Pinterest Challenge
Electronic hoarding? Yep, probably. So I’ve decided I need a little Pinterest challenge. I’m going to choose four pins per month to actually do. It will probably end up being mostly recipes but am also hoping to get some home improvement stuff in there as well.
This should be fun. Right?
-Colleen
Resolution
Mine can be summed up in one phrase:
Thankful – Little Things, Vintage Things & A Good Friend
Today I’m thankful for the small simple pleasures. Starbucks Peppermint Mocha in a holiday cup, A discount coupon into an antique show (from a stranger in line), family and friends who appreciate thrifted and vintage gifts & the perfect shopping partner to go poke around a little antique show with.
Thankful – Mary’s Grotto
I stop in from time to time for calm, quiet reflection. She doesn’t seem to mind that I’m not Catholic and that I don’t really know what to say.
- St. Andrew Catholic Church Sumner WA
A Red Door
The skyscraper in the background, the red door….I just can’t bring myself to delete it. It’s a little sanctuary hidden away in my phone.
- C
Walking And Healing
I’m ending this week feeling like I’m in a better place than I was last week. I’m afraid to put that in writing because I’ve felt this way before and then, seemingly out of the blue, I’m back feeling bad, sad, confused, or angry again.
All I can figure is that it’s a process and I’ll have those moments. I hope they do get farther apart and fewer. Bless the patience of those who keep letting me talk about it all with them.
While out walking I had this thought. Originally it was about exercise and then I realized it applies to just about everything in my life right now. I was reminded of a speaker I heard in a class once. He is a counselor at a local clinic that works with people dealing with HIV and addiction. He really wanted to stress to us that recovery is NOT linear. People relapse, they struggle, and hopefully they get back on the path to recovery. He said that watching people seemingly fail over and over again is a huge contributing factor to the high level of burn out in his field of work. It is difficult to not become personally invested in another person’s recovery. And yet, you have to be resilient, you have to keep meeting them where they are, knowing that you can’t force change. All you can do is keep providing the tools while holding them accountable. It all sounds rather tiring to me. Burn out? Hell yeah. Notice I’m not going to school for my Chem Dep License.
Oh! Here is the thought:
Every step forward is progress.
Every step not taken backwards is progress.
Every step forward AFTER taking a step back is progress.
The above is me allowing patience with myself. Its me making the promise to myself that I won’t beat myself up, that I’m going to recognize and celebrate the positive.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve become devoted to improving my health and to losing weight over the years. It certainly hasn’t been a linear journey. Achieving better emotional health has been much the same. Life gets busy, I get tired, ITS HARD WORK, excuses abound.
It took me a long time but I have come to the realization that physical health and emotional health are tightly wound up in each other. Movement is good for the soul. Sometimes I just focus on the walk, the trail, the beauty around me and I force my mind to be quiet. Other times I’m working out things in my head, asking questions of myself, coming to realizations. Its productive time either way.
Since last Sunday I’ve gotten out and walked five times. Four of those five were the full four mile loop of the trail. Again, I hesitate to mention it for fear I’ll “relapse” again.
BUT
It’s important to celebrate successes.
It feels good.
Life is complicated but life is good.
-C
Upstream
I had a couple hours alone today so I snapped the leash on Corona and we headed out to check out a local park.
It was overcast but not yet raining. The trail winds along side the White River through Auburn. It makes for a pretty walk with the sound of the river.
I really kinda dig fall. Crunchy, colorful leaves and all…
I also love all of these picnic tables and benches tucked in along the trail
Disk Golf? Corona wanted to play. Next time I better bring her a frisbee to carry.
Sadly none worth picking.
Corona letting me know that there is no time for sitting on benches….
Artwork in unexpected places makes me smile….
Yep, we’ll be back!
“Earth does not belong to us; we belong to earth.
Take only memories, leave nothing but footprints.”
― Chief Seattle
Today was a good day.
-Colleen
A Note From The Universe
On several occasions I’ve had friends tell me I think too much. Now even The Universe is getting in on the act…. Perhaps I have been giving too much brain power to reflection on the how and not enough on the “where to go now”. Time to look out instead of back.
Nifty, isn’t it, Colleen?
How in life you don’t even have to know how you got where you are, in order to get where you want to go.
Think, think, and let go -
The Universe
