Enough Is Enough

This quote, author unknown, crossed my path yesterday and got me to thinking…"The feasting is over but the contentment lingers and it's a magnificent thing, isn't it, when enough has been enough?" It has been a delightful several days with many, many family and friends joining us at our home for laughter, feasting, celebration, memory making and laughter. My heart is full. My body has been treated with traditional favorites that delight the palate and the belly. My mind is excited with the stories shared, the possibilities entertained and the hope of tomorrow. And it has been so good.

And yet saying goodbye to the last child as she heads back to school, giving the last hug to the friend as they dash off to the airport, preparing the last of the leftovers and crumbling up the last roll into crumbs for the birds outside has been good too.

I really do think that in the abundance there lies that fine line of when too much of a good thing lends itself to disappointment. But such was not the case for me this year, thankfully. Alignment and gratitude fell in place side by side. But it does give me a thought about honoring the magnificence in enough being enough!

While it is often beyond my control, I certainly can appreciate this factor with the aspects that I have choices over. For example, not needing to eat the last delicious piece of pie…let it be someone else’s, not joining the shopper frenzy out of some odd American tradition that seems to encroach earlier and earlier into the Thanksgiving feasting each year, and not over-staying a welcome by family or friend when enough has been plenty and long enough is exactly that…knowing the next visit will be equally delightful and sweet. If I find the balance within myself, perhaps that will create a fairness in the occurrence of those who have yet to figure out the beauty of this perspective…perhaps! AND if not, there is always the next holiday to give it a go!

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade

Survival Tactics

Maybe it is the rebel in me or perhaps it is just my way of surviving. I am not sure if it even matters, all I know is that it works for me. When this time of year rolls in and the world around me becomes chaotically busy and frenzied… I slow down. When peoples’ daily agenda pads fill up with more and more commitments and obligations, mine gets more and more white space. Living simply during this time of the year allows me to find my way. I know that over-stimulation is not good for me. I shut down. I am the one person in my family who avoids the Mall like the plague. I don not enjoy it, come home with a screaming headache and feel like I need to reprogram myself after a shopping trip spent there. Too much noise, too many people, too many distractions…ahhhhhh!

So the same is true for me with my days and nights during this time of the year. I have to create white space for me to be able to enjoy my holiday time and the things that really matter. I make a point of letting go of things that are not necessary. I delegate to my family responsibilities that I do not need to hold all by myself. This is not the time to play Super Woman!

When I make the effort to live simply, (how sad that it needs to be an effort), everyone benefits. I am a happier person, a better-organized person, I am able to have fun, live large, celebrate and relax. I also have the time then to honor my body and eat healthy and get out side for long hikes and walks. Simple living suits me well. I know I glow and ripple out positive energy when I embrace this. Sometimes it takes me a while to remember all this and I find myself stepping into that beckoning pool of frenzied holiday activity, only to quickly pull myself out, wrap up in a blanket of peace and comfort and move on.

How do you survive the holiday season?

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade

Day One

The winds and rains of storm Sandy have passed and in her path she has left much flooding and destruction. Here in my town of Monroe, CT we had 100% loss of electricity. Fortunately for my home and family, our damage is limited to the loss of three large trees on our property that came down in the height of the winds. None of these fell on or near our home, but instead in a section of woods in the rear of our property. We are fortunate and blessed. Others are not. My prayers go out to them, to their loss, to their fear, to their sadness…our smallness is so often felt in these times. Our need for community ever more important. This morning we drove a small three mile radius around our home to scope out the damage of our nearest neighbors. There are many trees down, several taking power lines, phone lines and property fences down with them. The streets were littered with leaves and branches. People were out and about surveying their yards and assessing their damage as well. All of us having a look of gratitude on our faces that it was not as bad as imagined or feared.

We have weathered several of these types of storms in the past. We have learned to be as prepared as we can. We pre-storm cooked and baked, we made sure all laundry was done (as it accumulates quickly), cell phones were fully charged and we had flash lights, radios, seven day candles all ready and in one place.

It is now 3:00 in the afternoon of the first day. Reports on the radio tell us to expect several days without power. We are all getting into an established routine that picks up from memory of this situation in the past. All family members who are not here have been accounted for and have reported in that they are safe and sound, some better off with life necessities than others.

Today is Tuesday. School was canceled from yesterday through to Wednesday thus far. Studying for upcoming tests has to happen during the day as it is challenging to do by candlelight. Family games have been pulled out for later when the boredom sets in. Snacks are handy as well.

We learn during these times how to entertain ourselves differently. We learn how to give each other space as needed. We listen to the radio and comment on the DJ’s sarcasm and storm damage updates. Life feels simpler, we feel a bit isolated, but not yet bothered. The reprieve from the life outside storm Sandy is welcomed, at least for today. Tomorrow is another day, and may be only the beginning of several Storm Sandy days ahead.

Blessings ~ Lisa

(We now have power and were only without it for 5 days, not bad considering past storms. AND quite fortunate compared to others along the coast. Counting our blessings and sending our prayers.)

©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade

Celebrating YOU

I have so much in my life to celebrate, so much to be grateful for, so much to take delight in. But I have made it a priority to celebrate me first. Yup, I am first in line. Why? Two reasons. One, I have learned that my definition of celebration has a bit more depth than most. And two, once I make celebrating me a priority the power and joy, the light and peace, and the magical abundance flows and flows and flows! Before you know it, there is not a day that goes by without someone or something to celebrate! So how do I define celebrating? It is so much more than parties, cake and balloons or champagne toasts! Celebrating is honoring, and admiring. There is a recognition of the value. An accepting the whole package in its wabi sabi perfectly imperfection. There is respect, esteem, and appreciation in the act of celebrating as well.

When I bring celebration into my day I open the doors of connection. I embrace those who cross my path. I look to the seasons, the time of day, the moment with an eye of appreciation and wonder. I am looking for the spark in the moment. My whole perspective shifts from blindness to awareness.

When I take this celebration to a more personal level I look to myself and honor the spiritual being that I am. I cherish the body I have been gifted with. I value the wisdom I hold within. I am amazing! You are as well. Now, that is worth celebrating! And the beautiful thing that happens next is that our body responds. It resonates to the positive energy in which we are holding it.

I have learned to celebrate the form of my body, its role, it movements, its stamina. I have also learned to accept its softness, its vulnerabilities and its potential. The human body has taken an awful lot of abuse, neglect and hate of late. I decided to change that channel and find my own personal rhythm to move within.

And at this celebration come the relationship I have with my body. I have witnessed over time the better I participate in this relationship, the keener my sense of my value of my body and the better my body seems to respond. We are in constant communication. It is hard to believe that at one time in my life, I was barely listening and often that listening was filled with resentment, negative expectations and denial.

To celebrate oneself we need to be awake to the voice of our body. We need to be aware of the messages that are being sent to us and not make up excuses, rationalizations or refusals to what they are. We need to be responsible for our part of the relationship.

As we learn to listen we find more and more ways to honor our bodies. Whether it be through food, movement, spiritual practices, rest and relaxation, creativity or more. With each act of compassion and understanding, responsibility and support that we offer we take yet one more step closer to the celebration! Our body wants to be jubilant! Our body wants to be revered! Out body wants to serve us well...really, really well! And that is a party in itself! Imagine the gifts of that!

Today listen closely. What message is your body sending you? How will you receive this message? How will you respond? How long before you take the actions necessary for the celebration to begin?

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade