life: acoustic & amplified

poetry, quotes & thoughts about life

Archive for the category “Encouragement”

25 Mar 2013

the action of letting go

The Road to New Beginnings
Completion
by Madisyn Taylor

Just as new beginnings are important, so is honoring the experience of closure.

Life is a collage of beginnings and endings that run together like still-wet paint. Yet before we can begin any new phase in life, we must sometimes first achieve closure to the current stage we are in. That’s because many of life’s experiences call for closure. Often, we cannot see the significance of an event or importance of a lesson until we have reached closure. Or, we may have completed a certain phase in life or path of learning and want to honor that ending. It is this sense of completion that frees us to open the door to new beginnings. Closure serves to tie up or sever loose ends, quiets the mind even when questions have been left unanswered, signifies the end of an experience, and acknowledges that a change has taken place.

The period of completion, rather than being just an act of finality, is also one of transition. When we seek closure, what we really want is an understanding of what has happened and an opportunity to derive what lessons we can from an experience. Without closure, there is no resolution and we are left to grieve, relive old memories to the point of frustration, or remain forever connected to people from our past. A sense of completion regarding a situation may also result when we accept that we have done our best. If you can’t officially achieve closure with someone, you can create completion by participating in a closure ritual. Write a farewell letter to that person and then burn your note during a ceremony. This ritual allows you to consciously honor and appreciate what has taken place between you and release the experience so you can move forward.

Closure can help you let go of feelings of anger or uncertainty regarding your past even as you honor your experience – whether good or bad – as a necessary step on your life’s path. Closure allows you to emotionally lay to rest issues and feelings that may be weighing down your spirit. When you create closure, you affirm that you have done what was needed, are wiser because of your experience, and are ready for whatever life wants to bring you next.

http://www.dailyom.com

Posted in action, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, Change, Choice, Encouragement, Faith, Freedom, Growth, Letting Go, Life, Love, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

23 Mar 2013

even when it’s dark

Posted in Alone, attitude, awareness, Beliefs, Choice, commitment, confidence, courage, determination, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest | Leave a comment

19 Mar 2013

winter. spring. winter

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring, but there’s six inches of snow in the yard and it’s still coming down. In the woods where days ago there were pools there are now piles of snow. We are ready for spring to come, but it comes in fits and starts. As a little girl once said, “I’ve figured out the seasons. It goes summer, autumn, winter, spring, winter, spring, winter, spring.” Of course all the seasons do that. This is just the Vernal version of Indian Winter. We notice it most in spring because we long so deeply for renewal.

Sunday is Palm Sunday, and as Jesus enters Jerusalem we’ll celebrate him as a king, shouting praise. But before the service is over we’ll be shouting, “Crucify him!” Winter, spring, winter…. We are saved, but we are still working out our salvation. We are one with God and with all Creation, but we trust our oneness only in fits and starts. We who are made new still long for renewal. We believe; God help our unbelief.

Neither we nor the Church nor society are “getting better every day.” Some days we get worse. But Jesus understands. He knows his disciples will deny him, but says, “Listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your sisters and brothers” (Lk. 22.31-32).

Neither our inner nor our outer lives are one smooth, simple arc like a hit baseball. The path is rough and winding. We rise and fall, dip and swing, lurch and stop and lurch again. Stuff happens. But through it all, Jesus walks with us and prays for us. The Spirit bears us on. Spring is in us still, working its life-giving magic, producing renewal. It just doesn’t come all at once, forever. The Beloved breathes in us, and even in our failures and desolations we are becoming more fully the beloved people God creates us to be. Under the snow the crocuses keep pushing up; the buds still swell on the trees.

Even when spring reverts to winter in your soul, shovel the snow, but keep the faith. We are being transformed, from one degree of glory to another. We are being re-created. The world is turning, and our inconsistencies can’t stop it. The Spirit is living and growing in you. Wait for the Lord.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net

Posted in Becoming Yourself, beloved, commitment, courage, determination, Encouragement, Faith, Life, Love, Patience, People, Seasons, soul and spirit, Spring, thankfulness, Trust, truth, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

17 Mar 2013

we are all wounded people

Some of us tend to do away with things that are slightly damaged. Instead of repairing them we say: “Well, I don’t have time to fix it, I might as well throw it in the garbage can and buy a new one.” Often we also treat people this way. We say: “Well, he has a problem with drinking; well, she is quite depressed; well, they have mismanaged their business…we’d better not take the risk of working with them.” When we dismiss people out of hand because of their apparent woundedness, we stunt their lives by ignoring their gifts, which are often buried in their wounds.

We all are bruised reeds, whether our bruises are visible or not. The compassionate life is the life in which we believe that strength is hidden in weakness and that true community is a fellowship of the weak.

– Henri Nouwen

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Posted in awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Change, Choice, community, courage, Encouragement, Faith, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

16 Mar 2013

She knows the Jesus is comfortable with broken people who remember how to love. – Brennan Manning

Ruthless trust is the way for this ragamuffin.

If it be your way, the sign you can trust will be the slow, steady, and miraculous transformation from self-rejection to self-acceptance rooted in the acceptance of Jesus Christ.

– Brennan Manning

Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Blessing, compassion, Encouragement, Faith, Glory, Gospel, Gratitude, Life, Love, soul and spirit, Trust, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

13 Mar 2013

be one

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Blessing, Choice, connection, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, friendship, giving, Gratitude, Life, light, Love, People | Leave a comment

12 Mar 2013

even on days like yesterday!

Posted in attitude, awareness, commitment, confidence, determination, Encouragement, find art at pinterest, Life, strength, success, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

11 Mar 2013

called beyond the tracks

You imagine you’re a train
making your way along your tracks
and maybe you want to plunge faster,
get farther, extend those narrowing tracks
into the vanishing point—
or maybe jump that track for another,
maybe somehow lay a track of genius
in a new direction—

but

what if you’re not a train?

What if you’re a sound,
as a song or of a bell,
or a voice saying “I love you,”
and your journey is to expand
in every direction
into this strange, waiting world?

______________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net