From Lisa: This time of year peace is what we crave more than anything else, but often find elusive. With all of the hustle and bustle; parties and relative; gifts and obligations, it becomes harder and harder to find that ever missing peace. Try as we might to manage our time, manage our budget, manage our expectations….it seems our stress levels rise and our peace diminishes. But sometimes peace comes in little packages when we least expect it. We just have to be open to receiving it.
In the midst of all the Holiday crazy, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, our young dog had to have major surgery on her knee. This surgery came with a 16 week recovery full of specific rules like…. only allowed on carpet, can’t walk stairs, only allowed outside on a leash and only for 5 minutes to use the bathroom. The poor thing had to wear a cone of shame for the first two weeks and has been on major pain killers the entire time. So you can imagine, as much as we felt sorry for our sweet puppy, this added an enormous amount of stress to an already stressful time of year.
But it was all because of our puppy and these extra rules that I was able to find snip-its of peace. After a week of carrying Jalani up and down the steps and helping her (on a leash) hobble around to potty, one night I took a moment and looked up. There above me was the most amazing sky full of twinkling stars and a beautiful full moon. I stopped and listened to the deafening sound of silence. I noticed the deep red Christmas lights illuminating my neighbor’s tree. I breathed in the crisp air and felt all at once the purest form of peace. There was nothing to distract me, no talking, no activity, no chores, no responsibility, other than standing there with my dog. Peace was all around me. It had been there all the time, but I was too hurried to notice. I was too busy focusing on my “to do” lists, scheduling every moment that I didn’t even realize how much I had missed this peace.
This Holiday season, I hope that we can all take some time to slow down, look around and find our peace.
Peace on Earth, Good Will To Men!
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