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Hello Friends. Welcome to Mini Miracles from Minor Moments. This is your host Linda Gullo. I treasure the small things in life, because they add up for all of us. Today is my Birthday and the years are piling up along with moments of wisdom and insight from the wonderful people I have met along the way.
Hopefully here at Mini Miracles from Minor Moments, you’ll find insights and knowledge about yourself. My plan is to help you like yourself and recognize the gifts you have been given. We all have them and until someone or some experience shows us, we often miss seeing them.
Please join me here regularly for these short 10 to 15 minute episodes. They are based on simple ideas with upbeat and encouraging tidbits for you to take along.
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Well today one of the topics I want to talk about confusion—or better yet, finding clarity. It’s that constant part of all of us as we try to make meaning out of difficult situations. Sometimes clarity arrives through a book or something we’ve read. Sometimes a person pops up from our past and we reconnect.
I have inspirational sayings all around my office–there are enough of them to wall paper a room. Words can mean so much. It is like scripture that has been available but all of a sudden it seems so relevant. Sometimes clarity pops out at me like a jack-in-the-box; it’s usually when I am not looking for it. The lyrics of a song tell me something I needed to hear or the radio DJ articulates a message meant for me.
When I was a child and my dad would rush me; he’d say “hurry up — and wait.” It was a favorite line of his that now many years later means so much.
We rush to appointments and then wait to be seen. We rush out of the house in the morning and end up waiting in a traffic jam or for a train to pass. Now it seems so clear to me that he wanted us to be timely, but recognized things might interfere.
Often we doubt ourselves and the decisions we make. We question the truth from our politicians, feel pushed out of our doctors offices as they go from patient to patient, and worry about the long term side affects of the drugs and foods we eat. We long for clarity in just about everything we do.
Years ago I was alone at night returning from my daughter’s home. She had just moved in and it was one of my first trips home. It began pouring so hard that I couldn’t see where I was going yet I knew there was no place to pull over safely. The wipers couldn’t keep up with the intensity of the rain and the lights on the dark road weren’t too helpful. Part of the trip I was behind a large truck and I used the tail lights to direct me down the road. When it turned off, I found myself praying aloud for insight. Suddenly I stopped the car; the rain instantly lifted enough for me to see there was a large tree across the road. If I had gone any further I would have run into it. I know that I was given insight to stop.
Sometimes we are doubters. I caught myself double checking things this week. Checking out of Mc Donald’s I said, “That is decaf coffee, right?” Obviously it is good to double check on somethings, but there are no guarantees in life.
Just because we have an education, doesn’t mean there will be a job waiting. We get up each morning usually with intentions and a plan, but there is no guarantee that it’ll work out as we planned.
Perhaps the package that you anticipated would come today arrives 2 days later. That is just a temporary disappointment, but when we are presented over and over again with simple problems, — we start doubting everything.
Recently the quick exit out the door changed for me when I had a flat tire; the morning schedule suddenly had to be rearranged. Although it was not a big deal, it was another thing on my list of to dos!
One day I pulled up to our mailbox to get a newspaper and saw 8 squirrels playing tag in our front yard. I couldn’t figure out who was chasing who, but they seemed to be enjoying one another.
It is like running after certainty —you may not find it. You may run in circles like these squirrels.
Teaming up helps an awful lot to help us eliminate doubt. Doubt keeps us from doing the things we’d like to do. It creates a space for fear to crop up and stop us from succeeding and learning.
I saw on the news recently, a group of people gathered around a car that was flipped over in an accident and together flipped it upright in order to release the driver. Definitely a team approach that saved the man’s life.
In a meeting of several entrepreneurs, joint resources helped them resolve a community housing problem. Many minds worked together. In the end, so many people were helped.
Back in the 1950’s a group of couples gathered together with a priest because of delinquency and teenagers running a muck. To resolve these community issues , a marriage encounter resulted. Many couples and their families had happier and more productive lives as a result of that weekend. Parents no longer felt alone about parenting and careers. Doubt was lifted for one another.
Authenticity is a word that means being real. You know and so do I that it is hard to be authentic in this day and age. Everyone has problems and if one complains about them, no one wants to be your friend. Or you may lose business or your clients will back off. So how does one stay congruent with their feelings when things happen?
It seems many masks are worn by all of us. Smiles are glued into place even when we rather cry. I just read a small book on Suicide (My Journey to Hell) by my friend and fellow Counselor, Geri Condon. It is authentic and hopefully will help others.
I also wrote a book called Erasing Adversity. It too is authentic and filled with pain. Both books were written to share real episodes of struggle and disappointment that crossed our paths.
When one has problems it is so good to talk about them and share with someone who cares. So this is my 10 second plug for counseling care. In counseling, one can be themselves. They can remove their mask and hear themselves speak their pain. Concerns flow out and can be reframed without judgment.
We all carry crosses in different ways, but our world is often critical and uncaring. Anyone can give up and fall into dismay, but the art of moving forward with a smile and healthy self talk can emerge and help us win. I am living proof that “delight in living” is possible. Just the act of delighting in the present moment has brought me joy in times of confusion, doubt, and kept me authentic.
I want the best for you too. Have a great day and may many mini miracles shower over you this week. See you soon and keep walking with your head high and keep your dreams alive.