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Hangover

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Hangover –

Today I am feeling the impact of three intensive days of training. My body hurts and my mind hurts. My eyes are tired from staring at a screen for too long. I have both a migraine and fuzzy brain. It’s hard to process new information today because of receiving so much from earlier in the week. The data and detail are still bouncing around in my noggin and hasn’t found a place to settle. New thoughts and ideas are like puffs of smoke that never quite become solid enough to grasp. A couple of days of quiet and rest should do the trick but until then giving it my all will be less than.

Growing in our learning, understanding, and wisdom takes a toll. Its tough work which may be why we are hesitant to do it at times. Immersing ourselves in new thoughts, ideas, studies, to become more capable in our personal, relational, connections and jobs takes commitment and courage. Commitment because growth is effort and energy. Courage because when we dare to learn, understand gain wisdom, we change and we’re never sure who will be on the other side.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: # understanding, #blessings, #bodyhurts, #bouncing, #capable, #change, #commitment, #connections, #courage, #dare, #dataanddetail, #eyesaretired, #feeling, #fuzzybrain, #gainwisdom, #givingitmyall, #grasp, #growing, #growthiseffort, #Hangover, #hesitant, #ideas, #Immersing, #impact, #intensive, #learn, #learning, #migraine, #mindhurts, #process, #puffsofsmoke, #quiet, #relational, #rest, #settle, #solid, #studies, #theotherside, #thewannabesaint.com, #toughwork, #understand, #wisdom, @BrianLoging, Energy, Personal, Thoughts

Storms Pass By

May 20

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Storms Pass By –

I stood on my porch a few moments ago watching the skies turn gray and the wind blow. I had received a weather warning earlier that thunderstorms were headed our way. I was excited because we need the rain. It was a wet late winter and early spring but it has been dry lately. However, the wind picked up and the skies became darker but no rain. Now it is sunny outside. More waiting and hand watering our plants and trees this evening.

Interesting how life works. There are actually storms we hope for and need and those from which we seek respite. I read an article this afternoon about “Introversion Hangovers.” These occur when an introvert becomes overstimulated by too much time around extroverts, events, experiences. Afterward, they require a time of recuperation. Introverts need a quiet, space and the opportunity to rest. For me, this subdue weekend has been that after a busy past couple of weeks. I am thankful the rhythm of life can, hopefully, get back to normal.

Storms come and go, impact us or miss us all together. Wherever we find ourselves may we also find peace.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannebsaint.com

Posted in Life

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Tags: # moments, #blessings, #busy, #excited, #experiences, #Extroverts, #findourselves, #findpeace, #headed, #hope, #hopefully, #impact, #interesting, #IntroversionHangover, #introvert, #life, #missus, #need, #normal, #opportunity, #overstimulated, #passed, #quiet, #rain, #rainfall, #received, #recuperation, #require, #respite, #rest, #rhythmoflife, #seek, #space, #stimulus, #storm, #storms, #StormsPass, #thankful, #thewannebsaint.com, #time, #waiting, #warning, #watching, #watering, #way, @BrianLoging, Article, Events, Weather

Quiet Corners

May 11

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Quiet Corners –

I spent the day in a stuffy shed cleaning out items which have accumulated over many years. It was hot today! The forecast said temperatures were going to be in the in 90’s. As a result, there was an old metal fan switched to the high setting blowing in my ear. Add to that sounds of metal scraping, ladders being moved, dust blowers humming, brooms sweeping, a cacophony of loud obnoxious sounds. After a while, I got used to the noise and didn’t notice until I came inside. I sat down and the only sound was a ceiling fan. It seemed loud because everything else in the house was quiet. Following a day when the noise was overabundant, the need for quiet was desperate. I turned down the ceiling fan and soaked in the silence, thankful for the stark reminder that our world is noisy!

Noise can be overwhelming, we must find the quiet corners or never find peace.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Contemplative, Mental Health

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Tags: #accumulated, #afterward, #blessings, #broomssweeping, #cacophony, #corners, #desperate, #ear, #findthequiet, #inside, #laddersmoved, #loud, #metalfan, #metalscraping, #need, #noisy! #overwhelming, #notice, #noticed, #obnoxious, #onlysound, #overabundant, #quiet, #QuietCorners, #result, #sounds, #starkreminder, #thewannabesaint.com, #turneddown, @BrianLoging, dustblowershumming, Old, Peace

Elephant in the Room

Apr 6

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

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Elephant in the Room –

I was talking with someone earlier this week about a situation he is experiencing. He is forced to make a choice between one thing and another. It’s not a choice he doesn’t want to make. As he belabored the unjustness of the decision, listing the pros and cons, complaining about the consequences of each side of the coin, I asked him a simple question. “What’s the elephant in the room?” He paused and reflected. “What do you mean?” he inquired. “Dig deeper, past the choice and the consequences, what’s the reason you’re having to make this decision?” He was quiet, then took a deep breath and answered. He had clarity. Like a man in a cloudy stream, only when his mind was still, did the water clear.

I once had a co-worker whose personality and mine didn’t click. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. It’s the way it is sometimes. He was in charge of employee evaluations. When we met in his office he read over my “grades” and was surprised they were all high. “I didn’t expect this!” he exclaimed. I sat there thinking; “You didn’t expect this because I’ve never had issues with anyone or any part of this job. The problem is you don’t like me and this colors everything.” We chatted and then I left thankful for my scores but still burdened by the negative relationship.

Wisdom teaches us to make sure we deal with the thing that matters not everything else.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Life

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Tags: #answered, #asked, #belabored, #blessings, #burdened, #chatted, #choice, #clarity, #clear, #click, #cloudy, #coin, #colors, #complaining, #consequences, #deal, #decision, #deepbreath, #Digdeeper, #eitherside, #elephant, #ElephantintheRoom, #employee, #encountering, #evaluations, #exclaimed, #expect, #fault, #forced, #inquired, #issues, #listing, #matters, #mean, #paused, #problem, #prosandcons, #question, #quiet, #reason, #reflected, #room, #simple, #situation, #still, #stream, #surprised, #teaches, #thankful, #thewannabesaint.com, #thinking, #unjustness, #wisdom, @BrianLoging, Negative, Personality, Relationship

Silence

Dec 5

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

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Silence –

Today has been unusually quiet compared to the last several days since my father has passed. My wife and my mother spent some time together today which left me in her house alone. I reflected a bit on the week that has been but mostly I have slept. I am an introvert with diagnosed social anxiety so it takes little imagination to understand the state of mind I am in because deaths and memorial services, errands and condolence phone calls, emails and texts are anything but quiet and stress reducing.

My wife and my mom knew sleep and silence are what I needed today and am thankful they gave me some space. I am running on empty and my body, emotions, mind, and soul craves the quietude of muted phones, ignored texts, emails that can wait, errands which didn’t happen and the downtime which occurs the days and weeks after a loved one leaves this world.

They say the hardest part of a dear one passing isn’t the days immediately following. Days which are filled with planning, non-stop moving, endless words and memories are hard but can sweep you away in a flood of activity. It’s the days after which grow long. They are filled with loneliness, and questions, confusion, anger, and doubt. The flood of phone calls slow to a trickle, the flowers stop coming, the cards aren’t in the mail, and life goes on. The silence following the cacophony can be deafening.

So, what is a balm for me will become hurt, especially for my mother. It is in these times I must trust the memories will comfort, family and friends will step in for support and we will learn to live with the blessing of silence.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Life

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Tags: #activity, #after, #alone, #anger, #away, #balm, #become, #blessing, #body, #cacophony, #cards, #comfort, #compared, #condolence, #confusion, #craves, #days, #deafening, #dearone, #deaths, #diagnosed, #doubt, #downtime, #emotions, #empty, #endless, #errands, #especially, #filled, #flood, #flowers, #following, #friends, #hard, #hardest, #hurt, #I, #imagination, #immediately, #introvert, #learning, #leaves, #lifegoeson, #live, #long, #lovedone, #memorialservices, #memories, #mother, #moving, #muted, #needed, #non-stop, #part, #passed, #passing, #planning, #questions, #quiet, #quietude, #reducing, #reflected, #running, #several, #sleep, #slept, #slow, #socialanxiety, #space, #stateofmind, #stepin, #stopcoming, #stress, #support, #sweep, #thankful, #today, #trickle, #trust, #understand, #unusually, #wife, #words, Family, father, loneliness, Mind, Silence, Soul, World

Blind

Nov 19

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

Posted in Life

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Tags: #blessings, #blind, #blow, #blowing, #blowingwind, #candlelit, #cantsee, #Clouds, #direction, #end, #face, #feel, #feelsafe, #ferociousness, #fierceness, #forever, #forward, #hope, #last, #life, #light, #lights, #listening, #mighty, #nearing, #night, #no, #nothing, #outofnowhere, #outside, #overhead, #passed, #pounding, #power, #quiet, #raging, #rain, #reason, #reminded, #rocks, #scariest, #see, #seeby, #seemingly, #shaken, #storm, #stormcoming, #surprising, #thankful, #threatening, #trust, #view, #wait, #wind, #winds

The Disease of Busyness

Mar 23

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

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The Disease of Busyness –

Yesterday I attended a webinar on the importance of silence in the discipline of mindfulness. The two speakers, both doctors of psychology, wrote their thesis on the; “the silence in between” the notes in music. These pauses in between are just as important as the notes which are being played.

Too often we construct our lives with what we think makes us successful or at least look the part. We craft an existence that has no place for silence. We believe busyness is a sign of importance. Eugene Peterson says; “Busyness is the disease of our time.”

When there is no place for silence, reflection, taking the time to breathe in quiet and breathe out the noise which pollutes our lives we die on the inside, in the deepest parts of our being where only silence can fill.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Contemplative

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Tags: #busyness, #discipline, #disease, #eugenepeterson, #pollution, #quiet, #wisdom, mindfulness, Silence

A Little Quieter

Jan 1

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

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A Little Quieter –

Our Siberian Husky, Trooper, has a bed in our living room. When Beth and I are sitting watching the television or messing with tablets or the laptop most of the time he is the room with us. We haven’t always had a bed for him here but after we had to put Belle, our Golden Retriever, down we knew he would need some extra attention. Everything has worked out fine until the last couple of months. For some reason, he has become extra sensitive to noises coming from the TV. Explosions, gunfire, yelling or loud music in a movie rattles him and he begins to get up and wander around the living room. We’ve tried turning down the sound on the television as much as we can and this helps. We’ll also watch a documentary where there is mostly talking and this works. However, any type of movie or show with startling noises and/or blaring musical score and he gets up and we tell him to get back on his bed and this scenario is repeated until finally one of us takes him into the kitchen.

I was thinking about him today, this behavior which has developed, and decided maybe he’s not the one with the issues. When I think of 2016, the year which has passed, I think of noise. Most of it came as a result of the political season and the candidates, the talking heads on television and radio, the choosing of sides by almost everyone and a cacophony of opinions, predictions, debates between candidates and their followers, accusations, lies and boisterous babel that still hasn’t stopped.

I’ve decided, like our dog Trooper, I want a quieter 2017. Please…and world peace would also be acceptable.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Contemplative, Life

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Tags: #2017, #argumentative, #cacophony, #choosingsides, #debates, #DonaldTrump, #hush, #opinions, #politicalseason, #predictions, #quiet, #toomuchnoise, #wisdom, Noise

Drowning Out

Aug 2

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Drowning Out –

One of my favorite sounds is rain on a tin roof. One of my least favorite is the tail pipe extensions folks are putting on their vehicles. These extensions turn normal sounding cars and trucks into loud, ear-piercing, window rattling, jet planes driving by.

This past weekend we finished placing a tin roof on our porch. Last night, around 5pm, a thunderstorm brought some much-needed rain into our area and I went outside to sit and listen. Often, around this time each day, drivers of the above mentioned boisterous vehicles have gotten off work and are driving by the house.

Yesterday evening, however, I noticed the rain on the tin roof drowned out all other noise. The trucks and cars I recognized as being converted were no longer obnoxious. My closeness to the tin roof protected my ears, my nerves and the stillness of my spirit.

Wisdom tells us that presence is influence. The closer we stay to our source of comfort and peace the less distracted and deafening the chaos and craziness of this world can can be.

Blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mindfulness

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Tags: #chaos, #craziness, #deaf, #exhaust, #influence, #obnoxious, #presence, #quiet, Listen, Noise, Stillness

Silent Beauty

Sep 1

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

There’s something about sitting outside, at the end of a busy day, saying evening prayers. It’s a release and refilling, an exhaling of busyness, appointments, task lists and an inhaling of stillness and peace.

Yesterday evening I sat on the porch reading and reciting words that have been said at sundown for centuries when a butterfly landed on my foot. It was beautiful, graceful, and seemingly weightless. Even as I watched it crawl on my toes I couldn’t feel it. It was there but not there, present with no pressure. (I believe God is very much this way as well.)

As I continued with a Psalm, I was also reflecting on the moment. No vehicles were whizzing by, no dog barking or birds singing, the wind was faint and the wings of this creature silently lifted up and set back down. I thought about the beauty of silence, the holiness of a moment when the world is hushed, even briefly.

In a time when the loudest politician, brashest celebrity, craziest…whatever, gets the most attention, and people have an insatiable need to always be talking, playing, yelling, singing, making noise or listening to it, silence has become a rare treasure.

“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.” ‪#‎MotherTeresa‬

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

Posted in Contemplative

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Tags: #quiet, #solitude, Silence, Stillness

TheWannabeSaint.com

…..a place for sojourners on this spiritual path called life

Blog Archives

Hangover

Storms Pass By

Quiet Corners

Elephant in the Room

Silence

Blind

The Disease of Busyness

A Little Quieter

Drowning Out

Silent Beauty

Brian Loging, OSBO

@BrianLoging

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…..a place for sojourners on this spiritual path called life

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Brian Loging, OSBO

@BrianLoging

Recent Articles

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