Peace, Joy, Love

I read an article this morning called Feeling Your Emotions .   It talked about not having to analyze every emotion that comes up. What difference does it make it why I feel anxious or sad or irritated or whatever. Just focus on the sensation in the body and use mindfulness techniques to calm down. I am very much an analyzer but I think sometimes that keeps me stuck. For example, when I quit drinking, one of my favorite sayings was, "Stop trying to figure out why the bridge is burning...just get off the damn bridge."   Today I feel grateful that my mom was able to go enjoy her birthday dinner at Steph's house with no drama. I wish we would have been invited but she still isn't speaking to me since I made up with Cindy.  This next weekend I will have dinner for mom's birthday and invite her. All I can do is try to be the best person I can be. I think I need to read the four agreements again especially the part about being true with my words.  I am re...

I named my new blog Peace Joy Love (and stillness) because these are the things I want to focus on in my life. I am 52 years old, stopped m weekend binge drinking as well as my daily obsession with alcohol almost 2 years ago, am mostly an empty nester and am looking at retiring from a 30-year teaching career in the next five years.  I have spent the better part of my life worrying about the future, lamenting over the past, and trying to control the present. Being in my 50s forces me to look at how I really want to spend the next 30-40 (hopefully) years in my own headspace. It isn't about how I choose to retire, where I choose to live, what I choose to do but more about my mindset. All of those external things will happen the way they are meant to. The only thing I can control is how I spend the present moment - what I choose to do with my time right now. I have gotten in a slump in terms of self-care and even with house care, yard care, etc. My two biggest enemies are th...