YOUR LIFE A-Z:RENEW

DELIGHT IN THE ART OF LIFE

RENEW

RENEW that dream you put away.  RENEW a sense of delight in life.  RENEW is a word that implies starting over with a sense of force, new energy and a sense of direction.  RENEW is a way of saying yes to life.  One can restore a piece of furniture but one can also RENEW it.  Restoring a piece of furniture would mean returning it to its original state of being.  RENEWING a piece of furniture would mean to take a piece of furniture that is dull and useless and not only restore it but to take it beyond its original use.  For instance, if you turn a bar stool into a planter then you have RENEWED it into a creative, interesting and useful piece of furniture. Now, it is time to RENEW your daily life and add a sense of spice and useful creativeness to it.  You often here of people RENEWING their wedding vows or RENEWING their baptismal vows.  By doing this each participant is acknowledging that he/she has become dull and useless and now he/she is bringing to his/her relationship or spirituality a new self, a self, filled with zest for creativity and spontaneity.  Look around your environment and find something easy like a picture in a frame and either place a new photo in the frame or buy a new frame for the photo.  Notice how that makes you feel.  Then practice that same RENEWAL with something specific in your life. 

YOUR LIFE A-Z: YEARN

YEARN

ACHE TO FIND THE CENTER

What is your heart yearning for?  When you took time to take a X-RAY of your feelings yesterday what did you discover about your emotional health?  What is missing in your life that you have always wanted?  This is a tough but very honest question because it means opening up to hurt and sadness.  Perhaps you have lost a loved one this year and your heart yearns for that connection to her/him again.  Perhaps you believe that you have never experienced love, real heart soul love to another and that you YEARN for that connection.  Sometimes our YEARNINGS are not within our ability to change immediately.  But sometimes our YEARNINGS can make us into a victim if we put a negative spin on them, such as, “Everyone else has a partner, why can’t I?”  It is important to explore our heart YEARNINGS and ask if they are helping or hurting us?  If you are not doing anything about your YEARNING then that is not helpful.  If you are going to grief groups and reading how to let go materials, you will get there.  Some days will be better than others.  If you don’t put yourself out there to meet other people you will stay alone.  Learning that you have choices even in the most difficult situations is a part of growing up and being a healthy adult.  It is hard and often lonely, but doable. Don’t ignore your YEARNINGS.  Sketch them out and do something about them or replace them with real possibilities.  I can YEARN for my youth, but it is not returning.  I can do youthful activities and feel young and that is a reality.  

YOUR LIFE A-Z: ULTIMATE

LOOK UP AND YOU SEE  WHAT YOU SEE

ULTIMATE

What is the ULTIMATE for you?  What is your utmost goal?  What would have to change or need in your life right now to say, “Yes, today was an ULTIMATE day?”  A couple of weeks ago we talked about the word “Finish.”  What is the ultimate conclusion, finish, desire that you want to accomplish?  An ULTIMATE Marathon finish can be winning in your age bracket, winning the entire Marathon as number one, or beating your last time.  You get to decide what is ULTIMATE to you and what is not.  But you will never reach ULTIMATE if you don’t define what it is for yourself.  

Definitions allow us to actualize our goals.  Without definition we do not know where we are, so we might say, this was the ULTIMATE experience, but still feel disappointed inside because we had no clear definition as what it was we wanted to accomplish.  Definition allows us to make ULTIMATE more than a once in a lifetime event.  Break the word down into small micro-bites.  What was your ULTIMATE experience of this day?  Choose one.  What was the ULTIMATE part of your vacation?  What is the ULTIMATE class at school?   How is it that just tweaking your focus to the word ULTIMATE can helps you enjoy more of your day today?  How is it that by dreaming big and defining clearly you can ULTIMATELY have more of what you desire?  ULTIMATE is yours for the taking.