Saying Good Morning to Your Well Known Self

“I think the real heroic moment is the gray morning, long after that first leap of faith, when you wake up feeling discouraged and alone, thinking about bills and politics, and you want to pull the covers up over your head and hide from the world. But, instead, you say a kind and patient good morning to your fears, get out of bed and get back to life--this business of trying to live a truthful, soulful life. To me that takes real courage.”

Ann E. O’Shughnessy, from A Pause for Beauty#31

Each stage of life has built in requirements for leaps of faith: marrying that man I barely knew, trying for three years before getting pregnant and later remembering I didn’t even like to babysit, teenagers, empty nest, now what, and the facts of later years that define the trite saying “old age isn’t for sissies.” This is where I’m planted now. Each day in each stage I hope I’ll handle it better, and then I say good morning to my well known self. 

Baruch ata adonai some days courage is elusive. Help me remember to be patient and more loving. Amen