‘THINK on THESE THINGS’

By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

We have often heard it said that God never closes one door unless He opens another. It is a great comfort to know we never really lose when we believe, for any defeat can be turned to good if we will absorb the lesson in it.

And yet, how often we refuse to go through that door that has been opened for us. It is so much easier to stand back and wail about the closed one. There seems to be a certain amount of glorification in defeat. It is a subtle something that hides in us and keeps us from doing well that which we know we are capable of doing. If we show strength, we are afraid we will have to stand alone.

Sometimes a door will close for us because that particular one would have caused us more unhappiness, but it never closes for punishment. God is love and love does not punish, nor does it have any power but to give what is right and good for us. With this knowledge, we can by grace walk through those doors that open to us and know it is right.

 

Elder’s Meditation of the Day – October 29

 

“Mothers must protect the lives they have helped to bring into the world.”

–Haida Gwaii, Traditional Circle of Elders

 

Every child is subject to the seeds each adult plants in his/her mind. If we plant praise and “you can do it”, the child will grow up with certain predictable behavior patterns. If we plant ideas that there’s something wrong with you or you’re good for nothing, the child will grow up with predictable behavior patterns. We need to honor and respect the mothers who protect the children and plant positive seeds for their growth.

 

Great Spirit, bless each mother and give her courage and faith.

October 29 – Daily Feast

 

Something new is always an exciting prospect. It can be anything that changes the face of daily life and brings it into a new pattern that makes us feel better. Drudgery can take over our thinking and then our actions. Sticking too close to one routine and never having a change is an obvious sign we are heading for drudgery. If renewal is to come there must be change – even if it is to walk a short distance, talk to someone out of the ordinary, and do something for someone. These things sound simplistic but if they turn our thinking to more creativity or more relaxation, it is worth doing.

~ I felt that I was leaving all that I had but I did not cry. ~

 

OLLOKOT – NEZ PERCE

 

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II’ by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Get on with living

Avoid trouble, but not so much that you avoid life. Anticipate possible  problems, but don’t obsess over them so much that you miss the  opportunities.

When you set out on an ambitious path, there are plenty of things that might  go wrong. Prepare yourself to deal with those possible pitfalls, but don’t allow  them to become excuses even before they become reality.

Don’t let yourself be stopped by what might not even happen. Rather, let  yourself be pushed forward by the positive value of what you intend to achieve,  to experience, to create.

Put your time and effort into growing stronger, more capable, more  experienced and effective. Focus your thoughts not on worrying about what might  stand in your way, but on visualizing where you desire to go.

You’ve already made your way through every challenge to date. You have every  reason to be confident that you can successfully deal with whatever life sends  your way.

There are plenty of reasons and ways to be careful, yet there’s no reason to  constantly live in fear. Go ahead and get on with living a positive, meaningful  life.

— Ralph Marston

The Daily Motivator

Life’s Scales

Balance

by Madisyn Taylor

 

A balanced lifestyle is simply a state of being in which one has time and energy for obligations and pleasures.

 

Like pieces of a puzzle, the many different aspects of your being come together to form the person that you are. You work and play, rest and expend energy, commune with your body and soul, exalt in joy, and feel sorrow. Balance is the state that you achieve when all of the aspects of your life and self are in harmony. Your life force flows in a state of equilibrium because nothing feels out of sync. While balance is necessary to have a satisfying, energetic, and joyful life, only you can determine what balance means to you.

Achieving balance requires that you assess what is important to you. The many demands of modern life can push us to make choices that can put us off balance and have a detrimental effect on our habits, relationships, health, and career. In creating a balanced lifestyle, you must ascertain how much time and energy you are willing to devote to the different areas of your life. To do so, imagine that your life is a house made up of many rooms. Draw this house, give each part of your life its own room, and size each room according to the amount of importance you assign to that aspect of your life. You can include family, solitude, activities that benefit others, healthy eating, indulgences, exercise and working on self. You may discover that certain elements of your life take up an inordinate amount of time, energy, or effort and leave you with few resources to nurture the other aspects of your life. You may want to spend less time on these activities and more on the ones that fulfill you.

A balanced lifestyle is simply a state of being in which one has time and energy for obligations and pleasures, as well as time to live well and in a gratifying way. With its many nuances, balance can be a difficult concept to integrate into your life. Living a balanced existence, however, can help you attain a greater sense of happiness, health, and fulfillment.

The Daily OM

Trick Or Treat By Your Astrological Sign

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The Night of the Full Moon

by Lloyd Frankenberg

O come with me into this moonlight world.
The trees are large and soft tonight,
With blossoms loaded soft and white,
A cloud of whiteness furling and unfurled.

The houses give their sounds upon the air
In muted tones and secrecies,
Their lights like laughter through the trees.
The evening breathes its vows into our hair.

The evening puts its lips to throat and brow
And swears what it has sworn before
To others and will swear to more.
The evening has its arms around us now.

Nightstar

Night Poems