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Posts tagged ‘Family’

Dec 12

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Just the Right Moment

“God is always coming to you in the Sacrament of the Present Moment. Meet and receive Him there with gratitude in that sacrament.” – Evelyn Underhill

I’m tired. Worn out from a busy schedule and a five day headache. Driving home alone from the company holiday party, another couples event. I get a call from my niece Emily to thank me for helping her last weekend with her paper – she got 48 out of 50 and has an “A” going into finals. She wondered about calling because she didn’t want to wake me up, but she was excited and called anyway. And at just the right moment, she told me I mattered when it mattered.

Make a call, send a text – tell someone they matter. You never know the blessing you can bestow when someone really needs it. God’s timing is never early, but always on time.

“It is through gratitude for the present moment that the spiritual dimension of life opens up.” – Eckhart Tolle

Nov 30

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Never Too Late, But

“The life that I could still live, I should live, and the thoughts that I could still think, I should think.” – C.G. Jung, The Red Book

It’s never too late…to give forgiveness, to ask forgiveness, to break the silence, to dream, to pursue your dreams, to dance, to give, to laugh, to understand, to be grateful, to stop, to listen, to be heard, to say thank you, to try something new, to let go, to change, to yield, to learn, to play, to love.

It’s never too late, but someday it will be. And we know not the day. Start today, so regret has no place to visit tomorrow.

Nov 9

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Everyday Stuff

Everyday stuff – that’s what Cast Light is all about. I’ve discovered when I notice the ordinary of each day and put myself in its midst I find meaning and joy. And I am grateful for the grace and faith to see the bigness in the small.

I bought four new books with my Amazon birthday gift cards – thanks Anna, Chris, Lynn – and just finished Anne Lamott’s new book Stitches, A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair. My kind of book and I love her writing style and insights, here’s one that sticks:

“The search for meaning will fill you with a sense of meaning. Otherwise life passes by in about seven weeks, and if you are not paying attention and savoring it as it unfurls, you will wake up one day in deep regret. It’s much better to wake up now in deep regret, desperate not to waste more of your life obsessing and striving for meaningless crap. Because you will have finally awakened.” Pretty good advice.

The three Fs – Faith, Family, Friends. Here’s to some of my everyday stuff – Lily and Molly. Mom and Dad. Running group on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Sole Sisters hanging out. The extraordinary in the ordinary.

everydaystuff

Oct 26

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Just Another Day

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” – Anais Nin

When you measure your life in each day, your birthday is just another day to celebrate the abundance of gifts and blessings with gratitude. Happy Day! And Amen.

“It takes a long time to become young.” – Pablo Picasso

“It takes a long time to become young.” – Pablo Picasso

Oct 22

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Forefront

“When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton

“The hardest thing to see is what is in front of your eyes.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“The hardest thing to see is what is in front of your eyes.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

What do you see? Clouds or blue sky? What we move to the forefront defines our landscape, our path. We all have our days when the clouds win. But days turn into weeks, into years, into a life time. The most important people, moments, gifts become the backdrop, unnoticed as we search for something that is right in front of us. The scenery goes unseen. Wake up everyday and choose the blue sky. No more lost time, no more regrets. Make the blue sky the forefront and let the clouds fall back where they belong.

Sep 15

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Team Sport

“No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.” – Alfred North Whitehead

“The language of friendship is not words but meanings.” – Henry David Thoreau

“The language of friendship is not words but meanings.” – Henry David Thoreau

Yesterday, I ran the Bear Water Run, the last long run before the Twin Cities marathon three weeks from today. They offered a 10 and 20 mile option, twice around White Bear Lake. Lined up with a few hundred others, I thought of the training runs I did by myself to get me to this last long run. It was encouraging to be with others on the same journey with their own stories. A few blocks in to the run, my brother John and sister-in-law Tina were on bikes waiting to follow along, checking in every few miles.

As I was approaching the end of the first 10 mile lap around the lake, I thought of 2004 when I ran this event for my first marathon training. I had IT band injury from running on uneven pavement, so I was concerned if I would even finish the 20 miler. As I turned the corner for the first 10 miles, Dad was standing there to make sure I was ok. He came back at the end of the run too.

Learning the lessons from my first marathon, I felt much better after the first 10 miles yesterday. Anna then joined me for the second 10 miles lap around the lake. She pulled me along with her fresh legs, conversation and walking with me when the toll of the hills started to work on my knees and ankles. When we were two miles out, putting it all in a bite-sized perspective, she noted “only 20 minutes left”, then 10 minutes, one mile left. She even let me finish a step ahead of her. When we were at a the “you finished” lunch (beer) with Mom, Dad, John, Tina and Anna, the texts messages came rolling in from friends checking to see how I did.

In our daily life, we can often feel like we are alone, doing the “long runs” by ourselves. Yesterday, reminded me that we are never alone. Life is a team sport. We need only look up and around and see the gifts of family and friends – our cheering section, running along our side, making the journey complete.

Aug 28

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Unfold

“Time does not change us. It just unfolds us.” – Max Frisch

Summer and old photos are two things that vividly remind us that time passes quickly. I’m still waiting for a slow summer. Molly turned 7 last week and my niece Emily is off to her freshman year of college this week. It seems like it was last month when I was holding her, dancing to Patsy Cline’s song Crazy.

I gave her a photo of her floating in a pool when she was about 6 years old with a beautiful bright smile on her face like she owned the world. A reminder to dive into this new endeavor with the same enthusiasm and delight. The joy we discover in childhood is planted in each of us, ready to blossom at any moment, at any age.

Laugh, learn, share, give, receive, dance, play and savor each day as you unfold more and more into yourself.

“Genius is childhood recalled at will.” – Charles Baudelaire

“Genius is childhood recalled at will.” – Charles Baudelaire

Aug 26

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Poets and Saints

One of my favorite plays is Our Town by Thornton Wilder, who in the author’s own words describes it as “an attempt to find a value above all price for the smallest events in our daily life.”

The stage manager narrates throughout. In the third act, the character Emily has died and she’s talking with others in the town who have died. Against their advice, she wants to go back to one day in her life, her twelfth birthday. The stage manager let’s her know that “you will not only live it, you will watch yourself live it.”

After watching the day unfold, she wants to leave and go back.

Emily: “I can’t go on. It goes so fast. We don’t have time to look at one another. . . I didn’t realize. So all that was going on and we never noticed. . . Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? – every, every minute?”

Stage manager: “No.” Pause “The saints and poets, maybe, they do some.”

Notice today, every, every minute. See people, look into their eyes, and your own. Poets and saints.

Jun 30

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What Will They Say?

“I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.” – Leonardo da Vinci

At a funeral service for a family friend, a few of family members reflected on a life well-lived filled with laughter, tears, inside jokes, little moments.  Loyal, generous, kind, gentle – principles lived out each day.

What will they say about what you left behind? Move through each day keenly aware of the brevity and gift of life and your capacity and duty to make a positive, loving and lasting impact while you’re here. What will they say? You’re writing it each day in your thoughts, words and actions.

Jun 26

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Finishing Touch

“Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone – we find it with another.” – Thomas Merton

My parents drove up to Duluth early Saturday morning to surprise my brother at the finish of his first marathon. With great anticipation, we waited in the rain for him to turn the final corner. Cameras ready and cow bells ringing, Tina, Emily and I were cheering to get his attention and then pointed out Mom and Dad. John’s mouth dropped and he stopped in his tracks to embrace Dad. Emily brilliantly captured the moment, summing it all up.

Family, friends, love, unwavering support, being there in the rain to celebrate our wins, easing the heavy steps all make the long race possible and meaningful. The finishing touch to the journey well traveled, never alone.

“At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.” – Plato

“At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.” – Plato

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