Ripples

“Like a small boat on the ocean

Sending big waves into motion ....”

~ Fight song by Rachel Platten

There are no certainties in life.

Just this week I've received news of the passing of a dog walking acquaintance.  
She took her own life.

The courage required to choose that course of action must be huge.
It bought back sad memories of the passing of a dear friend's husband 
many years ago who took his own life in a similar fashion.

Time passes relentlessly, 
but the memories remain.

I haven’t written a blog in several weeks and it’s purely because 
the very resource I’ve mentioned above has been in short supply.

VERY short supply.

Sigh.

Some of it IS my own fault.

Despite the busyness of life,

 I actively choose at times to slow down.

To focus on the little things.

To actuate daily in the process of life.

It reinforces in me the need to live life fully

Rambling with the hound at the hour I do in the morning

allows for that to happen.

There’s no external interference,

no clatter of construction or traffic or people

Just me.

And the hound.

And the world waking up.

One could be forgiven for thinking I was rambling in paradise.

Just like that little boat though that causes ripples in the ocean

these morning rambles create ripples in my life.

Ripples that radiate out to all those around me.

Touching.

Lifting.

Loving.

My life at the moment is wonderful.

There’s a simplicity to it that couldn’t exist before.

It’s refreshing.

And liberating.

“I express who I am simply by being it.”

 ~ Jason Nelson

BE the ripple

“Bad things do happen; 

how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. 

I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, 

immobilized by the gravity of my situation, 

or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have 

- life itself.”

~ Walter Anderson

I will always choose life.

Even when everything that’s happening makes NO sense at all.

No sense to me that is.

Embracing the change is mandatory.

Thriving on it ISN’T always easy.

Laughter helps.

Believing in the magic of moments helps too.

Magic, in the words of Dynamo the magician, 

is about creating a moment of wonder where anything, 

even for a short time, is eminently possible.

Life IS magical.

I see it on a daily basis.

Even when it’s pissing down with rain.

Another entrepreneur and photographer who’s wisdom 

and talent I admire immensely, 

said it quite succinctly.

“Make a difference.  You are like a stone in a pond

... BE the ripple.” 

~ Marlene Neumann

She's SHARING the love ...

I love ripples 

and ponds 

and water.

And reflections of course.

Tiny little ripples touching everything.

Unavoidable.

Magical.

Ripples of kindness behave in the same fashion.

One kindness begets another.

And the ripples continue.

Touching.

Expanding.

Enhancing.

Kindness IS an exchange

... with unpredictable consequences.

It changes people.

Both giver AND receiver.

It’s changed me.

It changes all of us.

Ripples of kindness radiate EVERYwhere!

No matter who you are, 

what your agenda is, 

what your thoughts on life are, 

kindness touches you too. 

One act of kindness prompts another which in turn grows another.  

What would life be without these touches of kindness radiating out like ripples in a pond.

The rain at Churchill Park was quite prophetic this morning.

Ripples  everywhere!

Raindrops on roses.

On fence posts.

On grass stalks.

Even on the cows ears.

I love rambling in the rain.

As does the hound.

Even when the rain stops, 

the trees still shower you with drops as you walk beneath them.

It’s magical.

The river provided a smorgasbord of reflections

enhanced by the ripples of the raindrops.

Stopping to take it all in is a tonic in itself.

A time for reflection.

I am a part of everything and everything is a part of me.

As the endless spiral of words goes round and round in my brain

I choose to focus on the moment I’m in right now.

It’s splendiferous.

In that silence I can find myself.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Nothing more.

Just feel that silence.

Except it’s not really silent.

White noise is everywhere.

Birds call as the wind rustles through the trees.

The rain drip-drops off the leaves.

In the distance, the hum of a lawnmower ... 

They’re comfortable sounds though

after a more than hectic week.

Finding paperwork in boxes and having it certified has been a time-consuming task.

A productive one though.

I lodge the SO’s deportation appeal on Monday.

Fingers crossed for a positive outcome.