Just 40 Days

Memories My family is everything.  Even though they continuously and I sometime believe, intentionally, drive me nuts.  I don't always agree with them, and they don't always agree with me, but I love them no matter what. I think that my parents are/were my greatest love.  They loved me no matter what I did.  Then I had my own children and I learned of a different love.  I understood why my parents loved me know matter what.  I think that is how God loves us. Sometimes you're lucky enough that your family is also your friends. It'll be 21 years this March since my sister Barb died.  I miss her so. She was the one sibling who also was my friend.  We were in high school together.  She was the first of us to become a mom, followed by me. Having seven brothers and sisters, with fourteen years between them, it's impossible to be 'friends' with them all.  I love all of my siblings, no matter what. 

They say awareness is the first step.  My question is how long can I be aware without taking that second step?  Am I lazy? Am I depressed?  What is keeping me from taking care of me?  These are questions I ask myself as I procrastinate!

Survival - continuing to live or exist. Is that what we are all doing here, surviving? That's an interesting topic and one that deserves more thought. I've always thought that living was different than surviving and it is.  Survival is continuing to live.  Choosing to grow or change is living. When you stop doing that, you're just existing.  I'm pretty sure, no one wants to just 'exist'.  Continuous improvement = living My goal is to help my body become more flexible.  It takes little stretches each day to improve.  When I skip a day, I lose what I gained the day before. The key is knowing that every little change helps!

With the winds gusting at 40-50 mph today, I'm grateful that there is no ice so that the trees can bend. I think the greatest definition of flexibility is: the quality of bending easily without breaking. This is something that my physical body is not very good at. Now, my body isn't going to break but it certainly is not bending easily.  In the past five years, I've hardly spent any time at all stretching.  This has got to change. I do not like being out of shape.  I don't feel good. I have pain.  Extra weight makes it harder to move and to keep on moving. All of these things take a toll on my well being.  My thoughts about myself may lean away from the positive that is necessary for survival in this world. With the approaching 40 days of lent, I am preparing to make my body more flexible.

I've been working on my prayer life.  What does that mean?