It is terribly amusing

how many different climates of feeling

one can go through in a day.

-- Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Inspirational Short Story, Female Fantasy Art, Relaxing Music

When we travel by canoe down a river we can notice the changes that take place. In one spot the river is wide and the water moves slowly.

Around the next bend the river narrows and the current speeds up.

Ahead of us we see rapids waiting to test our skill.

Our feelings can also change as quickly as the river.

We may have times in our day when we feel good about ourselves.

Then, all of a sudden, someone may tease us about something.

We begin to feel like the scared canoeist shooting the rapids for the first time.

How wonderful it is to know that we are never given a test we can't handle, that everything that happens in our lives is for the sake of our growth, and that we are watched over at all times by God.

Trust takes time.

If you don't invest it,

then you don't get it.

-- Anonymous

Trusting other human beings is like planting a garden.

First we must choose where to plant -- is the soil healthy, is it open to sunlight?

We would not plant seeds on rocks that are hard and ungiving.

In the same way, we need to choose friends who are trustworthy, who are like rich soil open to planting and sunlight.

Then we need to plant the seeds of time and care.

If we share some of our feelings and are welcomed, we will know it is safe to share more.

We can share ourselves in our own time -- even a garden grows slowly, and can take only so much sun and rain in one day.

Having trust in someone feeds the spirit.

Trust also gives us the courage to be beautiful, like the flowers of our gardens.

I was forced to live far beyond

my years when just a child.

Now I have reversed the order

and I intend to remain young indefinitely.

-- Mary Pickford

We can all learn to change our lives so the child within each of us can live in balance with the people we have become.

We can learn to give the child a voice, let the child play, let the child express needs and fears and pleasures.

We might look at our old baby pictures for a valuable lesson.

We will see pictures of ourselves on rocking horses, grinning and waving; pictures of ourselves with our most precious toy -- a crude metal car, perhaps; pictures of ourselves rolling in the grass.

The lesson we learn is that it doesn't take much to make this child happy -- even today.

We keep our own happiness safe inside us to call on whenever we need it, as long as we keep a healthy relationship with the child within.

When we nourish the child, we can be assured the child will also nourish us.

_______________

11/11/2024

Dividers from Graphics By Sharon (dead link 07/04/2011)

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