Grow only love.

Posted on by
Art Journal Entry Jan 3

Art Journal Entry Jan 3

Ann over at The Year of Living Non-Judgmentally, shares her morning mantra today and invites visitors to share theirs.

I shared what I painted as a page in my art journal on the weekend.

Also today, Leigh at Not Just Sassy on the Inside, invites people to share their thoughts and feeling on where peace begins for them. It is part of a challenge she has initiated for the month of January called, Journey2Peace. Throughout the month, Leigh will be posing questions, challenges, ideas on peace and inviting people to chime in with their thoughts and ideas.

And that is the beauty of this world of blogging. I read someone else’s thoughts and ideas, answer the invitations they post to share and am reminded of what is important for me, or, as in the case of both Ann’s and Leigh’s posts today, am given an opportunity to see where I have gone off track or slipped in my commitment to live from my heart.

I got caught up in my ego on the weekend. I got immersed in my own circular thinking about how it is someone else’s fault that something went the way it went. Which, of course, means, if they’re to blame for how it went, then they’re also responsible for how I felt about how it went. In which case, I get to abdicate responsibility for my thoughts, responses, actions, etc.

Abdicating my self-efficacy does not create peace in my heart, my mind and world. It only creates victimhood, self-pity and discord inside and outside of me. And while I might find it comforting to picture myself as riding high on one of the four horses of the apocalypse in self-righteous defense of my position, holding onto my inner dialogue as to why they’re wrong/I’m right only stirs up trouble in my heart. I can’t hold out arms of love when I’m holding my sword high in defense of my right to fight for peace of mind.

Peace of mind does not come from outside of me. It’s nexus is within me. I am its creator. I can also be its destroyer. I decide which path I choose. I decide which wolf I feed.

I gave succor to the wolf of self-pity, anger, blame and shame on the weekend.

It was of so human of me and, humbling. My response reminds me that it is a moment by moment choice I make to walk in peace, or not.

No one can make the choice for me. To create peace in my world I must be the peace I wish to create. I must  let go of playing in the mud of self-pity, blame and shame and tend to my garden in Love.

What about you? Where does peace begin for you? What are you watering your garden with today?

 

 

16 thoughts on “Grow only love.”

  1. Pingback: J2P Monday: What blocks your peace? | Not Just Sassy on the Inside

  3. Wouldn’t it be great if we could plant a love tree in the garden and everyone who looks at it becomes a nicer person but alas that isn’t going to happen all we can do is treat people how we would like to be treated and hope for the best most of the time

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  5. The important thing to remember is that we are human Louise.

    I love that you continue to strive toward what you believe, and when you fall it is a humbling experience and you get up and go again! You inspire me to get up and go again Louise and it strikes me that if you never failed, I would not be inspired because I would be unable to attain it. So the short of it is we are all walking each other home and encouraging each other along the way…

    Diana xo

    Like

    Reply ↓

  6. In the garden of human life, there will be weeds. When we recognize them we can pluck them out with kindness … knowing they are also part of nature.
    I would say grow mostly love. Nourish it and feed it. The more love you grow, the fewer weeds will be in the garden.
    Thank you for sharing a touching lesson on self responsibility.
    Hugs
    Val xo

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  7. Happy New Year Louise! Love the painting and the positive flair. It makes me happy. It is a great reminder to go for the positive! Though it is a constant battle! We can always find it in our heart to smile at a stranger if they smile back, or hold a door open and feel glad we did when we are thanked. But still finding the joy in letting someone in, while waiting in traffic and not being acknowledged for doing it, or smiling at someone who doesn’t return the same, is the battle!
    I loved this post because that is my problem… I KnoW that I have the control over my own destiny! LOL. And I know the trick is to stop expecting because it only leads to disappointment, when you put your expectations on some unexpecting human being! I am all about affirmation. And I need to just relax and affirm myself! If someone else decides to notice me doing whatever I do to add to their joy, then great. If not, it is not going to ruin my day! I can’t put my own guidelines for myself on others without creating expectations! Ya know? If someone smiles at me, I smile back. If someone holds a door for me, I thank them. All I can do is be responsible for me. And that is my new mantra for the year!
    I have a fellow blogger who befriended me about two years ago. Not a lot of people had found my blog and all of a sudden, this person was not only reading EVERY one! He was creating these LONG disertations. It was very affirming. But he also would disect them and sometimes really irked me. Because at first, I was really writing just to write. Practicing. Kind of like talking to myself. Now here this stranger was, telling me when I was unclear, etc. It was kind of funny. But slowly I learned to appreciate his views and could accept the constructive criticism along with the positive affirmations. And it helped me as my readers grew, to realize that I was not writing for just me.
    I think life is a lot like that. We live in a world of different kind of people and need to adjust!
    If I wanted no one to read my blog, then I’d have made it private. I open myself up for feedback. And most has been positive. But we need it all to grow. As I start my new job. It has been interesting. Having been somewhere else for ten years, I was slow to leave. I was comfortable because I knew my job so well. But I was stuck. It was reeeally scary going out and looking AND putting myself out there for rejection, but I would never have been this happy in a new job if I hadn’t tried! Ya know?
    It really IS a moment by moment choice I make to walk in peace, or not. <<<<< Love IT!!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

    • ” I know the trick is to stop expecting because it only leads to disappointment, when you put your expectations on some unexpecting human being!” — love it!

      so true DI — I too struggle with expectations — and am learning, sometimes slowly, to simply be present in those moment by moment choices to walk in peace, or not. 🙂

      Much love to you my beautiful friend! And I’m so glad you’ve loving starting your new job.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

  8. well … nobody’s perfect

    some days I water the garden

    some days I pee in it

    that feels good in the moment, but then I realize I’ve peed in the soup

    and I like soup

    better to simply realize some people piss us off, but most of the time most of them don’t

    if it is going to be important a month or a year from now – then wrestle it to the ground

    if not, then tell them to piss off (but not into your soup)

    happy 1st work day of the year!

    Cheers,

    Mark

    p.s. I’ll call today – we REALLY DO need to schedule that coffee. I need your help .. and I have some great quid-pro-quo ideas up my sleeve

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

Leave a Reply to Louise Gallagher Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.