Conversation in Black and White

The short of it.

kwmk1 — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 12:24:02 +0000

No regrets.

Living truth.

Living love.

Amen.

The Long and the Short of It

kwmk1 — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 12:26:20 +0000

Philosophically speaking, it is better to have weighed the options, making choices based on constraints, than having an abundance of resources and options available. It occurs to me that if there were unlimited and unrestricted resources, making choices would be more difficult. I have come to embrace constraints as a gift that allows me to make creative choices that serve to focus activity on those opportunities that will deliver the greatest rewards.

Knowing myself, I probably would not thrive under conditions of unlimited resources, anyway. My unbridled passions might run rampant without a leash (they certainly have in the past). If I must be tethered to a leash at least it is a long leash.

Forward on through the passage.

kwmk1 — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 05:07:59 +0000

Right on, Sister W. (Maybe “Right on” coming from Sister K sounds “Wrong on.”)

I think it’s this particular phase of life that requires the renewal and re-commitment to a life with no regrets. The fearless spirit is still there, and there has also been enough experience in life to show us that we don’t always accomplish what we set out to do.

This shouldn’t deter us, though, especially now at this time of life.

Simply stated another way….nothing ventured, nothing gained.

No regrets

kwmk1 — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:40:02 +0000

This theme is, in fact, fitting. I was never very good at planning out my life and my only goal was to be that person who when in her rocking chair at the end of life looked back with no regrets. I did not want my mantra to be “I wish I had…” So I’ve always just gone for it. I did not know fear, nor did I concern myself with my outcome. There is a lesson there for me today to rekindle the fearless life that I committed to early on.

I further commit to the knowledge that it will all be alright in the end and I’m just going for it. As I used to say in my rastafarian incarnation,”Forward on.”

#52 Make it a rule of life never to regret and never to look back.

kwmk1 — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 19:48:34 +0000

What a nice “coming back to” point. Do you remember fortune #1? It was all about basing the future on the past. That’s not the whole picture.

After a year of reflection, perhaps we are in a stronger, clearer place and able to look both backward and forward without regret.

Everything is Everything

kwmk1 — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 11:51:53 +0000

As we wind down his journey, I cannot help but reflect on these last 51 weeks of wins and losses, strengths and weaknesses, obstacles intact and obstacles overcome. I wonder how much progress I have actually made in this quest for good fortune and how much farther I must go.

I believe good fortune comes from knowing that all things work together for good even when they appear otherwise. Over the past year, I have won some, and lost some, gained ground in some areas and lost ground in others and what I have learned is that grace is sufficient for me. Where I have been weak, God has shown strength. Where I have felt strong and confident, challenges have confronted me to examine the true measure of my confidence.

I have learned to appreciate my infirmities and weaknesses as well as my gifts and my strengths and not pretend that any of these are above or beneath me but that they are me.

Grace. With or without.

kwmk1 — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 10:27:46 +0000

I also hear in this message that it’s how we get through the turbulence that is important…how we navigate the ups and downs.

There may be emotionally charged moments. How do we steady ourselves and others…..with grace?

How did the widows of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King get through the public scrutiny of their grieving?

How do thousands of individuals face terminal disease diagnoses daily?

Why do some give their fortunes away to the less fortunate?

How does winning Olympic gold touch our hearts?

How do 30 Peruvian miners maintain sanity trapped underground for 4 months?

Inner strength, inner spirit, inner grace…the grace of spirit.

The grace of God.

Content with my content

kwmk1 — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 23:11:56 +0000

This one is wonderful. I, like Paul, in the Bible am learning to abase and abound. That’s what this one means to me. I would find it impossible to hover around the center because my life is full of ups and downs, highs and lows, the agony and the ecstasy – you get the picture. Realistically, I’m not sure I would have it any other way. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to ride that roller coaster all the time. I like and even crave the the calm even tempered seasons of life.

But I would not be me without the passions, tears, highs and lows. I have learned to thrive whether I have enough or not enough and whether I am joyful or despairing. So I am learning to be content whether I abase or abound.

But I cannot deny emotions for they are also me so I must embrace them and know that I can still find contentment. Win or lose.

Flatline

kwmk1 — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 01:50:16 +0000

Sounds to me as if this is saying stay to the center, be calm, be cool….no bi-polar tendencies allowed here.

Less emotion…more acceptance.

Meditate or medicate…pick one.

#51 Win as if you were used to it, lose as if you enjoyed it for a change.

kwmk1 — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 22:50:51 +0000

I guess it all evens out in the end.