Time Is A Circle

Time is a circle. The end is the beginning.

Day by day, a year comes and goes.

Today's end is the beginning of the rest of our lives.

We take with us what we have learned today.

We are the same and not the same.

As long as we are alive, we will continue to wrestle with questions, seek answers, and solve problems.

Let's be gentle with ourselves and others, choosing to respond with non-judging love and acceptance instead of unrealistic demands of perfection.

We have found a blueprint for recovery.

Our preoccupation with not enough and too much has led us to a spiritual solution.

Each day brings us new opportunities to express our development - a more patient response to a traffic jam, the ability to empathize with a child's embarrassment, the acceptance of a disappointment.

Today is another day to learn how to be serene, to nurture body and spirit so that we may function as an integrated totality. We will continue to learn and grow toward recovery.

I will begin and end today by listening to my inner voice.

 

Inner Harvest by Elisabeth L.

Today's Shadow

Today was like a shadow.

It lurked behind me.

It's now gone forever.

Why is it that time is such
a difficult thing to befriend?

Mary Casey

Thanks For Your Time

It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.
Over the phone, his mother told him, "Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday." Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.
"Jack, did you hear me?"
"Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said.
"Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it," Mom told him.
"I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said.
"You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said
"He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important . . . Mom, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said.
As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.
The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time.
Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture. . . . Jack stopped suddenly.
"What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked.
"The box is gone," he said
"What box?" Mom asked.
"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was 'the thing I value most,'" Jack said.
It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.
"Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said. "I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom."
It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. "Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days," the note read.
Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. "Mr. Harold Belser" it read. Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside.
"Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch.
Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved:
"Jack, Thanks for your time! - Harold Belser."
"The thing he valued most was. . . my time"
Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days.
"Why?" Janet, his assistant asked.
"I need some time to spend with my son," he said.
"Oh, by the way, Janet, thanks for your time!"

Why Not Now?

The time we are blessed with is limited and tends to be used up all too quickly.
How we utilize that time is consequently one of the most important decisions we make.
Yet it is far too easy to put off until tomorrow what we are dreaming of today.
The hectic pace of modern existence affords us an easy out; we shelve our aspirations so we can cope more effectively with the challenges of the present, ostensibly to have more time and leisure to realize our purpose in the future.
Or we tell ourselves that we will chase our dreams someday once we have accomplished other lesser goals.
In truth, it is our fear that keeps us from seeking fulfillment in the here and now-because we view failure as a possibility, our reasons for delaying our inevitable success seem sound and rational.
If we ask ourselves what we are really waiting for, however, we discover that there is no truly compelling reason why we should put off the pursuit of the dreams that sustain us.

When regarded as a question, "Why not now?" drains us of our power to realize our ambitions.
We are so concerned with the notion that we are somehow undeserving of happiness that we cannot see that there is much we can do in the present to begin courting it.
Yet when we look decisively at our existence and state, "Why not now, indeed!" we are empowered to begin changing our lives this very moment.
We procrastinate for many reasons, from a perceived lack of time to a legitimate lack of self-belief, but the truth of the matter is that there is no time like the present and no time but the present.
Whatever we aim to accomplish, we will achieve it more quickly and with a greater degree of efficiency when we seize the day and make the most of the resources we have at our disposal presently.

All the joy, passion, and contentment you can envision can be yours right now, rather than in some far-flung point in time.
You need only remind yourself that there is nothing standing between you and fulfillment.
If you decide that today is the day you will take your destiny into your hands, you will soon discover that you hold the keys of fate.

-- DailyOM

Now

At any moment the fully present mind

can shatter time and burst into Now.

-- David Steindl-Rast, A Listening Heart

How Time Heals

"Time heals," people often say.
This is not true when it means that we will eventually forget the wounds inflicted on us and be able to live on as if nothing happened.
That is not really healing; it is simply ignoring reality.
But when the expression "time heals" means that faithfulness in a difficult relationship can lead us to a deeper understanding of the ways we have hurt each other, then there is much truth in it.
"Time heals" implies not passively waiting but actively working with our pain and trusting in the possibility of forgiveness and reconciliation.

-- Henri Nouwen

Wisdom = Living Life

One cannot have wisdom without living life.

--Dorothy McCall

Understanding circumstances, other people, even myself, comes with the passage of time and my willingness to be open to all the lessons contained within a moment.
Immersion in the moment accompanied by reflective quiet times promises a perspective that offers me wisdom.
I all long for happiness, an easier life, and wisdom.
I have learned so slowly that both happiness and the easier life are generally matters of attitude. Therein lies my sought-after wisdom.
How much simpler it makes living through even my most feared experiences when I have acquired the wisdom to know that the mind I carry into the moment, any moment, will be reflected in the outcome.
It takes patience and willingness to live fully enough to reap the benefits that accompany wisdom.