Windridge Reflections

Perfect for this day... "I cherish my freedom to act, think, feel, and choose as I wish. I celebrate the choice which lies before me in every moment.... I accept the responsibility which comes with freedom. I embrace my liberty and use it to create an abundant and meaningful life." Julie Cameron On this Veterans Day - thank you to all those who sacrifice so much to make continuing freedom possible!

I love this.... "A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song." Chinese Proverb "The song of life is born in every soul. But the song we are meant to sing does not come to us whole. It grows in us - louder, stronger, clearer, more fully - over the years until we discover, finally, that our call has been within us all the while. Learning to hear the song within us, finding the call within us, and then bending our lives to follow it to the fullness of ourselves is the key to happiness, to meaning, to fullness of life." Joan Chittister * taken from the book Following the Path by Joan Chittister

A friend and I were talking about depression a few days ago. You know, that draining, gnawing, energy zapping feeling that nothing is going right and you are seemingly powerlessness to change any of your circumstances or mindset. And the most depressing part—you can’t put your finger on “why.” In the course of our conversation, I commented that I have so many things to be grateful for…starting with the smallest, I am breathing after all! Then this morning I ran across this, “If we pull down the shades in every room in a house, that house will be in darkness, and is likely to become damp and unhealthy as well, no matter how brightly the sun may be shining outside.” — Emmet Fox I don’t know about you, but I do not want to live my life in a dark, damp, dusty, musty house. It’s time to pull open the shades, let the sun light warm this house, and find strength in all that is good. There is too much of life out there to be lived! *If you suffer with severe depression, seek profe...

“She could never go back and make some of the details pretty. All she could do was move forward and make the whole beautiful.” — Terri St. Cloud Sometimes we can’t go back; the die is cast, the deed is done…but that does not mean that we can’t move forward with grace and confidence. We all make mistakes, we all say things we shouldn’t, do things we are embarrassed by, and have days when “some of the details are not pretty.” Thank goodness we are not frozen here in time, there is hope! Resilience is the ability to problem solve, connect with others for support and sometimes simply cope, knowing that tomorrow is a new day with new opportunities. “It is the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance. It is the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance. It is the one who won’t be taken who cannot seem to give. And the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live.” — Amanda McBroom Image: istockphoto

"Let us make up our minds that yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet arrived. But today can be filled with wonder if we know that we stand on the threshold of that which is wonderful and new." Ernest Holmes Image: istockphoto

“The year rotates through the seasons like a wheel of fortune. Being present in each one, possessing its bounty and taking its inconveniences in stride, means living to the fullest every day of the life you get.” —Victoria Moran Life is lived in seasons, and I am slowly learning to appreciate and live fully in each season. Too much time spent reminiscing about what has passed, or waiting for what is to come is squandered time that doesn’t yield a positive outcome. Can you imagine spending your summer moping around and wishing for winter, or spending the beauty of spring worrying about fall? Granted, brief moments of: “I can’t wait to go skiing” or “The beach next summer is going to be wonderful,” are normal but living in a season one isn’t in at the expense of where you are is a sad waste of time. Honestly, each season has its golden moments, and I’m learning to notice those moments as well as enjoy them. This concept is always brought home to me after I spend time with family. Ou...

Love this quote - life is too short to become hung-up on the small things! “Often we allow ourselves to be upset by small things we should despise and forget. We lose many irreplaceable hours brooding over grievances that, in a year’s time, will be forgotten by us and by everybody. No, let us devote our life to worthwhile actions and feelings, to great thoughts, real affections and enduring undertakings.” Andre Maurois 1885-1967, Writer

“The past is huge. The future is huge as well. What remains for me, what is given, is to do the small tasks of the day.” —Julia Cameron Breathing space…that is what today feels like and I need to remember, when I’m in the thick of “busy-ness,” that there will always be a space, a time to refresh and reflect if I will only slow down for a moment to notice and appreciate it (without fretting about the future). Sometimes these “pauses” can be uncomfortable, a feeling of “what happened – where did everyone go?” can rob me of the peace that comes from simply taking a deep breath and completing the small tasks of my day. The joy of catching up on the little things, personal correspondence that has been pushed to the side, appreciating the morning light as a new day dawns, and knowing that now is the time to reflect and dream before the next onslaught of “places to go and people to meet” overtakes me. And so for this hour at least, and maybe for this day, I pause. The day may progress int...

Today a new sun rises for me; everything lives, everything is animated, everything seems to speak to me of my passion, everything invites me to cherish it. Anne De Lenclos

"Each of us is unique...      Each of us is important... Each of us brings to the world a specific treasure box of talents and gifts that we are charged with bringing to fruition." Julia Cameron What talents and gifts you are focusing on in 2011? For help: Learn From the Past and Move Into the Future .

Chronologically we’re at the end of the year but the beginning of the journey. Sarah Ban Breathnach One of my favorite weeks of the year is this week between Christmas and the New Year. For some reason it seems the perfect time to take a “time out” to pause and reflect. I’m spending this week thinking about the past year, successes and challenges, and then shifting my focus to the coming year and identifying what my theme for the New Year will be. Then on January 1st I will sit in quiet reflection and record all of my thoughts..... Perfect! If you don’t start, You won’t arrive… Anonymous Use the questions below to map your course for 2011 2010 For the past year what was your overall theme? What were your three biggest wins personally? What were your three biggest wins professionally? What were the three top lessons you learned? What was the one personal quality that you developed in 2010? List the ways this quality helped you both personally and professionally. 2011 Lo...

“' A' earned his angel wings at 12:56 a.m. Fly high sweet boy…mommy will love you forever.” Today I read these words and they set me remembering my brief volunteer time with little A , rocking him while he fell asleep in my arms. I was at Children’s Hospital Seattle as a part of a Side by Side support team to his parents. Our goal was to help provide some normalcy in their lives during A’ s boring and sometimes terrifying hospital treatments. Looking back, it was actually a year ago this month. I remember one of the things the family wanted to do was take their other small children out to the pumpkin patch to pick out Halloween pumpkins. What they really needed was the comfort of knowing that someone was with their little A while they were away from the hospital. The nurses at Children's Hospital are excellent, but must divide their time among several patients, therefore, having volunteers who will come and support families with children going through treatmen...

Fog can distort and hide the most familiar and obvious. When our vision is clouded and we can't make out which way to turn, we must rely on our heart's anchor….. When it's all been said and done There is just one thing that matters Did I do my best to live for truth? Did I live my life for you? When it's all been said and done All my treasures will mean nothing Only what I have done For love's rewards Will stand the test of time (* Jim Cowan) Trust that the sky will clear and once again your vision will become clear…. (photos taken on my morning walk - via iPhone and Cannon Elph)

"Gardening is an instrument of grace" May Sarton

This my friends, is a stand alone: "The supreme quality for a leader is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is a section gang, on a football field, in an army, or in an office. If his associates find him guilty of phoniness, if they find that he lacks forthright integrity, he will fail. His teachings and actions must square with each other." “The first great need, therefore, is integrity and high purpose." —Dwight D. Eisenhower

“If, as Herod, we fill our lives with things, and again with things; if we consider ourselves so unimportant that we must fill every moment of our lives with action, when will we have time to make the long, slow journey across the desert as did the Magi? Or sit and watch the stars as did the shepherds? Or brood over the coming child as did Mary? For each one of us, there is a desert to travel. A star to discover. And a being within ourselves to bring to life.” - Author Unknown MERRY CHRISTMAS!

"To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right." -- Confucius * Photo – moonset LWC *** this photo is not photoshopped.

I was looking through my old journals this afternoon trying to find a certain story I wanted to use for a blog post, and instead of the desired story I found this list from May 14, 1993. It’s just as pertinent today as it was back then. Compliment three people every day. Watch the sunrise at least once a year. Be the first to say “Hello.” Live beneath your means. Treat your child like you want to be treated. Never give up on your child. Miracles happen. Forget the Joneses. Never deprive your child of hope. It may be all he has. Pray not for things, but for wisdom and courage. Be tough-minded but tenderhearted. Be kinder than necessary. Don’t forget, a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated. Keep your promises. Learn to show cheerfulness, even when you don’t feel like it. Remember that overnight success usually takes 15 years. Leave everything better than you found it. Remember that winners do what losers don’t want to. ...

"Autumn to winter, winter to spring, Spring into summer, summer into fall - So rolls the changing year, and so we change; Motion so swift, we know not that we move..." Dinah Mulock Craik September already... where did the summer go? In two weeks I leave for London... and when I return we will be fully enveloped in autumn. There is a distinct change in the air and so begins the season of morning frosts, early morning fires in the fireplace, thick sweaters, Pumpkin Spice Lattes (which have already arrived at Starbucks!) and a reflective thoughtfulness. This is the season I ask myself "What do I want more or less of in my life so that I can love the life I'm leading?" My answers: I want calmness and an inner strength; a deep assurance within of who I am and where I am going. I want confidence to be myself.... my best self. I want less fear, less distrust, less comparing myself to others... More joy in the moment. I want a quick mind and a solidness in the work I do...