Sunday, December 5, 2010

Lighten up

The boat parade last evening was great fun. There were quite a few beautifully decorated boats. I don't have the inclination to go all out with decorating so I put up a few simple lights.



This photo is of Sojourner all decked out with her twinkling snowflakes and her strings of blue lights. She is the only boat decorated in our corner of the marina. Somehow leaving her all dark and alone didn't seem right. Now she just seems happy to be lit up for Christmas.

And I'm feeling happy and content too. I realize that this is the season for great expectations to overwhelm. And those expectations can easily be shattered. I think that's particularly true with visits to family or keeping in touch with friends. For me, it's easy to slide back to old indignations and self-pity behaviors. I laugh when I think about what Eckhart Tolle writes: “If you think you’re enlightened, then go and live with your parents for a week.”

So what I'm doing is not attaching too much importance to the good times or the bad times. Rather, I'm seeing if I can keep an even keel. I'm limiting expectations, minding my own business and staying with in the middle of the road without reeling off into the ditches.

For today I am simply enjoying the feeling of Christmas. The lights I see outside pretty much echo the feeling inside.

10 comments:

  1. wonderful..you created a mood of peace and that extended to me, the reader. your words made my day. I love the quote by eckart tolle. so true lol

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  2. Syd,during the summer we have a parade of lights here in Cleveland on the Cuyahoga river.I would love to se a winter themed one.

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  3. My oldest son is coming for 10 days since he can't get Christmas off..low man on the corporate totem pole! He is 23 and next year will probably have a steady gf and will be spending less time with mom all alone. I am not going to waste one moment on unmet expectations this year (try not to, anyway). that is my gift to me. The Sojourner is radiating her little part of the world. thanks for the pic.

    ♥namaste♥

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  4. Yes, I feel the peace here to.

    Expectations always tend to disappoint me. Thanks for reminding me to limit them.

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  5. If I went back and lived with my parents for a week I would kill either myself or them. Or all of us.
    I am just so glad that you are feeling so light-filled. Beautiful.

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  6. simple expectations, it sounds like a wonderful way to simply enjoy the holidays

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  7. Expectations are such a hard thing to keep in check. It's easy to talk the talk than to walk it, I guess. Maybe it's about determining which are reasonable ones and which are unreasonable ones for me. Drawing that line and then determining how I'm going to stay within that boundary.

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  8. The Tolle quote is great. It made me laugh.

    Love,

    SB

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  9. sounds lovely Syd, and I love the Eckhart Tolle quote :)

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  10. Thank you for your blog. I read it often. Am sober 4 1/2 years and often contemplating Al-Anon, have been to a few meetings. I love my program of course, and thank God for it! Your posts often give me a comfort and shift in perspective. Just moved to Toronto from California and your blog came along:) Just wanted to thank you for it and wish you well today.

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