The unbearable heaviness of being human by Bryonie’s

   I came across this blog post on Elephant Journal called "The unbearable heaviness of being human" by a blogger named Byronie and I must say that It struck a cord with me. This is one of those reads that touches you and at least for me, hit close to home. As I was reading the post, I felt like they were my words, like I was writing the post. I felt like, wow, this person knows exactly how I feel and what it is like to struggle in this world. To eek through the days just trying to keep it together when the world can be so harsh. It only took reading the first line of the post and I felt drawn to continue reading...

"The past few days, the weight of my heavy heart has brought me to my knees.

I bring my forehead to touch the ground, with gratitude, with grief, with sorrow, with joy. For all of these emotions are me, in any given moment…in every given moment."

   I wanted to share this post because I feel like there has to be so many people out there that feel the same way as she describes. People will read it and say, "yes, that is me. I completely know what you are talking about.

"As I continue to practice, as I dive deeper into this human being that is me, I am consistently confronted with the many faces of myself.
I try, most days, to meet myself where I am, with a warm heart and kind eyes; when I am in integrity, this is easy, so easy. But when I stray outside of my authentic self, it gets harder to meet my demons with softness. I strive to be the fawn in the woods, who meets the monster before her with so much compassion that the power of her love melts him away."

   See what I mean. Goosebumps! That is intense. It is so personal and deep. I think if most of us could actually articulate our feelings in this way, we would. She did it for us. This is a great inspirational, touching post and I wanted to share it and always keep it around to read over and over again. It resonates with my soul. I will leave you with this last quote from the post and hopefully you will take a moment to stop over at Elephant Journal and read it in it's entirety. You will be glad you did. They have so many great writers over there. Check it out.

"I strive to listen to my heart and speak truth and love and do everything I can to live well in this world."

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

 

   I am so excited that Christmas is here. I'm baking and cleaning and bundling up babies. Decorating this and decorating that. I love the spirit of Christmas and all that it Intels.

Bright lights and twinkling trees.

Decorations and mistletoes.

Sweet treats and hot cocoa.

Big presents and big bows.

Christmas carols and candy canes.

Reindeer and snowmen.

But when all the fun and joy are over.

Family and laughter are what really matter.

 

 

 

 



Our cute little Christmas tree standing so proud. Decorating the house with the warm glow of Christmas. In my family decorating the Christmas tree has always been a fun tradition. Especially as a child.  However, now that I am an adult and I am the one that generally does all of the packing up, taking down and putting away of the tree and other various decorations, I have had a small change of heart and have adopted a new motto, "Less is more." Isn't she a Beauty?!?!




Almond shortbread thumbprint cookies. These Divine little cookies were very easy to make and would be great for a little snobby tea party. I've always wanted to have one of those. Anyway, I tried making these with several different filling from strawberry jam to peanut butter sprinkled with mini chocolate chips on the top. Those were both super delicious. I also used little white chocolate candies in the middle and sprinkled them with various colored sugar. Mmm Mmm.

 


What is a cold winter's night without an entirely too large cup of warm hot cocoa topped with whipped cream and for some extra warmth, a dash of cinnamon. Sometimes I like using marshmallows too, but this is my favorite way. Aaaahhh, this makes me happy and warm inside.

Now Is a good time to get bundled up in the ole family car and drive through other people's neighborhoods and Oooo and Aaaaah at all the houses that actually put up Christmas lights. Usually the upper class neighborhoods put on quite the display. Those are the good ones to hit up.  

Pumpkin pie is one of my favorite fall time desserts. Who are we kidding? I love all desserts. None the less, pumpkin pie is at the top of the list and even better than pumpkin pie are these amazing little pumpkin cheesecakes that I love and are quite easy to make considering we're talking about cheesecake here. Sweet, creamy, spicy, pumpkinny cheesecake. Topped with homemade vanilla whipped cream and sprinkled with homegrown Texas pecans.
It's kind of like Heaven.

Everything happens for a reason

It's just amazing how life works out. We worry worry worry. There are times we think our world is coming to an end and we don't know how we will survive. Low and behold everything works out and we do survive. Why do we worry when history only proves to us that everything will be okay. Our world does not come to an end. If you look back on your life at all the times you felt lost and out of control... and couldn't see how everything would be okay, you can clearly see how It worked out. LIFE GOES ON. Everything works out and If you notice, It works out exactly as it is supposed to.
You lose your job and you lose possessions and feel like it's all over and worry how you will pay for things and an even better job comes your way and you are alright. Your spouse leaves you and your world gets turned upside down and you feel like you can't go on and how will things ever get better and then God brings you an even more amazing person than you thought you had. Someone who truly loves you and who treats you better than anyone ever has.
Sometimes we have to go through things that bring us to our knees so we can grow stronger and learn and appreciate what we have more. Sometimes we go through trials that seem like they will never end and then sometimes we end up with something even better than we could have ever dreamed, something we never knew we always wanted. The next time you are faced with what seems to be the end of your world remember that you will survive. You will be stronger and wiser and something good will come out of it. Be grateful for everything. The good and the bad. Life is beautiful and every little thing is gonna be alright. Take time to appreciate your life for everything happens for a reason.