Women at Rest

A New Candle for Ease & Enjoyment

Everything we want in life is downstream.
Drop the oars. Stop trying to push the river.
~Sister Cathy Beckley

After a grueling 2007, I woke up New Year's Day 2008 knowing in my heart of hearts this year was meant to be the year of ease & enjoyment. I adopted those words as my mantra, and am thrilled to have finally created a candle to celebrate this new way of living.

I am eternally grateful to my spiritual director and longtime friend Sister Cathy for introducing me to ease & enjoyment as a spiritual practice and daily way of life. It doesn't mean there won't be hardships or pain or challenges, it just means I know I'm not the manager of the river. My job is to surrender to the natural flow as best I can. To follow the path of least resistance. To stop struggling and fretting so much, to ENJOY my life! To trust that the easier, softer way is always the route I'm meant to take. It has proven true for me a thousand times this year. I have never enjoyed my life as much as I am right now, had such deep faith, or felt so close to Spirit. It can prove true for you, as well.

Nurture the Body

One element of this set of prayer beads I made* for myself is to nurture my body. I am getting better at practicing this more consistently every day. Today I've done it by running (even though it was hot enough for me to sweat, which I really dislike doing), putting lotion on my feet and eating well.

Now that I'm done working for the day, I'm going to rest awhile with a good book before mowing the lawn.

*Made at a workshop with Deb from Story-Beads.