Serenity, Heat Waves and approaching Autumn

So, it has been a while since I have posted to the blog, but that's really okay because I wasn't out of my serenity zone for the summertime, now that fall is approaching it's time to do some re-evaluating of my serenity zones.

Summer was an interested time for me - it was filled with preparations that will lead up to a joyous event - a wedding (not mine but my daughter's).  It has been filled with parties, dress and shoe shopping (never a bad thing in my opinion), menu selections, guest lists and invitations and time lines. Surprisingly in the world of event planning most everything, so far has gone off without too much of a hitch.  When we began this process I was determined to allow the couple as much choice as they wanted within reason of a budget.

In doing this I discovered something things about myself that I hadn't realized.  One, I really didn't like my wedding (I love the groom - now my husband of 33 years) and if I had to do it over again there would be a lot I would have changed, but then again - hindsight is always 20/20.  I allowed everyone that was around me to make all of the decisions and abdicated all of my power from day one, that was on me and me alone and two I have found that I had no issue with giving up my now usual control of situations, as it relates to this wedding.

I have learned over the past few years of looking into myself that while there were times that I had to be in control of everything around me, I also seemed to allow people to determine my fate and subjugate to the wishes of those people without ever questioning the why.  I don't know why I did that except perhaps it was an issue of fear, always being afraid of being wrong or not be liked or disappointing my parents, my friends, etcetera.   If you don't try, you don't get hurt.

In retrospect I believe that it has now made me a stronger person, one who believes in herself, one who has the determination to move forward in life with a belief in finding the way to live a life that has meaning, that has adventure, that's filled with joy.

So keep cool in this September heat wave, because soon the daylight will be much shorter and the coolness of Autumn will be upon us.  Leaves will fall from the trees, there will be a crispness in the air, beautiful mums will bloom, joy and serenity will surround us for the season.

How can it not when the upcoming months will be filled with wedding bells or this case violins, music and love?

Be fulfilled with the Serenity that surrounds you!

Finding Serenity in Memories

Tomorrow morning I will accompany my mother to closing on our family home.  Over the past few weeks I have thought a lot about growing up in this house.

It was filled with celebrations, family dinners, holidays, proms, parties, and grandchildren, but there were also sad times and arguments, illness, hospitalizations, and deaths.  This is all a part of the family cycle and what makes a house a home.

My parents did very little in the way of renovations to our home, they did the kitchen and bathrooms but for most of my young life I shared a bedroom with my sister (4 year age difference - she's younger) and I was not happy about that, but I got used to it and now as adults we are close, but when I was 10 and she was 6 not so much, then she was just annoying.  We also have brother who was stuck with being the middle child.

We walked to elementary school, took buses to junior high and high school and hung out with our friends in the backyard, patio or finished basement.  We participated in outside activities, sports, theater, music and religious activities. There was always snacks and there was always lots of laughing.

As we got older and our parents became what all parents become when their children are in high school - embarrassing, we all survived, not always happily but with renewed determination.  Luckily once college starts they become less so and by the time we graduated they were actually pretty okay. As each of us married and had families of our own, our childhood home became the place to return to and a new generation of babies and toddlers find fun and food in their grandparents home.

So, tomorrow a new young family will take residence of our home and begin to make their own memories and this is how it should be.  I am finding serenity in this thought and truly believe that the memories of growing up surrounded by family, friends, food and love will always be a factor in finding serenity in my everyday life.  Especially now as my own children begin their journeys into finding their own serenity in their pathways through life.

Find serenity in your memories both happy and sad, this is what family is all about.

Finding on Serenity in being a Mother

So here it is the end of the official Mother's Day and it has been a day filled with phone calls, cards, good food and of course family.

In each blog I ask the question of finding serenity in various situations, so today here's the question - how do maintain serenity when a family member begins a rant against you personally?

This happened to me today and I found the solution with ease.  Don't fight back, Don't raise your voice, just listen and understand where the issue is coming from.  Frustrations, anger, and fear cause people to just react.  The key is to not overreact in response.

It's a difficult balance to maintain and I know that there are times when I am not successful and do overreact, but hopefully I can bring back my focus, balance and serenity.

I hope that each and every day of my life I can find a balance of find the serenity in all situations, whether it's writing in my blog, exercising, eating, working, cleaning, enjoying my family, enjoying my cat, reading on my IPad, surfing the web, arguing with my husband, traveling, etc.

So I suggest taking a deep breath, close your eyes, picture your children, your grandchildren, your spouse or partner and find the happiness and joy in the pleasure of being surrounded by love.  These moments will fill you with serenity.

Each and every day take a moment to re-adjust and locate your serenity.  Be in the moment.

Happy Mother's Day.

Finding Passion in Serenity

So here it is springtime and yes it has been a rough winter, but now it's time for renewal.  A time for renewal of spirit, renewal of focus, renewal of commitments and a renewal of passion.

Why is it that spring always seems to be a time to re-focus our energies on finding new passions in our lives?  This mystifies me.  Shouldn't we always be looking out for passion in our lives and I am not necessarily speaking of romantic passion although it's nice if you do have this in your life, I am speaking about our daily search for finding something in our lives that has meaning, that drives us, that motivates us to move onto the next passion.

For most of my life I believe this was missing and now that I have found my strengths and my passions I have made this a mantra each day.  That being said there are definitely days were my passion, serenity and strengths get lost and take a sick day, but the key is to recognize that, not allow it to take you over and spend the time simply letting go.

Last week I had such a day - I overslept, having had a night were I tossed and turned, I dropped the freshly ground coffee all over the counter and had to grind more beans, I went out to get the morning paper to find it cool and drizzly and at the point decided that the only thing to was take the day off (I work from home).  I spend the entire day in sweatpants, cozy socks, drinking tea and reading a romance novel on my IPad.  I detached from myself, my email, and the world around me.  IT WAS WONDERFUL.

When I woke up the next morning I was re-charged and ready to locate my passion for day.  It was the best decision for me at time.

So I recommend that every once in awhile take a vacation day from the world around you and yourself.  Detach and detox.  It will help bring you back allowing you to re-connect with yourself, your passions and your serenity.

HAPPY SPRING!
BREATHE THE FRESH AIR AND FIND YOUR PASSION & YOUR SERENITY!

Endings, New Beginnings and Maintaining My Serenity.

Well it's the end of the year and the beginning of a new one.  It's time to reflect on what brought us joy, happiness, sadness and even a little fear in the past year and how we can move forward into 2015 with serenity.

For me it has been a fascinating year.  It's been a year of finding my strengths, locating my triggers and deciding that no matter what happens I can no longer allow myself to submit to everyone else's will.  I have learned that the most important person in my life is me and that if I am happy with myself then I can easily bring that spirit to others that surround me.  There are times I have wondered why it has taken me so very long to get to this point.  I was always trying to please everyone else, my parents, my siblings, my husband, my children, my friends and my business colleagues, but never myself and this has been an amazing realization.  I'd like to think that it has changed me for the better.

This blog is about finding serenity in the world that surrounds you, but you are the only one that can provide the serenity to yourself.  You must look at the pieces of the world around you and the pieces of the world within you.  If you are not content with yourself then it is the perfect time to look carefully and find out the why.  Once you can let these feelings go you might be able to located your serenity.

In 2014 I moved forward with my life plan, yes I was scared and yes it was a difficult task, but moving forward was the only way for me to survive, mentally, emotionally and yes physically.  I will explain a little more so that you understand these pieces.  In an effort to determine how much of a risk I wanted to take with my life journey I first had to remove the toxic thoughts from my emotional being.  I had to come to grips with the fact that I really had a somewhat poor body image, that I wasn't physically unattractive and that being short was really ok and that my hair was always going to be straight.  Thanks to a helpful sister and niece I have learned how to dress - that color is a good thing and comfort is not an issue.  I have also learned that it's perfectly fine to dress for me and not anyone else right down to the intimates.  I also have learned not to take any crap or negativity from family, friends and colleagues.  Now I stand up for myself and stand up for my beliefs.  It's amazing what a sense of serenity that alone can bring.

So in 2015 let's all move forward on our paths to serenity.  Search for it each and every day, search for it in yourself and in the search you might also locate your happiness.

MAY YOU HAVE A HAPPY AND SERENE NEW YEAR!

Serenity is Mine to Keep: Serenity, Travel and Thanksgiving

Serenity is Mine to Keep: Serenity, Travel and Thanksgiving: So, I recently returned from travel to Honduras for business.  I was amazed that I was able to locate my serenity throughout this trip.  It&...

Serenity, Travel and Thanksgiving

So, I recently returned from travel to Honduras for business.  I was amazed that I was able to locate my serenity throughout this trip.  It's a country that is very poor, and supposedly very dangerous, which is probably true, but I didn't actually experience danger.  What I did experience where people that are grateful for the top level medical care that the clinic I was installing LED lights into provided them and their families with.

Patience was the word of the week.  The people were lined up at the clinic each morning when we arrived at 8 am, some having traveled over an hour to get there.  Some were there for most of the day waiting patiently to be treated for a variety of medical issues or dental issues.  These people live in homes with no running water, only sporadic electricity and most work in fields picking coffee, bananas, and various other agricultural products.  I saw no tractors only hand plows, horses, a lot of chickens and a lot of cows.  I even got stuck in a traffic jam while cows were crossing the road.

It filled my heart that my team was able to provide the clinic with the opportunity to reserve their power consumption of their generators by replacing the inefficient fluorescent lights with energy efficient LED Tubes.  It also gives them much better lighting and the smiles of the staff were worth every bit of nervousness that I might of initially had.

Now we are ready to observe Thanksgiving and together surrounded by family and friends we should be very thankful that each and every day we are surrounded by light.  We take light for granted and we must strive to find serenity in things that surround us without our thinking about them.

I know that each and every night before I go to sleep I take in a deep breath, release the air along with pent up tension and find the serenity that I misplaced during the hectic day and as I release the tension and locate the serenity I allow my mind to be happy, relaxed and filled with the joy that I have an amazing family, a great home, a loving pet, light that surrounds me and friends that support me.

It's Thanksgiving so let's be filled with joy, happiness, family, friends and live life with serenity each and every day.