Disney Part 7: Let Me Off This Disney Train

At what point do you say to yourself, "I've had enough!" At what point do you surrender to what is in hopes of anything other that the situation you are in now? 


I could be talking about love. Actually that would make an excellent topic. What do you do when you have had enough.  You cannot take it anymore!   I am not talking about relationships but I am talking about my feet. We have been walking around for days in search of people, places and things. 


Can we not find the off button? We cannot help ourselves. It is kind of like watching AFV, (America's Funniest Videos), the Travel channel and some other reality show all rolled into one. You are mesmerized by all of the stimuli.   Unbelievable :0) I want to get off this Disney train but I cannot.  I keep thinking just another hour and then we will go.  I feel trapped because everyone is so nice, the parks are so clean and we might miss something!

Chick-fil-A

I Love Fall!!

For me there is nothing like the heart of fall. I love being in the middle of it.  Here in Georgia fall doesn't last long enough for me.  Right now, in this brief period of time, is when I take the time to reflect and make changes.  Sometimes it means starting over. I like to take the time to see what is working in my life and what isn't.  I also look at what can I do something about and what doesn't need as much of my attention. This helps me grow.  It's kind of like weeding the garden.  Every once in a while things get overgrown, or out of control.  All I have to do is take the time to take a look.  What is weighing me down?  What have I been putting off?  Have I paid enough attention to my spiritual life, my husband, my kids, my pets, my family and friends?  Do I need to make some changes?  Do some relationships need work and do other relationships not require so much work?  Am I focusing on the right things? What is really important?  Some really deep questions but really only one question really needs to be asked and then everything else will fall into place.  Am I doing things from a place of love, happiness and joy?  If I am not then maybe I no longer need to be doing it.  I wish I could apply this to the laundry, cleaning up dog messes, kids messes, my messes, ... 

Mid-Life Crisis

The term mid-life crisis is usually an offhanded remark.  When someone reaches a certain age, and starts doing things not considered to be age appropriate,  it is referred to as a mid-life crisis.   An example would be a 40 year old man purchasing a sports car.  This might be construed as a an older man trying to be young again.  The way I look at it is at this age they have earned the car.  A 20 year old should not be driving an expensive sports car unless they can afford it. Even if they can afford it I believe they still need to pay their dues and anything before the age of 40 doesn't really seem to qualify.  For the person going through these perceived changes, it isn't necessarily about wanting to be younger.  The crisis a 40 something goes through is a little deeper than that. To me a mid-life crisis is not due to thoughts of your life being half over, it's due to questions you start asking yourself like  "Who am I?"  "What am I put on this earth to do?"  We 40 somethings are looking for meaning in a life that seems not to carry any.  We start searching for the person we are meant to be.  That's when we change careers, cars, styles, partners. We get so caught up in changing to find "us" that we don't realize we don't need to do anything. We desperately look around for our authentic or true self only to come up empty handed.   Right now I think I'm okay not to have all of the answers.  All I need to know right now is that I am a soul here on earth for a designated period of time.  I'm here to interact with others, to help others, and to learn. Above all I am here to love!

True Love Starts Here

Finally I understand the need for taking care of myself. It was always good advice to give someone else. You know that person in your life that beats themselves up and you offer up the usual, "Don't be so hard on yourself. In order to love others you must first love yourself." How many of us have actually realized this in our own life. It is hard to sit down and really think about how you treat yourself. Most of the people I know are more concerned about others. I did not really understand what it meant to "love yourself." "Sure I love myself. God made me and I love God so I automatically love myself." That is the easy part. To really understand I dug a little deeper. Loving yourself actually encompasses a lot more than that. Forgiveness is also a part of the equation and it is this part that is the most difficult to digest. We have to not only be able to forgive others but more importantly recognize when we need to forgive ourselves. Sometimes it's hard not to hold a grudge against ourselves. "If I wasn't so ______ then _________ would not have happened." This bottomless pit is an easy place for me to go to. It was comfortable and I knew what would transpire after I went there. It's hard to climb out of that hole once you are there. Little by little if you try to replace the negative talk with something positive you can turn things around. Yoga helped me do exactly that. The instructors at the studio I go to create a place so that I feel comfortable enough to forgive myself and love myself. They remind me to erase the harmful chatter and fill up that space with light, and warmth and love. I can now love others on an even deeper level because I first love me.