Peace is something you feel in your bones. It’s an emotional response to the world around you and is felt in the deepest part of your heart, your soul and your toes. You have to work at feeling and finding that peace in your life. It doesn’t just show up on your porch and knock and ask to be let in for tea. It has to be invited into your life by you.
Each morning when I wake up, I say to myself, “This day is a choice to experience all that is good or all that is wrong with the world today.” I decide. Now, sometimes I get up a little quicker than other days and forget this thought until later in the morning and have to catch myself teetering on the fence of which way I will go. I always aim for the greener side of that fence. It has the prettiest tulips and tomatoes growing in it and the most picturesque maple tree I have ever seen in the center of the yard.
On the days that I am conscious of this decision, I enjoy my day and my family much more than if I forget and wobble on the fence too long and end up falling into the “other” side. Mr. Cantankerous’ yard is lined with prickly holly bushes and empty terra cotta containers with cracks down the sides. Not a pretty sight.
How do we stay on that peaceful side of the fence all day? It’s hard, it really is. I know, because I found the gate that goes in between the two yards and many days visit both without realizing I’m wandering about. I need to find a lock and just close that gate for good. I guess what I’m trying to share is that we have control over our mood and attitude each morning as our feet hit the floor. We decide, not the weatherman or our co-workers or the slowpoke in front of us in line. Finding that peace which lies within us takes effort and I continue to work daily to enjoy the scent of the purple tulips, a slice of tomato on my sandwich and the shade of the gorgeous maple tree.
