Rest and Be Thankful - A83 in Scotland

Scott and I had the amazing opportunity to spend a couple of weeks touring Scotland. 

We were on a small tour on a road between Glasgow and Oban, in the Scottish Highlands. The van pulled over after a steep climb through this valley. I thought perhaps we’d over-heated. Then we learned, the story goes that the Jacobites, led by General Wade, walked along the Highlands on this very steep road. Once you get to the summit, you can pause and take in the views. “Rest and Be Thankful” are the words inscribed on a stone, said to be placed in 1750, commemorating the completion of this road. (It’s also said many pilgrims, soldiers, and weary travelers used this road, or the sheep path, or stream path, throughout the centuries.) And this is the official name of this road and summit, with a fancier stone and the story.

As we summited, and got out of the van, I gasped, taking in the beauty. Oh my, I could see the road built in 1750, today’s highway, the valley, the mountains, the streams, and a lake off in the horizon. And I was thankful – my heart was filled with joy – I was grateful for the opportunity to take this amazing vacation, to see this part of the world, to see the hands of my Higher Power in the green green mountains, the flowers on the roadside, the cloudy sky. And I was thankful for being able to rest –

When was the last time you rested? When have you reached a “summit” in your life and stopped to be thankful? Self-care and gratitude my friends, whether for 2 weeks or 2 hours, is so very very important.

Following Our Bliss -

So - Scott and I shuffled off to Scotland for 16 days - 15 nights, 2-24 hour days in the air and airports, and we're home. We bought tickets to Manchester, England the end of August, last year, and then in December decided to go to Scotland rather than Ireland or Wales, like we'd initially discussed.

So many times people asked if we had Scottish heritage, family in the country, reasons to visit - and no, we were just following our bliss!

And I'll post more when I have a minute to download pictures, but in the meantime, this article popped up in my feed this morning, very appropriate for 2 "concessions" who took a chance on a country they knew nothing about, and had a blast.

Create a Little Bit of Bliss Every Day

By Holly Hildreth

“Follow your bliss and let the magic of life happen.” ~Janelle Jalbert

Is there something you always wanted to do as a child, and for whatever reason didn’t do? Is there something that you have wanted to do for years? Perhaps it is something that didn’t seem practical. Maybe you felt you wouldn’t be very good at it or you didn’t have the time or the money.

You can ignore the urging, submerge it, and choose not to follow through on it. But it will show up again and again, and sometimes in the oddest places. For me it was in the toy aisle at a local department store.

Here’s what happened.

My husband and I walked into a popular department store, looking for the toy and game shelves. We wanted a board game we could play with our young grandchildren. I assume there was some kind of bland elevator music playing, but I didn’t notice it until it changed to an upbeat dance tune.

The beat caught my attention, and my feet, seemingly of their own accord, started to move to the rhythm. A minute later they started to tap dance.

As a child I wanted to learn to tap dance, but for some reason I never expressed that desire. Perhaps I was afraid of looking big and heavy in a dance costume, or feeling awkward on my feet. Whatever the reason, I never told my mother, I never took lessons.

The desire to tap dance stayed with me, most times submerged beneath school, friends and family. As a teenager I learned one tap step from a friend, Shuffle Off to Buffalo, and enjoyed shuffling and tapping just for fun.

That’s as far as I went with it. There was always too much else to do. Besides, what would I do with it even if I learned how to tap dance?

Fast forward through fifty years and there I was in the toy aisle, tapping and shuffling my feet. My husband, tolerant man that he is, just smiled at me. But my feet surprised me that day.

I’d love to be the kind of person who can just break out in song and dance and not worry about what other people think of me. I’m not. For me to dance in the aisles of a department store is unusual.

Add to that the fact that I’m a sixty-four-year-old grandmother with an arthritic knee and ankle. I danced anyway and laughed at myself.

Back home again I went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. My husband sat at the counter reading a magazine. He said something to me and I looked over at him. The words “Take a Chance—Dance” headlined the page I saw in his hand in bold letters.

Okay, I thought, perhaps my feet and the Universe are telling me something.

“Bliss is doing that which fulfills you. Action that touches you deeply and fully. Bliss is active. Bliss is…following your dreams, desires, or heart.” ~Angie Karan

The next day I searched out a how-to tap dance video on my computer. I was delighted to discover a number of them specifically designed for absolute beginners.

I chose one, set the computer up where I could see it on the dining room table, and learned the first basic steps of tap dancing, shuffling and tapping around my dining room floor in my sandals.

My inner child was ecstatic. I smiled and laughed, stamped, shuffled, and tapped.

My husband walked in, no doubt wondering what all the stomping was about. “I’m learning how to tap dance!” I beamed. He smiled, shook his head, and left the room. I kept at it.

The emotional lift I felt from just those few minutes learning dance steps stayed with me all day. I smiled whenever I thought of it.

Our bliss may come in small packages. It may look like a subtle urging that has been with you since you were a child.

It may not be your life purpose, or even life changing. It may simply be something that allows you to express the childlike happiness that is within you. Something that many adults have forgotten is there.

I have no idea what learning to tap dance is going to do for me, or where it will take me. I do know that it is time for me to allow the desire that has been within me for years to express.

These longings stay with us for a reason. It is our soul talking to us through the language of our desires.

Why does my soul want me to tap dance? I don’t know. I do know that it’s fun and good exercise, and that’s enough for now.

What is your soul telling you? Let’s find out with a simple exercise.

Gather paper and pen and give yourself a few minutes of quiet time.

At the top of your paper write, “When I was a child, I loved to…”

Complete the sentence with a list of the things you loved to do as a child.

Now write, “When I was a child, I always wanted to…”

Complete the sentence with the things you wanted to do as a child but didn’t or weren’t able to do.

How many of these activities are part of your life today?

If your favorite thing to do as a child was to create models of rockets with plastic blocks, how are you expressing your love of creative construction in your life today?

What if you always wanted to go horseback riding as a child but only got to go once, and that love of horses is still with you? Could you sign up for horseback riding lessons today?

Perhaps you tell yourself you don’t have time or money for pursuits that are just for fun. Perhaps you tell yourself that you’ll get to that later. But if not now, then when?

Life zips by us while we are busy doing, doing, doing. Allow yourself to enjoy the journey. Listen to the urgings you feel inside. Don’t wait for some time in the future when you’ll have more time, money, or more accomplished. Do what you can to live a little bit of your bliss each day.

Now, if you’ll just excuse me, I have to Shuffle Off to Buffalo.

Gathering My Thoughts -

I began my social media sabbatical mid-February; I've been off Facebook and Instagram since then. I'm going on a FolkladysAdventure for the next little while, so I'll sign off here, leaving a few thoughts I've gathered this past few months.

Until . . .

Pathological Optimist -

I visited with a spouse of a patient who recently passed away. He was busy working on finalizing a book, talking about what his hopes are for that - Intentional Grandparenting. He shared with me his Mother's day experience for the first MD since his wife had passed: he went through his wife's jewelry, sorted through pieces, then hand-selected broaches and bracelets and necklaces for each daughter and grand-daughter. He put them in bags with a bow, and gave them to each person on Saturday. When they got together on Sunday, all of the children had these pieces on. He said he was so grateful he had decided to do this.

He talked about his wife's death and how beautiful it was, how grateful he was for his daughters and their help, and how much he missed her, but he knew she was enjoying her time in heaven with her family. 

I asked him about his outlook, looking forward, moving forward. And he said, "I'm a pathological optimist." I thought about a patient last week who asked, "What's wrong with being Pollyanna'ish? I think we give her a bum rap - there's nothing wrong with always looking for the silver lining." Another friend said, "I am skeptically optimistic." 

What's the difference between the three? And where do I fit in this continuum? Is optimism a healthy attribute? 

I do try to look for the best in others, even those who are not necessarily the best. And yet, I'm cautious - not showing all my cards until I can trust (and even then I'm hesitant). I am hopeful when I move into a project, cautious in determining what my role is, who the bosses are going to be, who the players are, and if the project is even real. I'm definitely not Pollyanna in my thinking. Life isn't full of sunshine and lollipops - I've had enough life experiences to know that some days are just cloudy, and tomorrow may be as well. 

So if I have to define myself and my optimistic outlook - I think I'd say I'm realistically optimistic, or critically thinking optimistic. I've learned to see inside, between, around, through people, events, projects, look for what can happen, what might happen, what should happen, and the time involved in building relationships and projects, and then decide if they are even worth my time. 

And you? 

What Makes You Come Alive?

I've been thinking about this question for quite some time - and I have a variety of answers:

A project that pushes me
A philosophical conversation
Critical thinking
Good acoustic music
Indian food
Belgium pastries
A warm blanket
Teaching a class of students who aren't afraid to ask questions
Visiting with a patient
Smell of a humid cool morning
Sitting in a car warmed by the sun
Discovery
Cuddling with a grandchild or Scott
A walk through a nursery

And this past few months I've been blessed to experience all of these. Being aware of this question has, to a large degree, made my recognition of these moments for what they are - moments of living, and - living in that moment.

This Tedx talk by Peter Breinholt presents some great thoughts and some great questions.

• What do you think about when you don't have to think about anything else? 
• What is your passion? 
• What makes you come alive? 

Did you ever play Hide and Go Seek? Was this your phrase? When was the last time you said this to yourself?

Dead man, dead man come alive

Before I count to the number five

One, two, three, four, five

Come alive! 

May is for Mindfulness -

With so much planned for this month, I am going to set my intent on "Being Here Now," and making sure Mindfulness is a focus for May.

RandomActsofKindness.org and Passiton.com  are both sites I visit regularly for breathing and inspiration moments.

May's calendar is filled with suggestions for focusing on awareness, presentism, smelling the roses. Practice along with me?

70 - Happy Birthday Mr. Weaver -

It's my husband's birthday! He is incredible, and he is 70! When I asked him if life was as he had expected, his reply hit me hard. "I never thought I would see 70, not even 60. I was drinking, smoking, messing with women, angry, and I believed, 'eat, sleep, and be merry, for tomorrow I may die.'" "And I'm happier today than I've ever been. More alive today than ever."

I love this man. Happy Birthday, Mr. Weaver!