier, #easy, #episode, #expected, #explained, #forecast, #foreseeable, #forever, #friend, #Future, #hard, #heart, #help, #helped, #hoped, #inside, #last, #least, #light, #listened, #match, #mentioned, #mirrored, #monitor, #needed, #overcast, #place, #places, #power, #rain, #rainy, #reminder, #seasons, #souls, #spirits, #subject, #thewannabesaint.com, #trust, #warm, #wisdom, #worst, @BrianLoging, advice, Talk, Weather

Investing

Feb 28

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Investing –

This morning I had a meeting with another community organization. I was presenting a new opportunity to work with fathers in our area and hoped they would help us. I have presented ideas, data, skills and a host of other information, to more organizations and ministries than I can count. I’ve never been asked to leave or had a bad experience but have had the occasional person I was talking to be looking at their phone, out the window or at their watch. Those presentations and discussion following seem to drag on forever. I’ve also had the organization be excited about the opportunity to partner with us. Most, however, are somewhere in the middle.

Today’s meeting was the exception because the woman whom I was meeting with was excited and had some great ideas as to how we could make part of our plan work at her location. She paid attention, listened intently, took notes, asked questions and made me feel welcomed and not rushed to finish so she could start doing something else. In other words, she was fully present in our time together. It was awesome.

It was a great reminder the difference we can make in other people’s lives if we invest our time, our kindness, our respect, and our lives in theirs.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mindfulness

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Tags: #another, #area, #asked, #askedquestions, #attention, #awesome, #bad, #blessings, #data, #difference, #discussion, #drag, #exception, #excited, #experience, #fathers, #finish, #following, #forever, #fully, #great, #greatideas, #help, #hoped, #host, #ideas, #information, #intently, #invest, #investing, #kindness, #leave, #listened, #lives, #location, #looking, #meeting, #ministries, #occasional, #opportunity, #organization, #organizations, #paidattention, #part, #partner, #person, #plan, #present, #presenting, #reminder, #respect, #rushed, #skills, #thewannabesaint.com, #together, #welcomed, #work, @BrianLoging, Community

Till Death

Nov 18

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image result for wedding

Till Death –

Today I had the honor of officiating the marriage between a young woman I have known for a long time and her finance. It was a homespun affair. The bride, groom and myself on the porch, the rest of the family and friends in mismatched chairs under two canopies to keep away the strong wind and drizzle that wouldn’t give up the fight. It was a beautiful wedding. The bride and groom truly cared for each other and it showed. They wrote most of their vows which is the norm these days. However, they still included the phrase; “Till death do us part.” Marriage is supposed to be a lifelong commitment.

Before I arrived at the home where the event was held I pulled into a church parking lot to put on my dress shirt and tie. Afterwards, since I was running early, I sat in the car and watched a family walk through a maze of headstones trying to pick one out at a Memorial and Engraving shop which was located just down from the church. I wondered about their story, the person they were looking for.

I thought about the experience after the wedding as well and hoped for a story of long-lasting love and a life-long commitment for the couple who said their; “I do’s.”

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mindfulness

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Tags: #Afterwards, #arrived, #blessings, #commitment, #couple, #death, #Engraving, #event, #experience, #headstones, #hoped, #lifelong, #long-lasting, #looking, #marriage, #maze, #Memorial, #part, #person, #story, #walk, #watched, #wedding, #wondered, Family, church, love

Essentialist and Wannabesaint

Essentialist, contemplative, author, advocate, old soul

Blog Archives

Reach!

Almost Finished

Everywhere

Can You Hear Me?

In the Heart

Investing

Till Death

Essentialist and Wannabesaint

Essentialist, contemplative, author, advocate, old soul

Blog Archives

Reach!

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Almost Finished

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Everywhere

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Can You Hear Me?

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In the Heart

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Investing

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Till Death

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