Some of you will remember that I was dreading stepping on the scale at Weight Watchers, after a cruise and my daughter’s birthday party, which included pizza, cake and ice cream. 🙂 Guess what happened! I actually LOST two tenths of a pound. 🙂 And that, my friends, is yet another miracle.
I’m on Day 82 of keeping my grateful-for-everything journal, which means I write down the good stuff as well as the not-so-good stuff. 🙂 I can’t say enough about the transformative effect of this exercise; as I’ve said before, there was nothing dramatic. Not in the outer world, that is. But in the inner world? Holy Thunderstruck, Batman. Insights, ideas, reminders–small problems dissolving as if by magic, often because I started thinking about them in another way. Or because–gasp–I asked someone for help. My mother is making the shift to assisted living, and this is not easy for any of us, but I was practically staggering under the weight of it all. Then I contacted my three siblings, all of whom were more than happy to lend a hand–Jerry is doing the paperwork and a lot of the lifting and carrying, Pam drove over from the other side of the state to sort clothes Mom doesn’t need, and Sally is coming soon as well. Phew! Of course it’s still a difficult situation, but things are coming together. Mom will be much happier and much safer in the new place and that, naturally, is the most important element.
Each morning, when I read my devotionals and do some journaling, I am restored, ready for a new day. I often copy down quotes I come across, using 3×5 index cards, so I can remember the take-away. This morning, a prayer from Melody Beattie’s “More Language of Letting Go” really struck me. The origin is the AA literature, and this is the part I copies down: “Send me the next right thought, word or action. Show me what my next step should be.”
I love that. Don’t you?
About Linda
The daughter of a town marshal, Linda Lael Miller is a #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than 100 historical and contemporary novels, most of which reflect her love of the West.
Raised in Northport, Washington, Linda pursued her wanderlust, living in London and Arizona and traveling the world before returning to the state of her birth to settle down on a horse property outside Spokane.
