Seek Peace and Pursue It

“I’ve never wanted to travel.” I said.

She looked at me with a startled expression and exclaimed, “Why, Mom?”

“Oh, no! I meant that I’ve never wanted to travel extensively for work as long as I’ve had kids at home.”

“Well, yeah. That makes sense.” she stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

I can travel later.

***I realize that many times life doesn’t go like you plan***

Do you ever hear negative words running through your mind, words about how things didn’t turn out like you had planned?

About how you aren’t a good enough mom,

and you should have worked harder at maintaining a certain friendship,

and how if you’d stayed up later or gotten up earlier, you could be more organized and healthier and any number of other things that you think you dropped the ball on.

That happened to me Friday.

Negative words…running loud and clear, like a freshly downloaded iTunes.

Out of nowhere, my thoughts began to run rampant of ALL the areas in my life in which I’d failed, ALL the ways that I don’t measure up to others expectations of me, ALL the things that I’ve worked hard for that don’t turn out the way I expect, ALL the things I’d wanted to do and haven’t, the times I’ve felt the criticism and toxicity…

Why oh why are these things dumped like a load of fresh cement to set and harden in our soul?

Why oh why don’t they come as a fleeting thought that is easily swept out of our mind then quickly replaced with thoughts of spring picnics and butterflies and sunshine.

I think it is a trick…to steal our joy and focus. We have to fight to shun the negative and keep positive thoughts and truth alive in our mind and soul.

And that is a rabbit hole that I don’t plan to fall down, or live in, because…

I can’t go back…neither can you. I can’t change what is behind me whether good or bad. I can only influence today, which influences tomorrow and the next tomorrow.

SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT. CHASE HARD AFTER IT.

I’m so thankful for the positive family and friends who surround me. And that I don’t have to live in a place of toxicity physically, emotionally or spiritually.

As I’ve walked through life I’ve learned that those who are really trying to make a positive difference are going to face hardships and set backs. And I think if we could go back and fix yesterday, we wouldn’t learn from our mistakes. Our pain and adversity and hardship pushes us to a place that we wouldn’t encounter without it.

SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT. CHASE HARD AFTER IT.

As I was studying and reflecting, I came across this quote that is credited to Theodore Roosevelt. Read it and contemplate its’ meaning. I believe it will encourage you to keep on.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT! CHASE HARD AFTER IT!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for surrounding me with your friendship. I value your input here. Thank you for your comments, likes and shares of this post. You may subscribe below if you wish to have the blog post delivered to your inbox as soon as it is published.

[mc4wp_form id=”1087″]