The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
So, this morning I'm standing at the sink doing dishes and watching the birds enjoy their morning feast of grapes from my one huge Sigmund the Sea Monster vine and thinking - I like grapes, they're good grapes, but I don't eat many, they have seeds, but that isn't why I don't eat them, I just don't eat more than a few at a time. Sometimes I will walk under the vine and pick one here and there, enjoy its crisp sweet flavor, spit out the skin after sucking out the pulp, spit out the seeds (usually they land on me cause I'm a LOUSY spitter). Most of them get eaten by the birds, is that bad? I enjoy the birds, enjoy watching them land, the bushy vine quivers as they tug at the grapes. I water the grapes; I lackadaisically tend to the area (means I don't weed often enough) and I enjoy watching the birds eat, enjoy the thought of nourishing them in some way The Bible advises us to waste not, want not but I don't feel like I'm wasting them because the birds SO enjoy them and I SO enjoy the birds!
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I am strong in the broken places. ~ Unknown
All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another! ~ Anatole France
I like the thought that we nourish all that is around us and not continually think about ourselves and our situations. To lose sight of our egos and needs and only think about the beauty and gifts that we already have.
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"Forgiveness doesn't excuse bad behavior, but it
does prevent bad behavior from destroying your heart". ~ unknown
Perhaps the birds give thanks in their own sweet ways. I don't see how there can be any waste. I would think that whatever isn't eaten returns to the earth to replenish it in some way?
When I first moved in I made tons of stuff from the grapes - problem was, it never got eaten and I spent way more money on supplies for it; I tried jellies, jams, juice but decided that just growing a great looking vine, eating off them when I choose, listening to the birds chatter as they scavenge and the shade the vine throws for the wonder dog is good enough use of the space. Yes, what does not get eaten becomes fertilizer for the next year's crop. I love the concept of giving back and being one with nature - hearing and seeing HP's grace all around me, and, I am but a servant of Him, I water the grapes so the birds will be fed, not to mention the bugs and yellow jackets.
And I really try to live in harmony with yellow jackets - unless they are where I need to be, I leave them alone. I know that they really do serve a vital purpose on this earth. I also have a Honeybee hive - wonder-full little things they are, kinda scary when I first moved in because of my allergy to them (no I don't stop breathing, but I swell up) ((maybe I got stung in the butt?)). However, I have learned to live with them, they send out scouts to investigate the stranger who is walking through their midst's and if I let them be, they let me be.
I am often astounded at the beauty that surrounds me in the simple way the world is.
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I am strong in the broken places. ~ Unknown
All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another! ~ Anatole France
