Have You Gone Mental (74)

Greetings and Happy New Year to all. The last week have been a veritable whirlwind as we had about a "thousand" people at our house. I got to see my daughter and her partner and almost all of my grand children, all my kids except one and experience the most love ine place than in a long long time. Two of my daughters' families stayed in our home.

The chaos was not the best thing for me, but I tried to choose to be in the moment and continue to meditate on peace. The greatest chaos was caused by our dog Max and Beth's dog Lilly. Max is a male and Lilly a female... we thought they would get along famously... wrong. So we shuffled the dogs between running wild in our house, time in the cage (kennel) and time outside on the dog run. It was totally NOT what we expected, but the challenge continued.

This morning my meditation was on peace. I am longing for the peace of mind that comes from being present in the moment and keeping my thoughts free from catatrophizing. This is very hard for me. I wish for peace of mind, which is extremely illusive, peace for all my famliy and friends, and of course peace in our world.

We (Janet. Jeffrey,and I are taying in Bellingham for a few days, as we do every New Year. We attended a wonderful Jim Brickman concert last night which was both inspiring and very entertaining. Afterward we returned home to Jim (Jeffrey calls him Uncle Jimbo) and Solomae's home to watch the Huskies win over mighty Nebraska (the Dawgs were two touch down underdogs and "we" beat them 16 to 7. Jim recorded the game while we were at the concert and we averted our sight and hearing whenever we encountered a conversation about the game so we could watch in anticipation like the game was being played at 10:00 PM. What a total rush!

Now I wish and I hope this year will be better than the last for all of us. I hope to experience a "let up" in my depression and anxiety and I am trying to keep faith that I can return to a more productie life as time goes on. The last year has been horrendous.

Thanks for reading my journal again this morning. I truly appreciate your prayers and thoughts as the year progresses. I hope to "pay you back" in some way as I hold my friends and family in my prayer as 2011 begins and progresses.

Tyose and all ... God bless you.

Ter Soultender