Thinking After the Storm: A Collection (From the "Sunday Afternoon Rocking" series) Today's Sunday Rocking is a bit different from any you have received before. It is simply a collection of some of my more recent writings and thoughts. I hope you enjoy them. ~jan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Within this Issue: Polishing Silver Life is Good What Fishing Really Is What Happy Is To My Daughter on True Love I've Just Been Thinking ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Polishing Silver I opened a box of trinkets, And to my great dismay Realized each was tarnished And dull within the tray. I had quite neglected to polish The trappings of each gem And so what once twinkled Now lay dark and dim. Shamed I was to wear That others might see, The neglect of my gems And the laxity of me. It took more than a few hours, And effort through the night, But at last the silver glistened And sparkled with the light. Our lives are like that silver, The shine will dull and fade, Unless time and effort To polish is sincerely made. Shamed we will be, That others might know, The tarnish that has dimmed And darkened our glow. It isn't really hard, One should not despair, But it takes some work And some time to care. The polish is prayer It is faith and love, It is giving to others, Trusting the plan above. And with such polish We shall certainly be, The glowing gems God wants to see! Copyright ©2001, 2000JanPhilpot ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Life is Good Life is good. It is good in spite of scraped knees, and melted ice cream cones. It is good in spite of mosquito bites, and canceled parties. It is good in spite of goodbyes we don't want to say, And hellos that are ones we would rather not welcome. It is good in spite of lost loves and unrequited loves And love that was not love at all. When you push all the bad aside, Shove it over to the pile of garbage You will haul down to the street next Monday night, You know. Life is good. It is good because the sun shines, No matter how many rainy days are sandwiched in between. It is good because the grass is green And the skies are blue, As they have always been, And always will be. It is good because while you were crying The birds were still singing, and they didn't mind that you Waited a while to join them. It is good because there is always Love somewhere that is real, And unselfish, And Just there. It is good because when we truly examine our hearts We know We really feel a lot better if we sing And things look a lot better when we notice The grass is green and The skies are blue. It is good because after a while We know the scraped knees And melted ice cream cones Just happen so that we learn Life is still very good. And if we ever really learn that All the mosquito bites and cancelled parties In the world Aren't going to make any difference. The sun will shine as the Rain pours down. And still be shining When it stops. Copyright ©2001, 2000JanPhilpot ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What Fishing Really Is Here is something to know about fishing. Fishing is not about catching fish. Fishing is about fishing. There is a world of difference. Hubby doesn't know the difference except in his heart, but he speaks his mind because sometimes he represents the segment of the male species that cannot verbalize the language of the heart. And he thinks if he does not come home with a big fish, he has failed, so he has to tell about the one that got away. Now I know in his heart that really does not matter, because if every fish got away for the rest of his life, he would still go fishing. Fishing is about fishing. It is about rocking on a soft piece of Mama water in a boat cradle. It is about silence and solitude with nothing but nature to sing you a lullaby. It is about the soft patterned reflections on the floating carpet beneath your cradle. It is about the breeze running gentle fingers through your hair. It is about peace, friend. And you need to get someone to take you fishing. Never since your mama's arms in a rocking chair have you known such a thing as fishing. Copyright ©2001, 2000JanPhilpot ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What Happy is Happy is inside And no one can touch it unless you let them. Happy is figuring out No one can make you that way And it is your idea to be happy. Happy is letting things go that need to slide out the door. Happy is figuring out that "holding on to resentment" because something was unfair is really More unfair to you than anyone else. Happy is building a little shelter of roses around the Swing you are sitting in while you watch The butterflies and listen to the birds sing. Happy is saying nothing is going to disturb this. Happy is knowing "God's in his heaven, All's right with the world" (Thanks Mr. Keats!) Even when things don't always look real right. Because you know that He is bigger than you are, And He is in charge of the outcome. You can't taste happy And you can't hear happy, or see it. But you can FEEL happy And it makes a lot of difference in how things Taste and hear and look. Copyright ©2001, 2000JanPhilpot ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To My Daughter on True Love When you can let go As well as you can hold... When you can enjoy alone As well as with... When you can stand Without leaning, And stand without Being leaned upon... When silence can be Conversation, And conversation can Be or not be... When you know without wondering Or having to ask To trust or be trusted... When demands are no longer, And acceptance is always... When you know the port in a storm, But are free to sail in the rainbow That follows... When you learn No one can make you happy, And no one can choose Happiness but yourself... When you are you, And he is he, And both like that just fine... That, my daughter, Is true love. Copyright ©2001, 2000JanPhilpot ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've Just Been Thinking Wonder what life would be like... If we made a point to... Stop ONE time each day to really look at the natural world around us. Notice an ant busy working, notice the way the leaves sway in the wind, try to determine exactly what shade of green the grass is, feel the wind on our cheek. Write down ONE thing each day that we are very grateful for in our lives, ONE blessing that has come our way. Be very still ONE time each day, block out all thoughts and just "hear"....hear the bird singing we did not notice a moment before, hear a child laughing we did not hear a moment before, just hear... Make a point to do ONE kind deed no one is expecting us to do, for someone we normally do not make an effort for daily. Make a point to smile at ONE stranger and speak cheerfully. Make a point ONE time to curb our tongue when we are about to say something angry or negative or gossipy. Called ONE person we know is probably lonely. Made a point to stay STOP ONE time to a negative thought that wanted to enter in, and tell ourselves "I won't go there"...and then not. Thought of ONE person who frustrated us, aggravated us, made us angry, and put ourselves in that person's shoes to try to understand it. Stopped and sniffed of ONE flower. Sat down for ONE ten minute period, took the phone off the hook, closed the door, leaned back, closed our eyes and allowed only pleasant positive thoughts to play in our minds. Wonder what life would be like if we lived making a habit of doing even ONE of those things ONE time a day... Copyright ©2001, 2000JanPhilpot ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Note: Afternoon Rocking messages are meant to be passed on, meant to be shared...simply share though e-mail as written without alterations...and in entirety. If planned for a publication, permission must be granted by the author. Please forward sufficient information concerning the nature and intent of the publication. Thanks, jan) Sunday Afternoon Rocking columns are distributed weekly on the list Sunday Rocking. This is not a "reply to" list, and normally only one message per week will come across it, that being the column. 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