Tag Archive | life
A Place of Sweet Release
Buried in the back of a busy tourist-laden lane,
nestled in a cove just off the marshy grass,
sits a small and simple chapel.
Ivy tendrils cover every inch of available space,
color so vivid it could have been painted
using a bowl full of smashed sugar peas.
Water laps at both shoulders,
A pungent bite of salt at the left and
crisp fresh water to the right.
A taste of both worlds.
Gentle breezes fuel the air,
A constant battle of warmth and cool
Like a single strand of hair that won’t relent.
An abandoned boat floats in the distance,
quietly waiting for the return of its owner.
A pelican soaks in a nearby fountain
floating to and fro.
A man sauntered off the cobblestone path and,
slowly made his way through the arched doorway.
He removed his cap and attempted to carve out a
comfortable patch on the rock hard bench.
He laid down his heavy load,
more like cut it loose; set it free
I heard it hit the floor.
He blew a sigh of relief that sounded
like the whistle of a train; long and loud.
He found something there in that quiet place,
worth more to him than buckets full of legal tender.
He glimpsed a beam of golden light that
pushed its way through a small crack,
and was captivated and enlightened.
He found his Holy Grail,
A place to lay his burdens
to sit peacefully and untangle the deep webs within his soul.
It felt as freeing as unbuttoning his pants after an enormous,
sumptuous banquet—a sweet release.
He knew,
this too shall pass.
Debbie Hope (Full of Hope)
Tag, you’re it
One Lovely Blog Award
I would like to thank Sharla Lee Shults for the One Lovely Blog Award nomination. I have met some really great people through my blog and would like to thank everyone for helping to make it grow. I love the support that can be found here. Sharla has posed a few questions for me to answer as I pay this award forward – please don’t judge me.
- What is the worst food you ever tasted, when and where?
- Poi (sp?) Sometime in the 80’s in Hawaii – strange dull taste and consistency.
- What does your spouse/significant other do sometimes that is totally annoying?
- Oohh, not sure this would be fair as his list for me would be far too lengthy to mention.
- If you could go anywhere in the world, all expenses paid, where would you go and why?
- Bora Bora, looks like what Paradise must feel like.
- What is your favorite sport, participating or watching? Why do you like it so much?
- Not a huge sports fan.
- Describe your most hair raising experience?
- On my way to be fitted for my wedding dress, I mistakenly drove the wrong way on a three lane wide, one way road.
- What was the most embarrassing moment of your life?
- My slip fell down while walking across a parking lot at work, and all windows faced the parking lot.
- Complete this thought: A friend is one who……
- Is constant and timeless – and without pretenses.
- Who was your favorite teacher and why?
- Mrs. Henkel – she gave me pennies each time I lost a tooth.
- Who inspires you the most? Why? People who are centered and don’t need others to validate them – because life is way to short for all the drama.
- What is your favorite music, era, artist?
- I love all music, but nothing makes my heart sing and my feet tap like DISCO.
- What eleven words would best describe your personality? Sincere, reliable, laughable, complicated, happy, silly, strong minded, friendly, determined, faithful, interesting.
My nominees are: (no particular order)
AirportsMadeSimple
Soulsnet
Live to Write – Write to Live
Inkless
Where God Takes Me
Just a Girl with a heart and a pen – RLBK 75
Nominated bloggers please share 7 randomw facts about yourself that would be interesting to know.
Enjoy – Happy Blogging to all.
Fear, is it holding you back?
I recently saw an interview with Michael Badger. He lost his three beautiful daughters, along with their grandparents, last Christmas in a Connecticut house fire. Michael said something so poignant during the interview and it really resonated with me. He shared that since the loss of his children he has absolutely no fear about anything. After all, he lost everything in the world to him so there’s nothing left for him to fear. How amazingly sad and yet profound. This puts everything in perspective. We can hold so tightly to everything we hold dear and it can slip from our grasp in a flash, no matter how tight we’re holding on. Life will find a way to pull at us and we have to find a way to walk through it and come out better because of it.
The more I think about the areas in my life where I have fear, the more I understand that unless I am willing, (more like able) to lose everything and not accept the status quo, I may be forever cemented in a place of no growth, and all because I am stuck in a place of fear. Maybe this is something you can relate to in your life.
The real life lesson for a control freak like myself, is to “really” understand just how fragile every single second is, and to cherish everything so when it’s time to let go (and there is always a letting go) I can hold even tighter to the memories.
I have heard this so many times before, but it’s worth sharing again…..”Courage is feeling the fear, but doing it anyway,” so very true.
Here’s to pushing us out of our comforts zones. The world will try and tell you who they think you should be, I say…. don’t believe them.
Debbie Hope aka Full of Hope
Do you remember the moment when your life changed?
There’s a moment– one single moment, when everything changes.
Maybe it’s a look, a tear, a word, a feeling, a birth, a fear, a joy, a prayer, a wedding, a goodbye. Whatever it is, it matters.
Think about these moments, relish in these moments, move past these moments, breathe in these moments, forget these moments.
Savor them, steal them, make them count, cherish them, grasp them, chase them, let go of them, hold on to them, feel them, value them, and ultimately understand that you will run out of them. String each one together-carefully.
Each incredibly unique moment leads to the next. One day you will look back and see a life filled with amazing blessings, sprinkled with a dusting of Grace that only God can provide.
They are precious, use them wisely. They will be gone in the blink of your life.
Debbie Hope
Full of Hope
Super Awesome Re-post by request
Have you been planted or placed?
Life has a way of haphazardly planting us. Yes, actually planting where we are physically at this moment. And quite possibly, without as much thought or design as a field of scattered wildflowers. I venture to say that most of us have landed where we are by happenstance.
If I were an accomplished journalist I would surely provide you with some brilliant statistics on this subject, but I’m simply going with my gut on this one. The simple fact that I am not writing this from a white-washed villa overlooking the stunning blue waters of the Aegean Sea, may lend some credibility to my plight of being planted. At the moment, I am firmly planted at my writing desk in North Carolina which overlooks my magenta knock out roses. It’s all a mind game.
Perhaps you went away to college and decided to stay in that area, or a job called you to a new city and you packed up your belongings and set out on a new adventure. I’m sure most of us are planted largely because it’s where we were born, or where our parents were born, and so it felt comfortable and we never thought about leaving. So, by default we are where we are simply because….nothing deeper than that.
Of all the breathtakingly beautiful and interesting places we could live in the world, why are we where we are? How many of us consciously pull up our deeply planted roots and move to a new city, state, or country? We may think about it but how many of us actually follow through with this (once again, I will take the amateur plea with statistics on this.)
Stay with me on this one….what is it that makes us pine to place ourselves somewhere else? Maybe it’s the weather, low taxes, great healthcare, good schools, great neighbors……the wish list winds into eternity.
I am a talker and have always been a talker. Wherever I go I find myself chatting with the people around me. Inevitably, we get on the subject of where we live. I love to hear the stories that unfold during these conversations. I am forever amazed how people end up in the most beautiful and exotic spots on earth. Places like Hawaii, quaint New England towns, mountain hideaways, homes by the sea, English countryside villages, modern European cities, exotic Asian cities and everywhere else you can imagine. I often wonder, were they placed or planted and are they aware how uniquely different each is.
Seems like we always yearn to be somewhere else. It all comes down to knowing what speaks to your heart and your soul, and that shifts with the seasons of life. I think the fundamental message is to embrace the reality of where we are, that is both the challenge and the joy. Peace and beauty reside everywhere, we simply need to be mindful of this.
This reminds me of a great quote from Deepak Chopra,
The past is gone,
The future is not yet here,
At this moment, I am free of both
May your garden grow, wherever you are!
Debbie Hope (Full of Hope)
Worth their weight in gold
There’s a moment– one single moment, when everything changes.
Maybe it’s a look, a tear, a word, a feeling, a birth, a fear, a joy, a prayer, a wedding, a goodbye. Whatever it is, it matters.
Think about these moments, relish in these moments, move past these moments, breathe in these moments, forget these moments.
Savor them, steal them, make them count, cherish them, grasp them, chase them, let go of them, hold on to them, feel them, value them, and ultimately understand that you will run out of them. String each one together-carefully.
Each incredibly unique moment leads to the next. One day you will look back and see a life filled with amazing blessings, sprinkled with a dusting of Grace that only God can provide.
They are precious, use them wisely. They will be gone in the blink of your life.
The Thoughtful Life 