Tag: flow

Categories
blessed content

Blessed are those who are doing ok

A selection of photos taken during my daily dog walks over the last week or two

I am reading an awesome book by, Joshua Luke Smith. The book is called This is the Main Event and I think everyone should read it. If we fully believed what Josh says we could all get on with being rather than climbing some deceiver’s ladder to some imagined success.

The first section of the book is about Lamenting. We’ve all got sadnesss and griefs that we need to give to God, to be healed of, to see where the great Creator was in them, to accept them as they were/are. You can find a few of mine dotted through this site and my older one site that I no longer post on.

But at the moment my life is ok. I’ve got enough. More than enough. And, on the whole I get to potter about and enjoy things. I live in a safe part of the world and even the Welsh wild fires have been far enough away that I might have smelt them but could ignore them.

As I was reading through the Lamentations part of Joshua’s book, and was reading a reworking of the Beatitudes by Red Letter Christians, I got to wondering what are the blessings for those of us who at the moment are doing ok. And here’s what I got

Blessed are those who are doing ok!

Blessed are you when you’ve reached the point where you’ve got enough money that if the fridge breaks you can buy a new one without it impacting your daily spending, when you realise you can be generous to others without fear, where you are safe in your generosity, that you are no longer giving in the hope God will bless you financially or in trying to prove a point that you WILL give your ten percent because the Bible says so.

Blessed are you when your health and that of your family is ok and you aren’t building your life round tests and hospital appointments, and even your elderly parents are just dealing with minor age-related issues, where you can see ok, hear ok, and are able to enjoy walks, fresh air, sunrises and sunsets.

Blessed are you when your life is calm, peaceful and you realise it is all that it should be, where you can live in a place of low crime, can feel safe and don’t have to be looking over your shoulder, when you no longer worry about “what ifs” or have to fight the demons within, where you can live the life you want because you’ve made peace with your past.

Blessed are you when good things happen to you, when others want to sit with you because you radiate peace and calm, when you can enjoy ice cream and good food, when you have enough that being hospitable isn’t stretching.

Blessed are you when your relationships are enriching, when you can share thoughts and ideas, “chew the fat” without fear, when you disagree, still be friends and have no fears of being reported to the authorities, when the worst your spouse does is not stack the washing up or make the bed as you believe is the correct way to do it or doesn’t laugh at the joke you’d worked so hard to share, and at least 50% of your children think you’re alright.

Don’t look over your shoulder at what was or peer into what should be or strain to see what might be coming in the future, or feel you’re special or that you are less than you should be because things are ok.

Enjoy the moment. Live within this season and let it flow to those who are placed along your path

These posts are free but you are welcome to Buy Me a Coffee or similar

And to finish two contented dogs in the sun from a week or so back. Although this morning they weren’t so happy because it was hammering it down with rain but until they can use the toilet inside they do need to go out!!! 🙂

Categories
others self

Do It For Yourself

A fascinating tree near Red Wharf Bay. Photographed by myself May 2025

Love your neighbour as yourself

Mark 12:31

I know I’ve mentioned this verse many times before but I had a new revelation today. And this is what I love about the Bible. It is the living word of God not a static set of rules. It has something new to say to us often if we are willing to listen.

I was doing some QEC work around writing my memoir novel and exploring why I’d stopped not just sharing on Substack but stopped writing almost completely.

What came from it was that I’d got into writing for submission, for sharing with the new writing support group I met whilst on the memoir writing course, and got into wanting to make it “right” – which is another word like “enough” which is not quantifiable.

What I had stopped doing was writing it for me; writing for the joy and love of writing. At the end of last year and the start of this I just let the words pour from my finger tips and learned loads about myself as I let it flow. Yes I do have a dream of publishing it but back then my first goal was to get it written for me; was to write for myself.

So where does the above bible verse come in? Well as I’ve said before it has been translated the wrong way round. The original read “love yourself so you can love your neighbour” and as I’ve said previously if we don’t love ourselves then we can’t love our neighbours, can’t love anyone else fully because too often we are trying to love people so they like us. If I love myself then I don’t need others to love and affirm me. I like it when they do but that isn’t my reason for befriending and hanging out with them.

So it struck me in the middle of this QECing was that I need to love and want to read my book, that I need to be writing it for me and no one else, that I am doing it for me not for publication, not for anyone else, but for me. Then I will be able to write my story my way which will then be the way it is meant to be [possibly the “right” way!!]

But that isn’t just for my story but for everything I do whether that be housework, running writing groups, speaking to others, when I’m on my dog walks, driving my car, cooking tea, being with my family. I must be doing it for me not for others and if I do that then it will flow and I will be at peace and I will be kind and generous, not fearful, not checking if it “works” or if I’ve “got it right” but will just flow, will just be me, will not be doing it to get a need met.

I think it is why I enjoyed my birthday this year because everything we did was what I wanted to do. Yes there were tweaks due to dogs not being able to walk as far as they use to and my children tired due to traveling up to us. But it was tweaks for me to enjoy it more not to make it “right” and trying to please others. And guess what? Yup everyone had a good time because I was going with my flow.

Too often we are taught that we are being selfish if we do what we want to do but I think that is a lie. Most of us, if we love and respect ourselves and are doing what gives us joy, will not do harm to others but actually will be nicer people and people others will enjoy being around because we flow with what we want rather than double checking what others might want.

So I would also write that verse as “do all you do with love, peace and flow, without worrying about what others might want, and then that will give others space so they can flow around with you in love and peace”

Renly by the fascinating tree. May 2025

Categories
Straight Wait

Trust

Me and my dog on a walk alone at a local nature reserve getting some down time. Photo taken by myself, Diane Woodrow, mid July 2022
Llanfairfechan taken by myself July 2022

I don’t normally fill my posts with bible verses but for the past few days these Bible verses has been buzzing about in my head. Firstly –

Trust in the Godhead/the Universe with all of your heart, lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge God in all you do and God will make your paths straight

Proverbs 3:5-6

There has been some stuff going on, and still is, that I’m not 100% sure about. But this verse, one that gets handed out regularly to those who are just starting out on their journey with Jesus, keeps buzzing around. And I have realised something …. It doesn’t mean just acknowledge the Godhead in the Christian activities you do, the things you think are “good” things, but it means acknowledge God in EVERYTHING YOU DO.

So that means in work, in family life, in church life, in therapies, in sport, in walking the dog, in making meals, in talking with people, etc, etc, etc. Now that doesn’t mean dropping God into all things, or even trying to be “holy”, whatever that means. I think it just means remembering and knowing that God is in all that you do – almost whether they are acknowledge or not. But it makes a huge difference when they are acknowledged.

For for instance I was somewhere and things were not going as I would have like and I was feeling a bit tense, but once I took myself off, did some deep breathing, did some remembering of the QEC things I had done and making sure I placed my whole trust, not just a bit of it, in God’s hands I felt so much calmer.

From there I acknowledge God in all that was going on and let go of what I thought was right and proper [my understanding] and from that moment things just went smoother. And things can only go smoothly if the path is straight and level.

Ok I had to keep coming back to that point of breathing, of remembering the QEC stuff and placing my trust in God not in my understanding, but each time I did I felt more at peace.

It did not change the situation but it changed my heart, changed my direction, changed what I was thinking and feeling.

Now I stand at a place where I feel I am waiting for something to happen. I can either wait for doors to open or I can volunteer for things and fill my time. Whilst pondering this another bible verse came to mind

Stand at the crossroads and look, ask for the ancient paths. Ask where the good way is and walk in it and you will find rest for your soul

Jeremiah 16:6

And I feel like as I am trusting God with all my heart and acknowledging them in all my ways so it means I have to stand and look and ask. I don’t know what my ancient ways are, but I do know that I’d love to go and do whatever gives my soul rest.

And I don’t think rest means doing nothing. I think it means doing what we are meant to do, doing what keeps us in flow, what gives us life.

So volunteering might be the right thing, waiting for doors to open might be the right thing, getting my writing out there might be the right thing. But for now I am going to stand, wait, ask and trust with all that I am, that God will let me know and give me peace as to which way to walk; that I will see those straight paths.