PadawanOfHappiness

I write this in mid November 2020 so COVID is still around we are in the aftermath of the election. It can be scary and overwhelming, which makes it easy to allow yourself to be swept up in a vortex of fear, anger, and anxiety. There is a lot of noise in social media about who is evil and who is not simply based on if someone disagrees with your political and cultural philosophies and quite frankly it makes me sad and scared for our nation because it seems that social media is not doing anything to promote unity and those so called influences as paying lip service to unity. So the question again is what can I do? I am reminded of the phrase that has been used in so many different contexts. Think globally, act locally. The way I am trying to use that phase for me to try to help those that I can with the knowledge that my act will be paid forward in someway even if I don't see it.  There are a lot of people out there that are hurting and quite frankly I cannot help all of them....

So here we are a day shy of 1 week post election day and while there is a projected winner there is still plenty of controversy and unease. On Sunday at Mass I was reminded of part of a speech former President George W Bush made in Dallas at a memorial service for slain police officers. At times, it seems like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together. Argument turns too easily into animosity. Disagreement escalates too quickly into dehumanization. Too often, we judge other groups by their worst examples, while judging ourselves by our best intentions. And this is … And this has strained our bonds of understanding and common purpose. But Americans, I think, have a great advantage. To renew our unity, we only need to remember our values.   Source   I know that I need to remember that, especially when I read about groups that are looking to make lists to 'punish' people that had worked with the Trump Administration.  That is a s...

I absolutely love the Happier Podcast with Gretchen Rubin and her sister Elizabeth Craft.  They had asked for success stories for Walk 20 in 20 and this is mine. I had proposed this challenge to my sisters late in 2019 and we all agreed to give it a go.  So starting on January 1st we all started and we checked in with each other via text each day. I walked outside and inside, when it was hot and cold, raining or snowing.  I walked to relieve stress, I walked to clear my mind, I walked to get some time alone.   I walked the rehab/nursing home halls while visiting my aunt, I walked the hotel halls with my sisters when we gathered for her funeral. I walked the neighborhood of my Mom's youth when I visited to help her deal with her sister's estate.  I walked my current neighborhood and the neighborhood my childhood.  I paced inside my house if the weather was too horrible or I simply was so busy I didn't have time during the day. For the first 2.5 months I...

This election cycle has been pretty much like all of 2020, a dumpster fire to put it mildly.  I am tired of it, my friends are tired of it, political pundits are tired (or so they say) but yet we all talk about it or are inundated with it.  Yes Facebook and Instagram (which is the same thing) I know when election day is and how to register etc.   I have a love hate relationship with Facebook because yes I use it, yes I find it obnoxious in some ways, and yes I am amused by it.  I really could do without their pushing their agenda on me like with the previously mentioned voter info, I get it they want people to vote but how many times to I have to say go away before you go away?  This is like beating a dead horse and it quite frankly makes me bristle and do the opposite of what you are nagging me to do. What Now, we get to tell people how to vote because of what now? It has been amazing to me that groups of people feel like they can tell other people how to ...