Appreciation

While the rest of the world may look cloudy or full of challenges, there is nothing quite like filling up one’s life with flowers.

And there is nothing better than giving flowers to someone who actually thanks you for them, profusely, without pretense or scheming to rob one’s life away.

Flowers
Flowers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The flowers are appreciated and celebrated.

She is definitely not getting them, and that is as good as it gets now.

So flowers are a great thing to give and to have them appreciated.

Simple. Colourful. Spectacular.

Connections

It’s a walk in the park with the air quite fresh to see

The Red Blood Moon Eclipse,

Eclipse2

The most powerful pull the moon will have on our emotions for quite sometime.

This should impact our living and bring us to new connections, perhaps.

Eclipse1

There is that shadow … is that the connection?

I’m not sure how that all fits in with my experience:

 

Eclipse3

There are some things that one tries hard not to stay connected with, and yet bring grace to bear upon; not forgotten, but transformed, forgiven, claiming redemption by God.

An End

Last evening as I drove home, a full sized four door white pickup truck followed me, and pulled up right behind me for the last mile or so, shining its lights in my mirrors, wanting to be intimidating? Well yes!

When I pulled into the parking lot and pulled up to back up, it drove right past me and out of the parking lot. So I drove the rest of the way to my own apartment.

There are some things that should not be made public, and others that show up people to be obnoxious and blatantly abusive. I’ve had enough of people taking advantage of me, and I am not going to be different each day: always trusting, always kind, always gracious, always hopeful, always seeing the best things possible for each person I meet. But I am done being taken advantage of, and I am taking a stand here.

Anyone who intimates that I am not an honourable person, anyone who takes advantage of me, anyone who decides to treat me unfairly … I am going to stand up and ensure that the truth of those people’s actions and words are made public, and I will consider all other options available to me.

I have never been violent against any other person, not mean, not degrading, not unjust … as far as I have been able. I have been a pacifist, but not absolutely. I hunted as a youth, and once since, to be responsible for the fact that I eat meat.

But there are ways, like Ghandi used, to bring to bear on people who are unethical, unjust, enough pressure that it is in their best interests to stop being unjust, to stop taking advantage of me, to stop trying to intimidate me.

And this blog, with photos most of the time, will serve to make public what people have done unjustly and unethically to me, and have persisted when I’ve given them an opportunity to mend their ways, to turn around with their behaviour and words toward me.

This sunset, then marks an end.

Its about time

Its about time

An end that is beautiful.

An end that is long overdue!

Forgiveness

Orchids: Gifts of Forgiveness
Orchids: Gifts of Forgiveness

It was a mystery me to me, but it is simple, as in simple on the far side of complexity!

I’m talking here about forgiving.

The steps are easy enough to list: Decide, Plan, Do, and then Experience Forgiveness.

Deciding is not as easy as it seems. You will probably need to come back to this again and again. And your spouse has to be number one in your life. It is not possible to forgive your spouse if you do not put them number one. It’s going to take so much more when keeping them in any lower level of priority.

Planning is complicated by the fact that you need to keep up whatever you do for the rest of your life. But you need to plan so that each gift will touch her heart.

Doing is easy at first, but it may get to be nearly, if not actually, impossible. And you will feel the cost of the accumulation of giving long before you feel the forgiveness, the wiping away of her offenses, leaving you seeing how wonderful a person she is.

And then you suddenly one day will look at her and only see how great she is. In spite of all the abuse she is continually doing to you.

And this is as wonderful as the day you fell in love with each other, but this is not a gift of hormones and nature; this is the result of REALLY tough work on your part. So enjoy the feeling. And to keep it up you will need to keep up the giving and forgiving.

 

Orchids: her favourite!

 

Forgiveness is no longer a mystery; it’s just plain hard work!