Posted on by Donna

Inner Peace

Weathered Yucca In Tonto National Forest

“Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.”~John F. Kennedy

The holiday season is upon us.  Christmas was yesterday, the 12 Days of Christmas start today as we count down towards the Epiphany, Hanukkah (Chanukah) is still being celebrated this week, Kwanza starts today, in many countries it is Boxing Day today or at some point this week and we are working our way toward a New Year.  So I have been thinking about all the celebrations, and what is most important to me during this special time of the year.  I believe the message for me is PEACE; in particular inner peace or inner strength.

I have been working on that inner strength on my way towards more peace in my life this year.  It is not an easy journey.  It takes courage and strength to lay yourself open and expose the good, the bad and the ugly.  It is all there… but it has not been a bad journey looking in at things I did not want to see.  It actually has been quite refreshing although tiring at times.

But as I have learned, I cannot see the beauty around me unless I am willing to go within and find my inner beauty.  It would seem at first glance easy to do.  Who wouldn’t want to do that, but in order to see the beautiful you have to look at it all; shine a light on all of it and then accept it, love it and move on.  But really I knew what I would find.  Someone who can be judgmental at times, impatient, a procrastinator, sometimes a down-right whiner.

In seeing all these perceived shortcomings, I learned a lot about others as well.  I learned we all have traits we are working to improve and why not.  As we improve,  as we see our inner beauty, we find peace with ourselves and acceptance of others.  This quote from Robert Fulghum is so meaningful for me.

 

“Peace is not something you wish for; It’s something you make, Something you do, Something you are, And something you give away.” ~Robert Fulghum

 

More times than not I have been humbled, I have been rocked to my core in pain and despair.  It could be anything.  The perceived betrayal of a friend or loved one, the harsh words of a boss or co-worker, a fine or ticket, the loss of a job and the ultimate loss of a loved one.  But every one of these moments has taught me so much; has prepared me for that humility for without it I would not be able to rise up and the find strength to heal.

When I saw that the Word for Wednesday@Garden Walk Garden Talk for December 28th was weathered, it conjured up so many images especially of my garden this time of year.  But then I saw it on a deeper level, of a life that has become quite weathered recently.  On the surface the word means to wear away by long exposure to the atmosphere; altered.  But I think I relate most to the synonyms for weathered:

bear up against, become toughened, brave, come through, grow strong, rise above, survive, toughen, withstand

While I feel a bit weathered and worn these days, I also feel renewed.  I have survived some tough times and come through them stronger, more beautiful inside; full of light and love.  Am I perfect?  Never!  Will tough times come again?  Absolutely, but now I feel stronger, and I realize these times are here to help us find that inner strength and to use it when we most need it.  All these thoughts give me peace; make me a better person and help me to give peace to others through my acceptance.

I hope you enjoyed some weathered pictures from my garden.  My wish for us this holiday season is to find Peace in hopes we can become it and in turn give it away.

“When you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others.”~Peace Pilgrim quotes

 

Coming up on Wednesday I will be joining Diana@Elephants Eye for her 12 Days of Christmas meme.  I’ll be joining in on The Third Day of Christmas for a recap of my magical gift of 3 robin fledglings.  Join Diana this week.  I’ll be back on January 2nd for another Gardens Eye Verse, and in January I’ll start my second 30-Day Challenge, explore colors and have a seed starting update.  Over at Beautiful Wildlife Gardens I’ll be posting Part 2 of my Favorite Fall Natives.

Special Note:  As I have been musing during the holidays, I thought of a wonderful meme I would like to start.  It would be quarterly as the seasons change.  Beth@PlantPostings also does a seasonal meme about Lessons Learned.   While her meme focuses on what lessons you have learned during the season, this new one would focus on the celebrations, traditions and holidays of the season.  The seasons are such magical times of the year with so many wonderful traditions and celebrations.  Of course the seasons change on different dates in other parts of the world so this would be be open to all celebrations.  For instance at the Winter (N Hemisphere)/Summer (S Hemisphere) seasonal change around December 21st, there is lots going on with just holidays.  I think this could be fun because we can be imaginative, and I love to learn about other traditions and cultures.  And what gardener doesn’t love the changing of the seasons!!

My thoughts are to start the post when the  season changes, and then keep the post open for links for a few weeks.  I think I will also make a page out of this to highlight all the  Seasonal Celebrations.  And isn’t that a great name for the meme.  I hope to even come up with a logo.   As Beth and I were corresponding, we thought it would be great to coordinate the two memes.  So we will be getting together to let you know more in the future.  The  next seasonal change is in March.  It will be here before we know it… look for more updates in February about the meme.  Until then……

Happiest of Holidays to all and here’s to a wonderful New Year!!!!

Please remember, to comment click on the title of the post and the page will reload with the comments section.

All content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Gardens Eye View.  Any reprints or use of content or photos is by permission only.

 

 

28 Replies to “Inner Peace”

  1. Lovely post. This year brought some weathering to my life, physically and mentally but I am at PEACE about it.

    May peace be with you always.

    1. Thank you Kay. I find peace is what I seek the most and when I find it, my life seems to be in sync and I am most happy…so glad you have found Peace!! I wish you Peace in your life always!!

  2. What a lovely post, Donna, and what a wonderful idea for a meme! I’ve had almost no time for blogging since Thanksgiving but look forward to have more time to spend on it in the coming months.

    1. I find more time during these winter months as well for blogging…some very creative ideas come my way now…during garden season I am so hopelessly busy it is tiring just keeping up with what is growing and trying to post once a month. I am so glad you like the idea for the meme..I hope you can join us…here’s hoping you had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you Peace, Joy and Love this New Year!!

  3. Donna, I knew you would have a wonderful take on weathering and guessed it might be this definition due to your often inward-looking, self-analyzing and reflective posts. Reflecting is going to be a W4W word too. Your meme sounds to be one that will bring out deep thought, meanings and feelings too.

    Beautiful images from your frosty garden. Our weather has turned to rain and our Christmas was not white this year which is unusual. We are ‘weathering’ a season I hope to see change because the plants are none to happy. Thank you in advance for joining W4W.

    1. Donna, hope you had a wonderful Christmas. We have been visiting family in Massachusetts. Very green here. A little snow at home before we left though on the 24th. Definitely the plants have not liked the weather with so much cold and no insulating blanket of white. I hope you will join in the new meme…it can be whatever anyone wants to post about celebrations of the seasons..so glad you enjoyed my W4W…you know me too well!!

  5. I think I have a short attention span when reading posts because I spend so much time on the computer at work, but I love reading your reflections and your perspective on life.

    One of the tenets of the book, The Four Agreements, that has helped me is not to take anything personally. It has brought a lot of peace to me throughout the years and I wish you continued success on your journey for peace.

    1. I love that book and have the 5th Agreement in my To Be Read pile. I am honored you like my reflective posts. Let’s hope for a New Year filled with Peace.

  6. If we each look inside to our flaws, I don’t think we could ever have peace. Only knowing that each day we try to be better can we have peace. A very thoughtful post.

    1. Holley I love reading your comments to my reflective posts. They always challenge me to look at the world in a new way. Thank you for that. Here’s to a peaceful New Year.

  7. Weathered in a garden, because we don’t have fierce winter – makes me think more of seaworn driftwood, or our rusty metal kingfisher. That fine satin surface on a well loved piece of cherished old furniture.

  9. Donna – Appreciate your honesty, as always. I don’t have high expectations in life, I think that gives me a kind of inner peace. Looking forward to joining your new meme – it sounds fun !

    1. I am glad you enjoyed the post. I find my expectations for myself are a bit out of whack. Keeping them in check is so much easier. I am so glad you will join in the Seasonal meme. It will be fun!

  12. Hi Donna: I hope you had a beautiful Christmas. I had to step away from blogging for a couple of days because I didn’t have WiFi or Internet access at my in-laws. I’m looking forward to collaborating on the meme themes! I like your take on the “weathered” W4W! That is a good way to be–tough, strong, and brave, yet peaceful. Cheers!

    1. Sounds like you had a fabulous Christmas…can’t wait for the memes…so glad you enjoyed the W4W…enjoy the rest of the holiday!!

  13. Dear Donna, Such a thought-provoking posting with beautiful pictures! I find it hard to look inside myself sometimes. Time spent in my garden helps … that’s where I find peace. Wishing you a blessed 2012. P. x

  14. Lovely article on “wisdom”, what else will you call those realizations about self! May the full blessings be upon us, and peace be with you Donna, and us all too! When we passed through all these trials and tribulations, and normally it goes with age, we normally realize we gain strength. In me, i also realized these are all matters of perspective! Happy New Year!

Comments are closed.