For the restless spirit!

Today I am 47..... fast approaching 50!!! Phew! As I look back at my last birthday - I see a lot has changed.... far more than I could have imagined back then....Life and I have been in the boxing ring, it seems, and I have been knocked out a couple of times....the wind has been blown out of my lungs... it's been exhausting, truly. Yet, as I stand today, I feel blessed ..... and..... loved.....still. For every fall I have had, God has given me a hand to hold, to help me up again. My spirits have sagged many a time, but have never been defeated....and each time I was weighed down by my circumstances, something or someone lifted my drooping shoulders and I have managed to smile again.... As I see my daughter stand tall and firm beside me, despite all the storms around us ..... I feel blessed ... As my "connects" reach out and embrace me, their love and warmth melts my soul and I feel blessed ...again... As I receive loving messages and calls from across the glo...

The road is long and the sun is scorching The journey yet, has to be made Places to go, milestones to reach The lonely traveler sometime faces defeat. And then suddenly it looms ahead, a tree, a bit of shade It brings a bit of spring back to the tired feet Like a mother, waiting for her tired children The tree coaxes the traveller to rest a bit, put the feet up The heavy trunk relieves the tired shoulders As the traveler rests for a while and recuperates  The branches provide a warm shelter from the blazing sun His eyes close as it would in a warm embrace. The traveler finds a few moments of solace; he lets go of himself in the warmth of that embrace. He is in peace....for a while. But after a brief slumber, he jumps to his feet He has miles to go; he remembers, his promises to keep Some kind of raw energy seems to have soaked into him  This bit of shade has prepared him for his journey again And he carries on.... with one last look at the solitary tree ...

As I enter the month I will celebrate my 47th birthday, I celebrate myself ..... Birthdays have always been special to me - mine and those of my "connects" - always a reason to celebrate Life, of simply being and being blessed in so many ways. I have never missed a chance to spoil myself on my birthday - I am usually the first to buy myself a birthday gift .... as I have done this year too :)  I am important to me and I think I am pretty proud of some parts of me.... and somehow this gives me strength more and more, propels me ahead, despite all winds that blow against me. My school of thought has always been that if you don't love or respect yourself, no one else will.It's not about arrogance or conceit, as some around me see it as; it's about understanding who you are, changing what you don't like, if you can, being proud of what remains and being comfortable in your own skin. I truly believe that!  And I think it is important for anyone who ...