Month: April 2020

Help where you can

by worrylessjourney, posted in blessings, community, compassion, connections, empathy, friends, giving, gratitude, help, kindness, share, you matter

I keep a quote book and was looking through it today and found one that I am sure must have been on someone’s blog but I just love it.

If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito. The Dalai Lama

Not only is this very true but I love his sense of humor.

13.375"x19" Poster

Each of us lives a life of importance. Even though we are quarantined and distancing we are needed. It seems that there is not much that we can do to help but that is not true.

Yesterday I ordered groceries from the store and they were delivered by a family…father, mother, two young girls. There were driving a nice car….not expensive but good. Obviously the parents work and no longer have jobs. So many people have been laid off or the place they work is closed. This may be their only way to make money. At least when I order groceries delivered I can give them a generous tip since it all goes to them.

The restaurants near us that are supplying take-out food are having their wait staff deliver it. We can pick it up but the delivery helps someone who has no income at this time. I am spending so much less than usual I can surely space some for those in need.

help people

Admittedly it is small help but it is help. So many people are in dire straits and we have no idea of knowing how this will turn out. If you are one of the blessed and have an income, a place to live, food to eat and safety please do what you can to help those who don’t have anything.

Bend don’t break

by worrylessjourney, posted in acceptance, balance, choices, coping, life changes, persistence, understanding

“The green reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm.”

― Confucius

reeds

We have to learn to bend like the reed. It bends one way and then another. Eventually it stands up straight again. When times of change force us to change ourselves we must become like those reeds and be flexible. When the crisis subsides there will be a new reality. We must adapt and thrive in the new environment. We have the strength. We just need the determination.

Change is possible

by worrylessjourney, posted in belief, change, coping, hope, persistence, perspective, try

change is possibleWhen I started this journey on Word Press I wanted to stop worrying so much over simple things and stop ruminating. Over the past several years I have learned much from the people I have encountered. I have made major changes in my thinking and my life. These things have helped.

What has not helped is what is happening in our world. It is one thing to obsess over things that will usually never happen and to be concerned over things that are happening. The concern is realistic and can’t be done away with. However, my changes have made me different so that even this current crisis has not been the tipping point to take me back to where I was.

keep walking

Lessons can be learned and applied to make life, though challenging, less likely to move us back to where we started.  We can learn and change and cope better. It is possible. Never give up and think it can’t get better. I can and will if you work at it.

Human touch

by worrylessjourney, posted in advice, anxiety, calm, comfort, connections, coping, help, humans need humans, try

human-touch-image-may-2018

Most of us are suffering from cabin fever or worse. We so need human touch. For those of us who are completely alone it is a devastating time. It is easy to fall into periods of depression and anxiety. We are not meant to be alone. One of the worst punishments for prisoners is spending a long time in isolation.

hug-yourslf-prints

I am going to suggest something that sounds totally ridiculous. You have to hug yourself. I am talking about physically putting your arms around yourself and squeezing tight. Stay that way for a while and repeat often. As strange as it seems it will help.

 

 

 

hug yourself quote

 

What’s next?

by worrylessjourney, posted in acceptance, answers, anxiety, change, coping, depression, emotions, exhausted, hope, life changes, Loneliness, stress, wondering

future_what_is_next-100711982-largeI wish that this quiet time away from the busy world was one that I could enjoy but not to be. My husband is still in care. He’s physically all right but still not mentally well. He is better. It is just so hard not knowing how this will all come out.

I don’t know if I will have the man I knew or someone else. Things will work out but the uncertainty of it all is harrowing. At this point the virus is of less concern to me. During this time not only has the world outside of my own surroundings changed but also inside my circle. Many people are caught in this. I am not the only one struggling. Some have more grievous things to bear.

I seem to do really well for a while and then I falter. I suppose this will continue until there are some answers forthcoming. Waiting has never been my strong suit. I am certainly learning to endure patience.

It will be different for us when we come out of this. I pray there will not be another pandemic coming any time soon and that we can be better prepared. Everyone is blaming everyone else the world over but I remember hearing some words of Pope Francis pointing out that if we all blame someone else them we have to accept that all of us are to blame. There are certainly judgement errors aplenty to share.

mother earth

We must change. We must understand the nature of the damage we have done to the earth. Soon it will be too late and we must live with the guilt about what we are leaving our great grandchildren.  We have to learn to live together over the whole world or there is no hope.

I pray that we can.

Hope and dreams

by worrylessjourney, posted in acceptance, answers, change, consequences, hope, perspective, Uncategorized

how-not-to-live-in-a-bubbleI don’t remember if I wrote about this before but here are some excerpts from something written by C.S. Lewis many years ago that ring true today.

He was talking about an atomic age and asked how can we live with this?

“Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.”

 It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because …*something new*…. have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.

This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together.…. *the world we have now should*…… find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep….. *He goes on to say that nothing should forever change our minds.*

**My edits

— “On Living in an Atomic Age” (1948) in Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays

The concept of business growth .We are people still with ideas, hopes and dreams. Those thing may have changed their form but there will be more. New dreams, new ideas that we can hang our hope on. This feels as if it will last forever but even if it did we are still us. We are still alive and until we are all gone from this earth there is hope.

 

 

 

What happened?

by worrylessjourney, posted in answers, belief, change, dreams, expectations, hope, ideas, life changes, memories, understanding, viewpoint

elephant-and-rabbit-sit-on-a-bench-on-the-glade-natalia-moroz

In my youth I envisioned the future as a wonderful place, Peace, flying cars, visiting space. That idea is gone. Have the changes made a better world or one more frightening, more dangerous, more ominous? My memories make it seem that way. When will we ever learn what really matters?

 

 

 

What Happened?

My past is a dream
A memory
A life of summer days
Poodle skirts
Bobby socks

We did
Hide under desks
With fear of A bomb
And built
Air raid shelters

That did not
Dim our hope
Our dreams
Of a better world
Free from fear

what happenedTime moved on
Electronics, VHS, DVD’s
Computers, internet
Instant everything
A better world?

Strange
My memory world
Seems happier
Less fearful
More hopeful

The better world
Vision lost
More war
More sickness
More hatred

What happened?

An unfamiliar world

by worrylessjourney, posted in acceptance, anxiety, appreciate, comfort, community, connections, coping, friends, gratitude, thankful

surreal worldAnother day in this upside down world. I have had some news of my husband which assures me that he is comfortable and being treated but will be there a while longer. Tough news but at least some answers are forthcoming.

The world for most of us remains surreal. Safely at home but having to clean groceries or leave them in the garage for several days. I am only cleaning the things needed immediately and with just me those are not many. I guess not spending much money is a blessing.

thank-you-clipart-for-powerpoint-8Life is certainly different and certainly interesting. One has no idea what tomorrow will bring. It helps us to take stock of what is really important in our lives. I am so grateful for all the friends and loved ones who have called, texted, or emailed.

I am also grateful for all the kind words from my Word Press friends. This is a wonderful community and helps me not feel so alone.

I will wait with hope

by worrylessjourney, posted in acceptance, coping, depression, emotions, healing, hope, knowledge, medical, perspective, problems

prayer for hope

My husband remains in hospital without any word on a diagnosis. I have done some research on my on and have some ideas to pass on. As a nurse I do know when the information is reputable. I will just have to take one step at a time.

I have had so many calls from friends that it has given me such a boost knowing how many care. This is just a bad time to have this happen but there is nothing different to do. I will continue to attempt to talk with the physicians working with him even though so far I have not heard from a single one. This is a common problem with hospitals and doctors and I will be stronger about insisting to discover what they are thinking. The hospitals here are not yet full of covid patients and are actually functioning well so there is no excuse for no information.

 

Tomorrow is a new day. According to the nurse they have some labs pending so maybe some answers will come.

Placating my anxiety, depression and stress with prayer, TV and walking outdoors. I am unable to do some things as my brain is not up to par.

When nothing can be done it is necessary to accept that and do only what is possible. The prayer from AA sums it up perfectly.

God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Thank you for your prayers.

Prayers please

by worrylessjourney, posted in anxiety, danger, fear, health, hope, prayer, sadness, Uncategorized

Today was not a good day. I had to admit my husband to the hospital. Not with Covid 19. I pray they can get him well and out before he gets exposed to it.

At the moment they don’t know the diagnosis but he has an altered mental status. He’s just not the same. It all happened over a few days and was not getting better with meds. They will keep him and God willing he will be home soon.

If you pray please keep him in your prayers.

Thank you, Suzanne