"Within your heart,
keep one still, secret spot
where dreams may go."
Start Quote
exist simultaneously in our lives,
as parallel realities.
It is always our conscious choice
which secret garden we shall tend.
The invisible underbrush holding us back is our own thoughts.
When we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives
but on the abundance that's present
- love, health, family, friends, work,
and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure -
the wasteland falls away and we experience joy
in the real lives we live each day.
It would be wonderful to have a real secret garden...
but that's not possible for most of us.
Still, we can try to create an outdoor sanctuary.
If you have a backyard, could you place a comfortable chair
and a small table in a shady nook? Hang a hammock? ...
And while you're at it,
don't forget to tend your interior secret garden...
Weed out
disappointments,
frustrations,
diminished ambitions,
unfulfilled expectations,
and anger about what has gone before or what has not yet come.
These emotional weeds only choke your creativity.
Let an unfettered imagination sow the seeds of possibility
in the rich soil of your soul.
Then let passion tend the garden
with patience and perseverance.
End Quote
"When you have a Garden, you have a Future
and when you have a Future, you are Alive."
My whole backyard is going to be a secret garden one day.
With lights and white sheets and comfy furniture with pillows and shade and flowers and a garden...
(something along these lines, although not exactly)
Right now it's the bench that Robbie made for me for
mother's day our second or third year of marriage.
I sit there and watch the kids play.
Sometimes I sit there and teach them to throw balls and frisbees.
Or read, or pet the dog...
Where is your secret garden?
***
Gratitude Journal
***
1) Robbie. Tonight he gave a couple hours of service helping someone with their business while I painted the sign for Chasing Shelby's Snack Shack for the car show on Friday night. It was awesome watching him work, and to meet a new friend.
2) Self-esteem. It isn't easy to rebuild once it's been beaten out of you. I saw someone today and it was blatantly obvious that she had no self-esteem. It broke my heart. I am so grateful that I have worked on my self-esteem and know my worth.
3) The library. Today we learned about folk music, and I loved some of the bluesy stuff he played, and my kids just danced and danced and danced.
4) Cereal for dinner. I didn't make dinner in the afternoon like I had thought I would, and I didn't get home in time to make it...it finally got done around 7, which is the kids bed time. So they had cereal, and there were no complaints.
5) Books. I read Down by the Bay to them, and asked them what they saw on the page. It was really cool to see what they knew and didn't know. Like polka dots. Jacob knew it was a whale, but didn't know that his tail was spotted with polka dots. He also didn't know moose or llama...but he knew goose and fly and bear and comb etc etc. Also kiss, he knew kiss. That started a kissing frenzy, all three munchkins were on my trying to kiss my face laughing hysterically. It was really cute, until I was covered in spit.
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