Left-over "Christmas Crack": Forgive me, for I have sinned. Happy New Day!

"Forgive me, Water, for I have sinned...for I have not yet turned on the coffee maker. I'll say five "Coffee Cherrys" and clean up the kitchen a bit while I wait for you to drip down through the filter funnel, giving me this day my daily grind."
This was my penance this morning after Charles took off for work. Coffee grounds can be such a pain to clean up...especially the glob that spills out of the wet, ripped coffee filter as you race to put it in the garbage can.
Speaking of sins...I discovered a few temptations yesterday which were hidden underneath some piles of fudge that Charles had been consuming in mass quantities since Christmas Day:

I've now come to the understanding that Charles' sister (the cook from whence this confectionery crack cometh) doesn't just make amazingly addicting fudge. She also makes a variety of sweets that no diabetic or chocoholic should ever know about. My favorite every Christmas is shortbread; and then there's those little Mexican wedding cookies that seem to pop up on a lot of dessert plates during the holidays. Yeah, she made those, as well as some sort of layered chocolate-caramel, crumb-crusted indulgence that might keep me locked away in my own personal confession booth for the next few days...that is, if they even last that long.

Ah, the New Year. Time to celebrate time. It's kinda of cliche to start a New Year's Eve writing with, "Looking back at 2013...", so I won't (and didn't), but I really don't want to look back. What I really want to say is "To hell with 2013..." and live today, right now, right this moment, and live every day doing what I love with people that I love.

“I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.” - Buddha

Big heavy sigh. There's a lot that needs to be done in this world. But because I "dream big", I often have the tendency to bite off more than I can chew...which not only make the activities and events of each day more difficult to swallow, the digestive process can often leave me ...well, let's just say with "less than desirable" results.

It is sometimes difficult to let go of the past. I've struggled with the "looking back" thing for so long, I've become accustomed to dealing with certain things in my life with some sort of PTSD-induced "fight-or-flight" mode. Sometimes thinking about the past makes me bitter and resentful; at other times, it makes me laugh. I guess in some cases it's true when someone says that "someday we're going to look back on this and laugh". Well, 2013 was a side-splitter, for sure.

One thing I do know the past has done was make me a rebellious, resistant prisoner...with occasional moments where I was set free to crawl through small windows of time to get a glimpse of a world beyond bars that I know many prison guards would like me to remain behind. I guess the question I've asked myself several times is whether I've "learned my lesson(s)" or will I continue trying to escape. The more I ask myself this question, the more I realize that the truth is, I've already done my time...and the prison bars that would continue to lock me in the past are anything but real.

I've spent the past few months trying to think of a simple mantra for my morning meditation time, and I think I finally found it (no surprise that it is part of a song): "Let it be."  It's said that "Mother Mary" is a reference to Paul McCartney's dream about his own mother. Of course, I sometimes wonder if my own mom would appear to me in a dream with the words "Told you so!". But that wouldn't be a very good mantra.

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be...

And when the broken-hearted people
Living in the world agree
There will be an answer, let it be
For though they may be parted
There is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be...

And when the night is cloudy
There is still a light that shines on me
Shine on until tomorrow, let it be
I wake up to the sound of music,
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be...

("Let It Be" - From the album, Let It Be, Written by Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Paul James and John Winston. Copyright © by Sony/ATV Tunes LLC)

Happy New Day, everyone!

Carol

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Everybody Loves Logan

Now I know why they're called "Golden Retrievers". There are angels...and then there are "Golden" Angels. I was lucky today to see my four-footed angel's halo today!