Four Somethings – End and Beginning of the Year Edition

Four Somethings is the spiritual practice of remembering, reviewing, and savoring life’s lessons and sacred moments in our lives. You know one practice I frequently promote is reflection – pausing, rereading, pondering where you are, where you have come from and where is God inviting you into next.  So occasionally I share bits of wisdom in four categories.

• Something Wise
• Something Wonderful
• Something Whispered
• Something Whimsical

Gathering Four Somethings makes me aware of all the blessings often hidden under busyness, worries, and distractions. These “somethings” become markers in our spiritual journey. With so much pivoting and uncertainty in our lives right now, being grounded in a simple practice like this guides my way. 

Here are some recent “somethings.”

Something Wise

“You are not the cause of everything that happens to you, but you are responsible for how you respond to everything that happens to you.”  James Clear

This is one quote that lingered with me most of the fall quarter and continues to guide my thinking.  Understanding how our human brains work helps me give myself and others more grace.  Often our first human reaction is fight or flight – protect the ego, defend the self at all costs – but the next step can be a deliberate choice – to forgive, to calm down, to choose a better option, to take a deep break or longer break if needed, to apologize, to select my words more tactfully.

Allowing a space, a pause between whatever jars my soul and my responses creates the shift from ego to love. A sacred moment where I turn to the Spirit for guidance, not my initial gut reaction. The better/best choice is often a split second or even longer, afterwards.

Something Wonderful

New word   apricity.  A noun from Latin meaning the warmth of the sun in winter.

I am trying to enjoy winter – this is my least favorite season.  Apricity whispers to me to savor this delicate, beautiful, almost mystical light, even on cloudy winter days. Hush, a reminder the sun is still there even if I can’t see it.

Something Whispered

I heard a song lyric in November that shapes my prayers: “Even so, You are God.”

I end most of prayers now with this line. “Even so” implies, therefore, no matter what, in spite of, nevertheless…You, no one else, only You, are God.  Gives me hope. The phrase realigns my heart with God’s. Humbles me as I bow before this awesome, almighty Creator of all.

Something Whimsical

Along the theme of trying to savor winter, a friend reminded me, “If you choose not to find joy in the snow, you will have less joy in your life but still the same amount of snow.”  Anonymous

I prefer to have the joy even on wintry days so I smile, savor, and more forward with this season – continually listening to its lessons and discovering its gifts.

What are you learning lately?