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 "Discovering joy in the journey"
Watching her decline is difficult, the cruelty in the disease of dementia is heartbreaking but now is when I must step forward, savor each moment with her, even as it breaks my heart.
The summer slips away as another season of her life fades with it recalling a recent visit where she was overwhelmed and wanted to escape and now when she barely speaks and I...

"If you can't find joy in the path you are on and what you are working towards, how do you expect to find joy once you get there?"
Joy beneath the fog
On my early morning run the fog moved in blanketing me with an eerie feeling of unknown as it smothered my view. Like the anxiety that often complicates the future, delivering a sting of doubt while searching for stability, forcing admittance...

"Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are"
Write 31 days: Unexpected Joy/Day two
Enlightened by friendship
Sometimes when last minute plans come together they become the most rewarding by filling the space you had not noticed was empty. Today when a group of friends gathered for a morning run we discovered strength together in both mind and body...

“You have been offered "the gift of crisis". As Kathleen Norris reminds us, the Greek root of the word crisis is "to sift", as in, to shake out the excesses and leave only what's important. That's what crises do. They shake things up until we are forced to hold on to only what matters most. The rest falls away.” ~Glennon Doyle Melton
Week fourteen (September 25 - October 1)
As I sift through...

"The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but they seize us" ~Ashley Montagu
I wake early each morning, it is my thing, my habit, my comfort, to begin each day with a mindful practice of slowly becoming. Taking the time to implement pleasure, and allow the slow sips of warm coffee to unite my senses as I embrace the moment with both hands cradling...

Happiness often sneaks in a door you did not think was open 
To coincide with my 52 weeks of gratitude I joined up to write 31 days, where we pick a topic and write for the next 31 days. My topic is unexpected joy and I plan to write from both present and past perspective of the "unexpected joy" that fills my days.
Each day brings the opportunity to begin again and each month gives us a starting...

"The greatest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude" ~ Thornton Wilder
Week thirteen (September 18th -24th)
Finding peace
The promise of the season awakens a sense of renewal and I inhale an elative breath. The crisp air catches in my throat and I step into the abundant sun. Listening to the chatty sparrows pierce the air with song, a symphony of enchanting clatter as I drink in their...

Week twelve (September 11-17)
Fall is my absolute favorite season, and although it often feels like the shortest of the seasons it does not change my longing for the cooler days with layers.
A - AutumnB - BountyC - CiderD - DeciduousE - EarthyF - Family gatheringsG - GratitudeH - HayridesI -  InspirationalJ - JoyK - KindnessL - LeavesM - MaizeN - NovemberO - OctoberP - PumpkinsQ - QuiltsR -...

 
"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can" ~ Arther Ashe
Week Eleven (September 4 - September 10)
I have been a dedicated runner for around eight years, a symptom of my quitting smoking and the inevitable weight gain. Since that time my goals have evolved and the gratitude in my abilities has wavered from unimaginable to unstoppable, and while I have flourished in countless...

"Running teaches me that I am capable of so much more than I ever imagined"
It was one of those mornings where everything delivered a sting of tears, from a cable station to a card, a movie preview to a photo, if asked to speak, fresh tears would surely fall. Where this emotional overload derived from I cannot say? Maybe a dose of anxiety while I attempt to distract the melancholy pangs on...