Saturday 24 September 2011

On Truth and Beauty

In my search for truth and beauty in life I believe I have found a tool which helps me every day.  It is a gratitude journal.  Each day I try to acknowledge the things for which I can feel grateful.  By noting these things, and sometimes they're just very small things, I am capturing life in its truest, most beautiful essence. Distilling life in to a little glass bottle like you would when making essence from flowers like lavender or roses.  When I spend my day focusing on that which is lacking in my life, who doesn't want more clothes, more holidays, more home improvements? More, more, more.  The truth is, those desires will never be quenched.
 What I can do though is note the things I already have and be grateful.  I admit, some days it is really hard to practice that which I know deep down to be true.  On my busiest days, work, children, making dinner, laundry, etc, etc can feel overwhelming.  Yet, in quieter moments I know that it is on these very days that I should try to pause and to refocus on what is truly important.  Sometimes this means that I switch off the vacuum cleaner and I say yes to doing a puzzle with my three year old, sometimes it means I don't do the dishes after dinner and I go to bed early and read the book I'm really in to.  On other, more difficult days when tiredness and the blues are taking over, even then I can try to find something for which to feel grateful.  It's not that difficult really.  Walking in to my children's bedroom and watching them while they sleep, planting kisses on their soft, downy cheeks, is a blessing for which I will feel eternally grateful.  My children, for me, are the ultimate expression of grace in the world.  To note these things in my life is truly a very powerful way for me to find truth and beauty in life.  It is also, without doubt, a way in which to find true contentment from within.

2 comments:

  1. Perhaps I am hormonal but reading this brought a tear to my eye! Here, here! To enjoy life's simple pleasures!

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  2. How lovely you have just made me realise what a lucky lady I am ! xx

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