prayers – Bernadette A. Sahm

New Eyes
By Bernadette A. Moyer

clarity

Some things only become clear to us after they pass and after they are said and done. Funny at different times in our lives we may view the same situation and see it through different lenses and “new eyes.” I think most people could look back on their life and recall different scenarios when they felt that they were young and dumb. Hindsight is always 20/20 vision.

“Don’t criticize what you can’t understand.” Bob Dylan

Some of us did things that with a little life experience we would never do again. Or we learned from our mistakes. We all grow up and we all change and grow. Life has a way of handing us the lessons we need to learn whether we want to learn them at all. Some people need to learn the hard way, others can learn from what they witness in people that they know and others in the world.

Changing our views on things in life can be about maturity and about having new and updated information. When our hearts change so often does our vision.

“A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.” Goethe

As we age we learn that when we are open to “new eyes” all things in life can take on a new appreciation for us. That‘s the beauty of life; the willingness to see things differently not only as the world changes but as we change and learn and grow.

always-pray

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Sit and Smile
By Bernadette A. Moyer

sit

Prayer and meditation doesn’t have to be so complicated, just sit and smile!

Sit and smile through your eyes, your ears, your nose, your heart, your throat and all your being. Smile, smile again and again and sit with that smile.

We get so caught up in the ugly stuff, the deaths and the destruction in life then we look outward to our friends, our families and our churches and therapists for all our own answers. I myself have been caught up in that.

Looking to a clergy person, a friend or a family member to help “fix” me, then when I look really closely at them, I think, they can hardly help themselves, how on earth are they going to “fix” me. And why would they even be motivated to do so even if they could?

Every search I’ve been on has ultimately led me back to my own core. I’ve worked with clergy, I’ve worked with a few life coaches and I’ve worked with many counselors both in group and one on one. My path has always brought me back to my own personal relationship with God, to my core being.

My recent prayers have been coming from a positive place and not a desperate one. My most recent answer came as simply as, “sit and smile.” Just sit, relax and smile. A smile immediately brings relief and can elevate our mood.

In an article by Mark Stibich, Ph.D., and his Top 10 Reason to Smile, he writes; “Smiling changes our mood, next time you are down, try putting on a smile. There is a good chance your mood will change for the better.”

And “Smiling releases endorphins, natural pain killers and serotonin. Together these make us make us feel good. Smiling is a natural drug.”

What have we got to lose? Just sit and smile! So here is to more smiles, more laughter, more sitting and more levity …

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