"As selfishness and complaint pervert the mind, so love with its joy clears and sharpens the vision." ... Helen Keller
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So my main New Year's resolution was to stop complaining and wow-- I highly recommend that. You know, determining not to complain (on the outside or inside), but rather, beginning from a base of acceptance and then going from there.
It's like if I don't use-up my limited-because-I'm-54 energy by moaning aloud or inside my head, then I'm left with strength to fix things. There's lots of creative energy left which didn't get zapped by complaining energy.
Rather than groan and cry about Tom's being in South Africa for many weeks, I've been blessed with super contentment. The days don't drag, I find plenty to do or read or watch and it almost feels like a reward, even, for peacefully allowing (and accepting) that Tom must do what God created him to do.
This is huge for me.
And instead of complaining about my least favorite part of winter--battling dry air sinusitis--I just quietly do what must be done:
Sleep with my window cracked open (for moistened air).
Steam a pan of hot water on the stove in the mornings (stainless steel, not non-stick).
Use my facial steamer, if necessary.
Faithfully take Vitamin C, morning, noon and night (to ward off infection).
Go light on milk products, drink more water.
Get outside for a few minutes daily.
Oh, and take marvelous, sanity-saving Vitamin D3--not for sinusitis, exactly--but for keeping me cheerful these inside-the-house months.
Fixing broken things (discovering solutions by reading, searching, doing) far outweighs whining about them on Facebook or over the phone. Accepting what cannot be changed and being happy anyway because God is still incredible and with me is marvelous, also.
Creatively fixing what's wrong and also accepting what cannot be repaired--both walk me much farther down Great Peace Road than I once traveled ...
... and my eyes love drinking-in this greener, brighter territory. Even in the Dead of winter, I'm finding a surprising amount of Life.
****"Instead of complaining about his lot, a contented man is thankful that his condition and circumstances are no worse than they are. Instead of greedily desiring something more than the supply of his present need, he rejoices that God still cares for him. Such a one is "content" with such as he has."
Author: A.W. Pink
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Have you ever watched Dual Survival? (It's on Netflix, Amazon and Discovery.) On my list of Favorite Survival Shows, this one nears the top, for Cody and Dave are both survival experts, but trained in different ways and with opposite personalities. How fun to watch their adventures in wild terrain as they learn arguing will only get them killed, but working together, using each others strengths, will return them safely to civilization.
This is another terrific show to watch during wintertime for it reminds you there's a whole wild world out there in case you've forgotten during all those hours at home on your couch. Watch it and you'll feel you actually went someplace. :)
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Aw... my fellow old house romantics will enjoy this story: Long Lost Letters Found In Attic.
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Thank-you for your kind comments about my sunny curtains! Those and my mustard ones add a warm glow to my windows even on dark days and they're another way of 'fixing' rather than complaining.
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I hope when I reach Heaven I won't think, "Oh, I could have accomplished much more if only I'd not complained my energy away."
4 comments:
Enjoyed the lost letters link. This past Fall, I met a 4th cousin that I "met" on Ancestry.com...we share a distant grandfather. He has since then gotten me back in touch with a 2nd cousin. In our downsizing I have kept a few things my grandma had (letters from her brother from France who was killed there in WW1)...and now have sent on the bulk of those, after transcribing the letters on the computer to save...plus a couple of the letters, but I have felt that most of those things ought to go to a cousin with the family surname. It has been fun for us both to do this!! Holding those letters was so precious as my grandmother loved and missed her brother so over the years. And getting to know him in this way. The most interesting part to my husband and I was in those letters. You see, this great uncle was pleading with his parents and family to read a book that had changed his theology...in part theology that is somewhat where hubby and I have been drawn the last decade. Indicating to me that GOD clear back then, wanted our family to follow this direction...but in various ways, HE led us to finally reach this destination, you could say. There was also a slight clue in looking at the photo of this great uncle's dad's (my great grandpa I never met) and his first wife (she died and then my great grandpa married my great grandma). So that triggered me to research more online this past week and learn some very interesting things about the origin even of that family name...which further verified to hubby and me, that faith path!!
What a great time to be alive...via internet, we can research things so much easier and learn more which can help us in our current day life, as well as bring pleasures such as your link describing how people had lost things returned to their family. Thanks again for the great link!!
Elizabeth in NC
I am so happy to hear that you are finding peace during this time. I have been thinking of you and praying for you!
Boy, your dry-air remedy's brought instantly to mind my father using a pail to fill our standing humidifier all winter long when I was little. Had forgotten about that....but it brought a smile, so thanks for that, Debra. Now I'm going to the letters in the attic link. Love your links!
Debra, you're living proof that we CAN change, for the better, with God's help. Step by step, day by day, we're on this journey, called life, and we get to decide how we're going to respond to it. God bless you, and help all of us to be our best selves!
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