"Z" is for Zero, Zilch....

perceptions + quotes + reality =

A to Z Challenge~

Sporadically, modern life throws us into a bottomless murky abyss through ceaseless demands and obligations, loss of a loved one or a job, faced with a life threatening illness, financial forfeiture and constraints with hundreds more of equally demoralizing stressors.

….nada, the well is empty and you have reached the end of your rope.

Of course, we don’t all become destitute or consider suicide as a way out; although I’m certain if you are like me at the time it feels as if this is how you may end up since your world is caving in on you. Hopefully you are assured in your heart of hearts that this period of nothingness will not continue forever.

During these times, we all are walking wounded be it financially, emotionally, physically or spiritually.  But when we have nothing left where do we turn? Many turn to prayer or reach out to a friend or loved one to fill their reserves.

What are your options when there’s zero, zilch left in your tank?

“Nothing lasts forever, I think that’s the easiest lesson we all learn in the hardest way.”

By Elaine Kirby



Flowers for Leontien....

A fellow blogger, Leontien is battling cancer so Nancy has organized an event that was to take place yesterday for bloggers to post Flowers for Leontien on their blog.

With the A to Z Challenge happening, my flowers for Leontien was delayed to take place today with no less significance.

Leontien, I pray for strength and healing....

May God heal your body and soul.

May your pain cease,

May your strength increase,

May your fears be released,

May blessings, love, and joy surround you.

Amen.

...thinking of you Leontien...

"Y" is for Yesterday...

perceptions + quotes + reality =

A to Z Challenge~

The span of our lifetime is a conglomeration of days-

Often connected with what we tag as memories,

nostalgia, or the good ol’ days…

Memories of yesterday loiter within my mind

conjuring up all that was left behind.

Although remnants remain in the rearview mirror,

Yesterday lays the substance of our todays

as the door swings in silence

sealed on our residual times.

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, that's why we call it the present. "

by Winnie the Pooh 



"X" is for Xerox...

perceptions + quotes + reality +

A to Z Challenge~

 

Do you recall as a child when a classmate or friend arrived in school with a new-fangled toy such as Mr. Potato Head or Gumby that you just had to own it? Or how about in junior high when all the girls were sporting a lunch box with David Cassidy on the front, oh la lah well, each teeny-bopper was begging their mother or father to buy the container. How about that psychedelic tye-dye t-shirt, you wanted one didn’t you?

No doubt, if you happened to be the usual adolescent you consumed your formidable years aspiring to be identical to each and every person in your school-an identical being.  This desire to replicate each creature in your presence was critical to the development and acceptance of self. I know personally I hoped to be a carbon copy of my friends because it was cool and ensured acceptance within society, or at least the society of my own educational environment.

I wonder, was it an exact moment or a gradual process when I ceased to hope to be more than a counterfeit of my friends be it their property, their personality or their mannerisms?  Though recognizing it’s a challenging period developing into the person you were meant to be and almost certainly we all spend a lifetime emerging into our personhood.

Quite simply, although not a simple process, we are a work in progress and not a xerox copy.

"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. "

~e.e. cummings

"W" is for Whispers...

perceptions + quotes + reality =

A to Z Challenge~

Her life resembles a whisper,

with soft and gentle hands-

though concealing a sword to strike

impending aches of the open-air .

Her soul rides the temperate breezes

concealing the sorrow using shrouds of snow.

She embraces the act of living

with profound consideration and reflection.

Her spirit seeks strength through

the stream of gratitude

while silencing critics.

She soars on the wings of butterflies

and murmurs hopefulness and compassion

with a tender kiss of adoration.

"Let not thy will roar, when they power can but whisper."

by Thomas Fuller



"V" is for Visions....

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A to Z Challenge

“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.”

By Henri Matisse

“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.”

By Jonathan Swift

 “Only those who look with the eyes of children can lose themselves in the object of their wonder.”

By Eberhard Arnold quotes

 “Most people are not really free. They are confined by the niche in the world that they carve out for themselves. They limit themselves to fewer possibilities by the narrowness of their vision.”

By V. S. Naipaul



"U" is for Unnecessary....

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A to Z Challenge~

As a daughter I regularly wanted to display the love for my mom by purchasing her a gift. So on special occasions I inquire about the present she’d want or need.  Very seldom would she have a request or need rather most often she’d say she didn’t need a thing-that any offering was unnecessary.

Really? How could that be? In my juvenile mind I was unable to grasp that notion that a person could not ‘want’ for something particularly in the very materialist world in which we live.

Fast forward to today where understanding walks hand in hand with age. When a similar query is posed to me, most often my response matches that of my mom’s; ‘A gift is unnecessary’.

As my forties have bowled into my early 50’s the citation, ‘Live simply so others may simply live.” reverberates in my mind. How many pairs of pants or shoes is critical for one person? How many sweaters are obligatory when truly only one garment can be worn at any one time? How much clutter does a house hold?

I comprehend and appreciate the ‘unnecessary’… as most things are just that; NOT essential. Therefore, the response my mom would offer which was exasperating to hear was accurate as Mom’s typically are- She gets even wiser the older I become. Imagine that!

“Civilization is a limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities”

By Mark Twain