I was distracted today to a patch of ground cover near the fountain in my yard. I stared as my mind raced. The ivy-laden area suddenly seemed to be inhabited by a mysterious something. I noticed a sure, steady movement of something that seemed to slither through each brilliant leaf… as a green shiver would now and then expose a tiny spot of red. I began to think it must be a snake with a diabolical red spot on his head. I was just getting ready to run-since I hate snakes- when out pops the most beautiful cardinal I have ever seen. Why- I thought, what made me think that it would have to be something diabolical-when this unknown visitor was quite beautiful to behold. Things are sometimes not what they seem to be in life-when dealing with the unknown we may want to think the best until proven otherwise.

We spend a lot of time thinking and worrying about things that never even happen. My mom used to say, “Don’t be such a worry wart.” When I was a child, hearing this would put an image of a grotesque, shriveled up growth on some part of the body that was a nag to remove. I must admit that even if I did not have a clue about what she meant by that-I was thoroughly inclined to stop doing, thinking or speaking the way I was before she said that-just by sheer adverse reaction to my thought of a wart.

“When the ocean was born, I set its boundaries and wrapped it in blankets of thickest fog. Then I built a wall around it, locked the gates, and said “Your powerful waves stop here!They can go no farther!” (Excerpt from Choose Well….)Some of us need walls where there are gates and gates where there are walls, others need to create a wall where there needs to be one!

I like Cloud’s statement (Changes That Heal) that says:” It is a powerful thing, this “no condemnation.” It transforms lives. When someone can get to a point where they do not feel condemned, no matter what they do, they are well on the way to being more and more loving, for “he who is forgiven much, loves much.” This is the nature of the relationship between the ideal and the real–one of correction toward a goal of love, instead of one of anger and attack toward the real self who fails.”

I went to see Tommy Train with my grandchildren and children for the day. Great memories. As in life, the day had it’s traumatic and euphoric ups and downs. The climax was when my two year old grandson had to be told it was time to leave the bouncey “Tommy Train” fun house. He had to be picked up kicking and screaming and carried to a better place called rest, sleep and refreshing-yet  left to his own devises, he would have bounced in that bouncey house until he fell asleep in the corner from exhaustion. A good thing is only good for you in moderation, we all need to learn boundaries-most of us do that very same thing (kick and scream) when we are taught that a boundary may need to be introduced at a given situation. It may even seem very painful and traumatic to us when something that we “feel” is good- needs some healthy limits placed upon it. All things that are painful are not necessarily bad for us when it concerns healthy boundaries. Without being taught healthy boundaries children tend to grow up never knowing where the boundary is between good and bad. It is also difficult to establish good boundaries that keep the good in and the bad out in a balanced manner.