Peace within, amidst the rubble of life.

I sat and pondered about life and the way mine has been unfolding lately
and realised that we cannot avoid pain, however hard we try. But we can
avoid joy. We cannot escape hardship and trouble, but we can miss out on
much of life's peace and laughter. I don't want to avoid joy, I don't
want to miss out on life's peace and laughter, so to ensure my joy, peace and
laughter during these stormy days of my life I make sure that daily I spend
time doing something I enjoy, I do all those things that bring me inner peace
like listening to soft music and taking solitary & leisurely walks admiring
nature, I laugh heartily and frequently about the humourous side of life,
I cultivate an attitude of hope, I fill each day with as much love as it can
possibly hold and most important of all I find time to talk to God. At the end
of it all I still have plenty of problems, but through it all, I find all the
joy, peace and laughter I will ever need. No one can live without joy. But
many people try. And the reason is often simply because they don't know how to
be happy! They are so intent on the three P's - power, prosperity and prestige
that they miss out on joy, peace and laughter.

There are many situations in life that make me angry but I realise
that anger is just one letter short of danger, it seems to be as true
in English as well as in practice. Not that we should never be angry.
It is a normal part of life. We all get "worked up," "overheated" or
just plain "hopping mad" at times. Those closest to us know it best.
The good news is that simply getting angry does not seem to be the
problem. Well-directed anger can be a helpful emotion. But staying
angry is dangerous -- to our health and to our relationships. So I
have learnt ways to move out of the danger zone of my anger, when I
feel as if anger is running the show. Uncontrolled anger will take over,
so I control it. I don't keep it in and let it fester, I talk it out.
Helplessness will only provoke more anger and, eventually, despair so I
do what needs to be done to resolve the situation. Just as there is a
starting point for anger, there must an ending so I make sure that I end
the anger. It can help to remember that for every minute we're angry, we
lose sixty seconds of happiness and sixty seconds of peace. The sooner we
get out of the danger zone of our anger, the sooner we can get back to truly
living.

I find myself busy keeping my body going - but I know it is just as
important to feed my spirit. Even if all I have is a morsel of hope,
for today that just may be enough. Jean Kerr once said, "Hope is the
feeling you have, that the feeling you have, isn't permanent."
Because of events in my life these days, I am surviving on hope and
hope alone. Hope is what we have when we know that we will
eventually survive the night and bask in sunshine once again. It does
not deny the present darkness, but it reminds us that dawn is coming.
I am amazed at the strength of the human spirit. It seems to run
forever on nothing but a morsel of hope. But it still must be fed.
Some see situations as they are, I see them as they can be. Some see
people as they are, I see them as they can be. And some see themselves as
they are, I see myself as I can be. When we look beyond the present reality,
dismal as it may seem, and set our sights upon the best that is within a
situation or a human being, then, too, what we see will come to be. And we'll
know the power of hope.

I love art and am in the habit of moving from one garage sale to another
looking for paintings and large photographs that I find interesting. Recently
I came across a photograph taken by Henri Cartier-Bresson. It is a shot of a
poor section of Spain in the 1930s. The picture depicts a run-down alley
surrounded by decaying walls, strewn with rubble randomly stacked in thick
piles lying on the street, and riddled with bullet holes dotting gray walls.
The setting alone evokes feelings of sadness and despair.
But then...the contradiction. Within the grim alley children are
playing. They wear dirty and tattered clothes, as one might expect in
such a setting, but like playing children everywhere, they laugh with
carefree joy. In the foreground, a tiny boy on crutches hobbles away
from two other boys, his face lit up with a broad grin. One boy is
laughing so hard he has to hold his side. Others lean on the cracked
walls, beaming with delight. It is the contrast and the point in the photograph
that I find interesting..... Joy amidst the rubble of life. Laughter amongst life's
ruins. When life gets stormy as it sometimes does, I look at this picture and
can't help but start smiling.