Saturday 21 January 2012

How often is enough?

As a sleep aid, this new blog so far has not worked.  My overactive mind was more so than usual last night..........it felt as though my mind was ablaze,  like a sparkler letting of bright sparks in the night sky with ideas on what I should write.  I finally fell asleep around 4am I think.

I decided during those wakeful hours on my subject today......how often is enough?

How often should I write on this blog, once a day? once a week? once a fortnight? once a month?  How often is too much? and how little is not enough?  What shall I write about?  Well let's start with the subject........ How often is enough?

There are somethings in life which you can never get enough of,  or too much of..........love, hugs, affirmation, laughter, joy.  Fresh air, flowers, fields, green grass, blue sky, birdsong, sunshine, water, music........to be denied these things would cause the human soul to wither.  I will try and do all of these things as much as I can until the day I die.

Love people, especially those closest to you........ can you love too much?  or do you love enough?  You can't give or receive too much love.   We  don't say "I love you" or express our love for one-another enough, or as frequently as we should.  We take it for granted........you never know one day they might not be with us, and then its too late.  On 9/11 when the planes hit the two towers, all the phone calls from people trapped and staring death in the face,  phoned their loved ones to tell them how much they were loved.  It is true when they say 'love makes the world go round'.  Without love, we are nothing.  You can be in a relationship, or a marriage, but without love, it is empty.....'a clanging gong'.  A loveless marriage is a very lonely place to be.  I want to be loved and to love every day.

Forgive, how often is enough?.......you can't forgive enough or too much.  To carry unforgiveness in your heart is to carry a terrible burden, and it weighs heavy in your heart........it will drag you down, and stop you from living.  To be able to forgive is setting yourself free.  Forgiveness can be a journey, you have to do it every day.  Every day I choose to forgive.

Hope......can you have too much?  No, you can never have too much hope.  It is what keeps us going, keeps us living....... with hope for the future,  that things can get better.  Without hope you would wither like a Rose in the desert and die.  Hope will cause us to grow,  to flourish, to blossom, to look up and beyond our circumstances whatever they are, and however grim they seem.  Without hope, we become stuck in our situation.........like reaching a brick wall where you can see no way through or forward.  I was once in that place, and it is a desperate place to be.  Now I have hope, I hope every day.

You can't get too much of the earths natural beauty.....we have so much to enjoy,  you don't need lots of money to appreciate all that is wonderful and miraculous in our world.  Just step outside and breathe in the air......see the grass, the blue sky, the birds that sing, brightly coloured flowers, trees whose branches and leaves wave in the breeze.  Feel the wind on your cheeks, the smell of newly mown grass.....its all there for us to savour.  Every season has its beauty too, winter, spring, summer and autumn.....and we can enjoy every day.

Music.........how much is enough? can you have too much?  No.......music can cause the spirit to soar,  it can touch the soul,  and brighten your day.   It can uplift you and take you to places in your mind that are in your dreams.  It can cause you to dance, and your heart to sing.  It can bring back the happiest of memories.  I listen to music every day,  have a little dance and feel happy to be alive.

Laughter.......do we laugh enough?  The world can seem very sombre, scary and worrying at times.  Laughter and joy is like medicine to the soul.  It lifts you up when you are feeling down and the skies are grey.  To feel laughter bubbling up from inside you like a babbling brook as it spills out from within, and flows out to those around.  Laughter is catching.   When my children laugh, I laugh too......I love to hear them laugh,  it is music to my ears.  To be able to laugh at yourself.........I do it all the time when I make a fool of myself.   My friends call them "Jo Jo" moments!  I never take myself seriously.  To keep a sense of humour even when things aren't going your way and life seems grim....it is a gift, and so is laughter.  I do it every day.

Affirmation.........you can never have enough affirmation, or give enough.  I have lived with negative people in my time, and it is very draining.   It saps you of all belief in yourself, and it is as if all the good has been squeezed out of you.   Eventually you feel so useless, small, unworthy, shrivelled and pathetic, you begin to believe all the negative things they think, say or do to you.  You feel so helpless that you don't know how to set yourself free from all the negativity.  Negativity breeds negativity, and you become hopeless and trapped.  I managed to set myself free from this, and it was a bit like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis....now I am free to fly, and rise above any negativity in my life (oh yes, it still exists!)  I try to affirm as many people as I can everyday.....even if it is only myself.

Kindness........you can never show too much kindness,  be too generous, thoughtful, caring, compassionate or giving to our fellow humans,  especially our nearest and dearest.  Not necessarily in the materialistic way or in that order, you can be generous of spirit and with your time, which is far more important.  You can be kind, thoughtful, caring and compassionate without becoming a doormat (at least I think you can....I do struggle a little with this!)  Kindness can be shown every day, and in little ways that mean so much.

Patience.........well we all need this one, every day!!   I need to be far more patient, not necessarily with others, but with myself.   My mother always said "patience is a virtue"........and it is.  I will try and practise more patience in my life.....every day!

On a lighter note........there are some things that I would like much more, and can never have enough of but common sense tells me it's not sensible or possible........ good food (lots of it), fine wine (lashings and lashings), chocolate, French cheese (especially the runny smelly ones!) holidays, high-heeled boots, sun-bathing,  the finer things in life and being pampered like a princess!!!  Yes well, I can live in hope and dream on!

So there we are.........just a few words on "How often is enough".  I could go on, but don't want to bore you.  Now you know why I didn't get much sleep last night......all these thoughts going through my mind!  So I return to the original question......how often should I write on this blog?  Perhaps not every day, or I will drive people mad with the ramblings of my mind!  Maybe I will just write when I am inspired to write......let's leave it at that!

So once again my beautiful fellow human beings, I will love you and leave you......signing off with a cheerful wave, until next time!



3 comments:

VBscab said...

I don't think you can change your sleep patterns overnight, Jo :)

As to "How often", I think the idea is to blog when an idea pops into your head. That might be every week, day or hour. Who knows?

Unknown said...

Well I guess I will blog as long as I feel a need to blog, and as often as I feel fit to blog!! and all I know is.......for now, I am enjoying it, as I have always loved writing!

Kotlesya said...

Dear, Joanna. I have read this wise post very carefully and it has made me cheerful really! It has lifted my mood up! It has made my day1 The warmth of your words filled my heart.
Joanna, try to follow your heart and write as often as you want. "Paper" or blog page will always understand and listen.
I'm glad I met your blog. Thanks