Ebb and Flow

Much like the number of visitors that come to my page (whether actually real or not), life consists a component of ebb and flow.  Good times come in as the bad times go out to sea and vise-versa as well.  Newton's law comes to mind in that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  So what does this mean for our lives and how does it impact?

When was the last time you were at the beach?  We are coming into the summer months and I am certain this is something favorable on your minds to do this time of year.  When you get to the beach, whenever that is, I want you to do something for me.  Go to the beach at dawn.  Yes, I know it's your vacation.  Yes, I realize you may have spent all year getting up after dawn to go to work but trust me...

At dawn, very few people are out to spoil the sights.  The sounds of the waves crashing echo singularly in your ears as the seagulls begin to stir.  You may see fishing boats or even dolphins in that time.  And to see the first light of day kiss the horizon and stretch to the white peaks of the waves is such a calming thing to witness.  Also, watch the ebb and flow of the waves.

Tides are brought in by the moon, controlled by the moon.  No matter where the tide is, however, ebb and flow is always constant.  The same comparison can be drawn to life.  No matter where your life is, no matter what stage, financial state or way you measure your life, the ebb and flow is constant.  With that comes balance.  With balance ultimately comes peace.  Peace that can be found in a sunrise.  Peace can may be lost when the next wave comes in but can easily be restored.

I struggled for peace internally sometimes.  I fear I worry too much, stress too much.  I have no control over where Life takes me sometimes and when I do have control, it is limited to how much I can influence.  But...I am learning I have control in how to respond to these changes.  Truth is, I can worry, fret, stress, cry and boo hoo until the cows come home!  However, when my tears dry and my fit ceases, Life and its challenges are still there.

We can try to ignore them or we can cope and face them.  We can try to run from it or we can embrace it.  Life is like a poker game where someone has gone all-in and you have two choices: to fold or to match the bet.  When Life hands you another challenge, will you go all-in and face it full force?  Or will you fold and let Life take you where it wills, as a piece of driftwood on the ocean.

Whenever I was last at the beach, several years ago, I was able to see the sun rise.  It took my breath away and, for even just a moment, I felt as though everything would be OK.  I knew the sun would eventually set on a bad time in Life and rise on a good time.  Well, World, the good time is here but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be prepared.  Embrace Life, all it gives you and its challenges.  It is that from which we draw our experiences and it is that from which we become who we are.

Creating Creative and Critical Thinking, a Struggle for All

Greensboro Batting Center facilities

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to share in something positive in my future stepson's life.  My fiance and I took him to the batting cages near my parents' house.  He had a blast!  For being in coach-pitch/T-ball, he did really well being in the slow-pitch baseball cage (balls traveling an average of 40-45 mph).  My fiance and I got to share something he loved with him and try and use it as a learning opportunity to better his ability.

When we got back to my parents' house, we continued to play with him, my sisters and parents participating as well.  The most beautiful thing is that the majority of the play occurred outside, without distraction from a television set or electronic materials.  But as with everyone, there are always hiccups in perhaps behavior during so much stimulation.  This did occur but I must say that the positive moments far outshone the negative.

It is a shame to think that some children in the world may not have the benefit of parents who want or are able to give them this kind of positive and creative interaction.  As in previous posts, some parents work multiple jobs to try and support their family.  When you are constantly working, you come home to find little time to spend with your family.  Maybe those parents come home only to creep into their children's rooms and kiss them goodnight, hoping that they can have more time to foster the mind tomorrow.  Tomorrow comes and goes and they find themselves with less time than before.

The saddest out of all these possibilities is a parent who does not even want to give a child any attention or positive interaction.  These are sometimes the parents who maybe had a child young or maybe their relationship didn't work out.  Perhaps the bills have piled up and the parent or parents do not see the time as important to spend with their child/children.  This is an unfortunate reality in society.  There are many children who go without that guidance that is so desperately needed in their life.  This guidance creates the differentiation between what is positive and good in life in comparison to what is negative and bad.  Without this guidance, children are left to their own devices to work this out and may decide the opposite of reality.

More often than not (and I have touched on this before), when we don't teach our children, we leave media to teach them for us.  When we leave media on too long, the lessons only get distorted and misleading.  Take for example video games.  Instead of children go outside and running from each other and imagining something to run from, they are content to run on a computer screen.  From this, the imagination is being starved and the body is being ignored.  While watching television with my future stepson, it is disturbing to think how much television has changed.  While there are some educational shows, a lot of the cartoons do not teach anything of value.  For example, I have seen shows that seem to teach that finding an easy way out is a good way out.

We want to teach our children, critical and creative thinking, problem solving and to use their imagination.  If we do not help our children develop these skills, they can experience difficulty in their future.  This is way both playing with others and learning to play by themselves is so important and vital.  I am grateful that I have two sisters that I could play with growing up and develop games with.  So do yourself a favor.  If you have children, play with them or help them learn to play.  Buy them items to craft with, develop dress up boxes (for boys too!), and play with your children, never forgetting to challenge them and yourself as well.  Teach them to enjoy life as you have come to enjoy it!

"Hoppy" Easter

Christ is Risen!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

A very Happy Easter to those of my readers who celebrate the conquest of death by Jesus Christ!  For those of you who may not share in this belief, happy final day of March!  I certainly hope it is filled with candy, love, family, friends and happiness!

I recall the phrase above being shouted at the Easter Vigil right as the lights were to be turned on and the church brought back into Light.  Shouts of "Hosanna" could be heard in celebration of the cementing of eternal life.  To reiterate the meaning of this celebration, Easter is one of the most honored feast days in the Christian religion.  It is celebrated as the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  

Easter is also known as a time for rebirth and renewal.  The world is just starting to bud and burst from beneath a layer of snow or permafrost, the Earth becoming ready to till.  As is the Earth, so our minds must turn and till to prepare for more knowledge and growth in our lives.  How ironic that school was a thing taken up during the time where the harvest was done and the sowing could not yet commence?  However, when the sowing could commence, the learning was thought to stop.  It is as though where one sense of learning ceases, another takes its place.

This is much like the world outside of school.  While attending school, you focus as your source of learning is what you read from books and glean from your teachers.  You hardly notice learning from experience or gain wisdom from life lessons.  When you leave school, you may think initially that learning is completed, only to find out otherwise.  Learning doesn't ever stop or cease its existence.  It only becomes more intuitive and more ingrained in our world.

Just yesterday, I came to to learn another lesson.  You see, I am constantly someone who guards her thoughts, feelings and attitudes for fear of judgement.  I discovered that I still perpetuate this attitude in even writing this piece of literature.  My fiance reminds me well that I am talented in expressing my thoughts and feelings and yet, expressing them is to share a piece of vulnerability that lies within myself.  

As a result, my rebirth for this year occurred yesterday.  I shared with the world my musings, my writings and my vulnerability.  With this, I expose who I am with no holds barred.  I hope you will enjoy what I write and what I think.  Most of all, I hope you respect it.  I cannot promise what I put will be in line with yours thoughts, Reader, but I would be respectful of your thoughts and feelings.

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter and please come back to read more of my writings.  I draw from my experiences, my environment and what I hear around me.  Until then, enjoy a thing called, La Vie."