Peace, Gratitude and Calm

• "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will live as one.” ― John Lennon

Musician  John Lennon was always hopeful for a world where Peace was the norm. He and his wife Yoko protested for peace in a peaceful manner. 

The world is not at peace now. So much conflict, death and anger envelopes our world.

As members of this world we can only start with ourselves. We can be grateful for what we have, and who we have in our lives. We members of planet Earth should seek out peace, gratitude and clam. 

If  you are at peace with yourself you are a step ahead of the game. You can not force peace on another person, but you can show by example what a peaceful nature looks like. Perhaps it will rub off on negative people.

We may not be happy about certain things in our world/society, but the counter to that is to find what you are grateful for. When you look to the sun the darkness falls behind.

There is always good in everyday. Focus on the good in your own life. Be grateful for family, community, home etc. Keep a gratitude book and jot down a few things each day you are grateful for. This helps me feel better. I am grateful for so many things.

If you are not in a calm place try a few of these tactics.

1) deep breathing

2) If you have an aquarium spend five minutes watching the fish swim.

3) Pets-take your dog for a walk. spend some time petting the dog or cat.

4) 5 mins of aerobic exercise-walking even around your house, but better outside.

5) Help a neighbor or friend this will make you feel pleasure and connection.

6) Meditate or yoga

Having a Calm mind will bring peace to your life and happiness will find you. 

I love this quote on happiness. I had to read it twice to get the meaning. 

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.” —Oscar Wilde

What do you do to restore calmness and peace to your life in troubled times?

(All pictures taken by Diana McCollum)

A thankful mind....by Peggy Jaeger

 If you listen to any of the local/state/national news programs on any given day, you would think the entire world is imploding. Or, as my grandmother used to say - often!- going to Hell in a handbasket.

From religious wars, to the opioid crisis, to the never-ending Covid pandemic; the racial inequality and injustice we have in this country, the gender divide, even the stalemate in our own government about anything and everything, makes it seem like we have nothing to live for, nothing to be happy about, nothing to be thankful for.

My husband's cure for this is to simply turn the news off. Out of sight, out of mind, according to him.

That's a little too much like being an ostrich with its head in a hole during a wildebeest stampede for me. I prefer to be informed, but I don't let the state of the world as we've come to know it, influence my psyche. 

The reason?  Every day I am grateful to be alive.

Truly. 

I know it sounds sappy to some, but I am so happy to be on this earth right now. I wake daily with the first thought being, This is a new day. New opportunities to latch on to. New challenges to overcome.

And I am truly thankful I get to be present and experience them all.

Several years ago, in 1996, when Oprah was still doing her daily show, she had  Sarah Ban Breathnach on as a guest. Sarah had just published The Simple Abundance Journal of Gratitude and it was flying off the shelves ( this was preKindle, peeps!) 

The description for the book on Amazon states:The Simple Abundance Journal of Gratitude offers insight via uplifting, inspirational quotes and gives women a place to record their daily moments of gratitude. Through daily practice, this journal can help you embrace everyday epiphanies: profound moments of awe that forever alter your experience of the world.

I'm gonna take a stab in the dark and claim it was with the advent of the book for sale that journaling became a hot "thing."

I was one of the 5 million buyers who purchased the book, and its predecessor  SIMPLE ABUNDANCE, and  read it diligently every day for a year and recorded the 5 things I was grateful for every day.

The simple exercise of waking every day and immediately thinking of 5 reasons why you are or can be thankful today, helped me so much deal with anxiety, depression, and feelings of self-worthlessness.

I don't write my daily 5 down anymore, but I do think about them during the day.

This morning's 5 things were:

1.I am grateful to be alive

2. I am grateful for my health and that of my family

3. I am grateful I believe in science

4. I am grateful I have kept my parents alive and healthy during the pandemic

5. I am grateful I am going to be a first-time grandmother in 6 weeks.

So again, I am thankful every single day to be alive.