Conflict and chaos
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Reaching higher
“There are two ways to be happy: improve your reality, or lower your expectations.” ~ Jodi Picoult Lately, I’ve heard too many things that shock or disappoint me. Things that challenge my faith in humanity. Things that make me doubt the judgment and character of the folks around me. Things that make me anxious about the future. You too? Part of the problem boils down to the fact that everyone is accessing more “news” than they can thoughtfully process and fact-check. (Thanks, social media.) And it frightens me — how easy it is for some to fall under the dark spell of misinformation and ludicrous conspiracy theories. So what does…
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The circus of life
“You can get the monkey off your back, but the circus never leaves town,” ~Anne Lamott, Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith Some of my favorite funny quotes are circus metaphors. I always loved the political quote (which has Polish origins) that goes something like this: “Not my circus, not my monkeys.” Did you ever get the feeling that life is one big circus act? Sometimes it seems like we’re balancing beautifully on the high wire, while other times we’re stuck for hours in the clown car. Happy Friday — and have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
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Sitting it out
“No one reaches out to you for compassion or empathy so that you can teach them how to behave better. They reach out to you because they believe in your capacity to know their darkness well enough to sit in the dark with them.” ~ Brene Brown, The Power of Vulnerability: Teachings of Authenticity, Connections and Courage Being fully human means you’re going to experience bouts of disappointment, anger, and sadness. Someone will say or do something that hurts or alienates you. Or you might say something insensitive and hurtful to someone else. As hard as we try to avoid emotional collisions, we all stumble on conflicts we can’t fix,…