Life's Little Medical Bumps and Maintaining my Serenity

So for the past few months I have dealt with several somewhat small medical issues and it's been a little difficult to always locate my serenity.  The issues were not connected to each other and only one was related to being a Type 1 Diabetic the rest were all random issues.  The interesting thing has been other people's reaction to one of the issues.

The issue I am referring to was an injury to my leg which actually had been bothering me for multiple months, which has only now be correctly diagnosed and I'm on the mend, but what fascinated me was the reactions of people and people in my inner circle.  Some offered sympathy and wishes for a quick recovery, some offered advise, some offered up their own versions of similar injuries, but one person not only didn't offer advise, but harped on their own leg problem (which is on going) and offered very little assistance, but this actually made me realize that I had lost my serenity and needed to find it immediately before I lost my cool.

Finding it was easy.  Rather than wallow in anger and self-pity, I moved on and helped myself.  I rested my leg when necessary, worked on my stance and continued with my work.  One thing I have learned about locating my serenity at necessary times is that I have the power to be strong and standup for myself, something that's taken me a long time to realize and now that I have I will never ever give that part of myself up.

So when medical issues happen, when arguments occur, when people try to belittle or push you down, look into yourself, take a deep deep breath, close your eyes and locate the serenity that is within you and don't allow them in.  Stand up for yourself by being the best you can be and this will happen when your serenity comes through.

This has enabled me to always move forward and stop obsessing at what's wrong in my life.  Everyday and every night has beauty, joy and peacefulness.  You just need to locate it.

Keep cool, enjoy the evening and may serenity surround you.

Finding your Serenity when it's really really really hot!

So we are now into our 4th heat wave and this one seems to be lasting a few days longer than the last one.  It seems that when it's this hot people just loose their cool and become cranky, mean and irritated a lot more.

Luckily most of us have air conditioning available either in our homes or at a nearby cafe, library, museum or the mall.

If you have to go out here's what I think about when walking outside when it's 98º - I try to take cooling breaths and let my mind focus on my destination not the heat itself.  I also take small sips of cool water from my ever present water bottle to keep hydrated.  I am trying my best to be pleasant to people around me.  Even if it's hot there is no reason to be mean.  Even if it's not hot there's no reason to be mean.

I also have to mention that hot seems to also refer to the amount of hatred that our country and the world has continued to face pulls at my heart and my soul.  How can we continue to feed this fear and feed this hatred?  We need to mobilize our inner souls and allow peaceful conversations to replace this constant divisive behaviors. This could be an extremely exciting time for our country, a time to debate, a time to converse and a time to decide what direction we will take.

I believe in free choice, free speech, I believe in the democratic process that our country was founded on, I also believe in our right to disagree but that should be done by conversation and peaceful protests not by intimidation, not by insults and not by discrediting and demeaning each other.

We need to find our serenity as individuals, as a country and as a world.  I think we need a movement of like minded individuals who think that this time of year we need to locate our serenity.

Let's bring serenity to the conversation, let's bring serenity to the discussion, let's bring serenity to combat the hatred, the discourse, the intimidation.  Let's take a deep breath, take a sip of cool water and locate our serenity to navigate through these difficult times.

Locate your serenity each and every day!😍

Serenity & Birthday Celebrations

So it's quickly coming upon my 59th birthday and my feelings are somewhat ambivalent towards the day.  Should I be excited to celebrate or just pass the day in normal style?

Now earlier this week we celebrated the birthday of my son and I got to thinking why is that the person whose birthday it is is the one celebrating when it should really be the parents celebrating the birth.

So I celebrated my son's birth during the week and now it should be my mother celebrating my birth.
It's an interesting thought.

But what does any of this have to do with serenity? Well I think that each and every day and especially birthdays should be times of reflection and a looking forward to new beginnings.  We should be remembering the past and moving forward towards a new day.  Having a birthday should bring a person a sense of peace and serenity that we have gone from one year to the next with our souls filled with joy.

Time moves forward sometimes quickly, sometimes at a snail's pace but it moves forward and we must move with it.  So to answer my own question should I celebrate or just pass the daily normally? I will definitely celebrate!

Today I posted a photo on my Facebook with the caption - "When I get old, I don't want people thinking what a sweet old lady.  I want 'em to saying Oh Crap-What's she up to now?"

So Happy Birthday to me and to my mother!  It will be a day filled with celebration, joy, a little looking back, absolutely looking forward and all of this will bring be a day filled with serenity!

Fill your days with joy and serenity!

Serenity is Mine to Keep: Serenity, Photography and Creativity

Serenity is Mine to Keep: Serenity, Photography and Creativity: Over the past few months I have spent time getting to know my new camera.  I have had it for a little while now and am enjoying the discover...

Serenity, Photography and Creativity

Over the past few months I have spent time getting to know my new camera.  I have had it for a little while now and am enjoying the discovery of being creative.  I find that there is a sort of serenity in capturing a photo especially since I tend to focus on the nature that surrounds me.

There is a peacefulness to being able to focus intently on one very small piece of the world that surrounds us.  It's a sense of serenity that is calming and beautiful.  I find that when I have the camera in hand I notice little things that would normally just pass me by.  Or even if I don't have the camera in my hand I am finding that I look for beauty in the surrounding space.

This is a new hobby for me and I am still learning the "tricks of the trade" so to speak, but I am finding that each day I can easily look at the world with a more creative vision.

Now, I know that I will never be a professional photographer nor will my photographs be hanging in a gallery somewhere or published somewhere other than here in my blog or on my Facebook page or Twitter feed, but I'm okay with that, because I'm doing this for me and while I'm happy to share some of my photos, it's really only for my serenity.

I never really thought of myself as an artistic person.  I can be creative in my own mind but usually it doesn't translate well into reality, until now.  It seems that photography has brought forth my creative, perhaps even artistic side and that makes me happy.

So, I would like to recommend that each of us find the creative, artistic side to ourselves and produce for you and once in a while share your creativity with the world around you.  You will find that serenity will flow within and throughout you when you become comfortable with the artistic side of your personality.

Enjoy these photos and find the serenity that flows in the world that surrounds you.

Serenity and Anniversaries

On Monday I celebrated my 34th wedding anniversary, usually unless it falls on a weekend we celebrate it separately since we are rarely in the same place.  This year my husband took the day off to celebrate with me.  But unfortunately fates were against us and on Saturday he came down with a awful head-cold.

So the question of the day - how to maintain an aura of serenity when life disappoints you?

The answer - you go with the flow.  Instead of spending the day wandering around town and local museums with dinner at restaurant in town, we spent the day relaxing at home, a quick shopping trip at a local warehouse store and went out for dinner at a local sushi place.  When you're married for 34 years you learn to just go with the flow, sometimes.

Over the past couple of years I have changed my thinking about anniversaries.  For a long time I kept hoping that I would be surprised and that I would be swept off my feet with some large romantic gesture, but that isn't what marriage is really about, that's what dating is about.  Marriage is commitment, give and take, arguments, misunderstandings, forgiveness and respect.  Love is always a part of it but over-the-top romance is not always a necessity.

I read a lot of romance novels and each one is over-the-top filled with romantic situations and they are wonderful to read, but I often wonder if these books are written by people who are looking for romance in the wrong places.

If the person you married was once upon a time very romantic when you dated, why shouldn't things change.  Would you really want it to stay the same as when you were dating?

So the answer to the question how to maintain serenity when life disappoints - the best way is to acknowledge the disappointment, take a deep breath, realize that change happens and that life moves forward.

Romance isn't dead, it's simply different, it's under the surface and shown in small ways by husbands and wives or partners.  I find my serenity in this knowledge and by accepting it there is no disappointment.

Move on, Move forward, Find Serenity!

Finding Serenity When You are Exhausted.

So for the past year or so I have been having sleeping issues and no I do not have sleep apnea, but I do have issues with shutting off my brain.

I have tried really dark rooms, no noise, soft meditation music, reading boring books, etc, but still my mind won't shut down, then someone suggested that I have my hormone levels checked and sure enough there was a discrepancy, which has now been fixed with a simple cream that I put on morning and evening and for the most part I am now falling asleep relatively quick.

Last night I didn't put on the cream and I had a very rough night so today I am exhausted and exhaustion seems to make it difficult to locate my serenity, but I followed my plan for the day and this evening connected with friends and family.  This is the way to ensure the ability to find my serenity at the end of the day.

I have learned to take deep breathes, learned to enjoy small things in life.  A friend who's a great professional chef once told me that dinner should always be enjoyed even if it's just a bowl of soup and a roll.  He told me to set a place at the table, put on music, pour a glass of wine, grab a book and sit down at the table and dine - no matter what I'm eating.  I have never forgotten that advise and no matter what in the evening I dine.  It's the beginning of the process of finding serenity at the end of my day.

My mistake last night was not following my plan, instead I ate late and left on the tv so I could watch the hockey game and while I love hockey I should have known better, then I didn't spread on my cream or refill the humidifier, so I slept poorly.  Tonight I followed my plan and yes writing on my blog is part of my plan. So I truly believe that tonight I will have a great night's sleep.

I would love to hear from people who are reading my blog.  Send me a comment with how you find your serenity.

Have a great night's sleep, enjoy your meals - dine don't just eat and do your best to find serenity in all that surrounds you each and every day!