Choosing Chatter, Choosing Quiet

I knew that I could choose to listen to the chatter going on around me on the media, but I decided to involve myself in the quiet.

I am taking time to notice details in botanical photography from a site I really enjoy.

(https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2017/12/29/claspleaf-twistedstalk/)

I continued adding to the warp I am creating on my weaving loom.

I mixed the ingredients I had gathered on my kitchen counter to make almond meal fruit and nut bread.

I have gathered my drawing materials together for a series of cards I am designing.

I am being more consistent about putting compost into a bucket by the back door.

There are many ways to engage in quiet and orderly activities and not to be rushed and pushed.

To follow a routine mindfully is a way to choose quiet.

There are no new decisions to be made.

One is free to listen while moving gently and purposefully.

I can maintain my balance and poise.

I can begin my day in the way I wish to maintain it.

I can continue swimming quietly in an ocean of political and economic upheaval by choosing the option of maintaining my peace.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

www.pebblesofpeace.blogspot.com

Peace and True Wealth

The wealth which comes through serving others through peace has no limit.

It is always possible to uplift even more.

As your thought becomes habituated to listening deeply for uplifting ideas, it gains immense power.

It eliminates conflict where the ideas are applied.

It draws on unlimited resources and they appear.

It blesses everyone associated with the project.

It leaves no waste and it causes no neglect.

It includes everyone who can possibly benefit from the idea.

It is easy to get on board with ideas like this.

Everyone wants to be associated with them.

This is what happens when you cultivate deep peace within and listen for the practical ideas and how to share them.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

www.pebblesofpeace.blogspot.com

Threads of Peace

I feel as though I am hanging onto threads of peace as I make my way through the political and economic landscape we are currently facing.

On top of that, we are dealing with the season of even more overt consumption as our nation gets ready for the holidays.

The greed among those who have congressional members doing their bidding is straining democracy and will break it if it continues.

The strain among families is acute.

So, where are my threads of peace coming from?

My mind gets infused with peace when I do the things I love to do.

Enjoying the company of sincere and uplifting people gives me respite.

Healthy, safe organic food that I am learning to cook and grow gives me comfort.

Spending as much time as possible creating beautiful things gives me a great deal of expression.

I know that this is the kind of life we are meant to lead.

If I can come to that conclusion and do what it takes to create that kind of life for myself, there is that ability in each one of us.

As we seek to create a loving and uplifting environment for ourselves, perhaps it will overflow onto our Members of Congress.

Perhaps they will discover a new kind of career in passing legislation which helps everyone uplift themselves.

These are some of the threads of peace which come to me every day.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

www.pebblesofpeace.blogspot.com

Point of View

I am appreciating my new point of view since I have been basing my life around what I love to do.

I am a member of several groups of like-minded people who appreciate one another’s work.

We support and celebrate what each of us is doing and making every time we get together.

There is no pressure from anyone.

We share skills and help one another improve.

As I reflect on this, I realize that guild memberships embrace all these characteristics.

I am always uplifted after a meeting or an informal get-together.

Creative minds are always inspiring.

It is always worth going to a meeting or get-together to have this uplifting experience.

This is the best kind association I can have with people.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

www.pebblesofpeace.blogspot.com 

Emotional Set Point

I am learning how to set my own emotional level.

It has taken a really, really long time to figure out which feelings are mine instead of feeling all the ones which were imposed on me.

My feelings are just fine, thank you.

They have just been buried so deep, it has taken years for them to surface.

Now that I have found them, I am learning how to maintain them at the forefront my thought instead of falling into the old habitual negative impositions.

What a discovery!

And yes, it takes a lot of work to be sure I am focusing on the ones I want.

My first discovery was through listening deeply to what I really wanted to do.

What is it that I truly love?

I found out what it was and then, despite all the negative impossibilities, I put myself where I could do it.

Since then, I have been learning how to do all kinds of things I have always wanted to do.

It just keeps adding to my new foundation of happiness.

The best discovery of all is that I have the ability to move in the direction of happiness for myself.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

www.pebblesofpeace.blogspot.com 

Deeper Into Peace

When you begin our search for peace and begin to find it within, your search may cause some deeper issues to surface.

Having remained hidden for so long, there is a lot of resistance to being exposed and resolved.

The resulting disturbance may feel like the opposite of peace has overtaken you.

But, as you continue your commitment to moving deeper into the peace you desire, these hidden disturbances will be routed.

The experience in agitating any complacent and hidden practice may be violent, but ultimately your greater strength and desire for deeper peace will win.

As always, the alternative is unacceptable.

Once you are on the road to inward peace, it continues to draw you in with greater self-satisfaction and self-appreciation and self-compassion.

Your ability to fulfill you won life desires increases.

You begin to find allies around you instead of enemies to your peace.

You begin to find support and you are able to offer support to those on your same path.

Your path to deeper peace is profitable in how it places you in society.

You are no longer agitated and fretful.

Your peace is seen as a calm beacon.

Others are drawn by your beacon and find encouragement in their own search for peace.

Having braved the upheaval and disturbances caused by routing the hidden agitations in your own life, your life is an example to others.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

www.pebblesofpeace.blogspot.com 

Inclusive Peace

I create in peace.

I see in peace.

I feel the deep peace within.

In the peace within, I come in contact with my divine nature.

I have all that I need.

I am secure and serene.

As I listen within, I know intuitively what to do, where to be.

I am never separated from my divine nature, so I naturally take right action.

My solution is to stay in peace, to feel the calm presence.

I am always at home with all I need when I feel the deep peace.

All who are around me feel calm, peaceful guidance as well.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

www.pebblesofpeace.blogspot.com 

Changing the Story

There may be several reasons why we believe a story.

If it is about us, it is the one we are willing to believe about ourselves and the people in our life.

When we create a happy life, we are telling ourselves one kind of story.

When our life is full of problems and challenges, we are telling ourselves another kind of story.

The story can be changed.

We are the person who can change it.

We can tell ourselves a story of hope and fulfillment and success.

We can tell ourselves a story of despair, insurmountable challenges and failure.

There is also a collective story that society tells itself.

Now that so many of us are getting tired of that story, it will be interesting to see how we change it.

We must be convinced that we want another story.

Then we must agree on what we want it to be.

Then we can create it for ourselves.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

www.pebblesofpeace.blogspot.com 

Place and Purpose

Your place and your purpose are governed by your world view.

How are you contributing to the peace in your heart, in your community, in your nation and in the world?

What are the fundamental issues of peace?

Doing what you love to do in a way which uplifts you and those who come in contact with you helps create peace in your heart and in your community.

Ethical business practices contribute to peace wherever you do business, as a creator or a receiver.

Fairness in policy creates peace on a wider range because all people can contribute to their well-being in the nation and world-wide

We are in a position to see everyone as worthy and valuable and to accept their contributions through much wider channels of policy.

Small good practices benefit people where they are.

Supporting communities enables people to decide what is valuable locally and to implement it themselves.

Examples of micro-preneurism and small scale restoration agriculture have transformed communities into self-sufficiency.

There are always resources for individual improvement which benefit communities.

Our place is to find our purpose and utilize it in practical ways.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

www.pebblesofpeace.blogspot.com 

The Permeating Presence of Peace

In your very core, there is a deep sense of peace and identity.

Anything which moves you away from this peace at your core makes you feel agitated or uncomfortable in some way.

You know who you are.

You may catch on to this early in your life, or you may explore many paths until you find the right one.

When you are in alignment with your deep core identity, your life is permeated with peace.

Things feel right.

You live in harmonious surroundings.

You have good friends.

Your work is deeply satisfying, or it moves you in the direction of satisfaction and happiness as you gain your skill.

Regardless of what is going on around you, you can feel this deep peace at your core and you respond to its guidance.

You continually move in the direction of peace and you move peacefully, gently, confidently.

You share your sense of peace in all with whom you have contact.

You attract others who have this deep sense of peace or a yearning for it.

Your peace permeates everything you do.

Your peace radiates out all around you and includes and inspires those who see you.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

www.pebblesofpeace.blogspot.com 

Not Group Think

Attempts to manipulate groups through media harassment are often very successful.

The emotional appeal is crafted very carefully.

But when we are in touch with our own true feelings, we an find our conclusions differ greatly from what is being presented to us.

Own true feelings come to us in quiet moments.

We can identify them by their calm presence.

We recognize when others present true ideas which work for everyone.

There is a difference in how integrity and sincerity feel.

Group think does not actually address problems in order to find solutions.

It uses people for a hidden, or not so hidden, agenda.

Individuals who come up with solutions which benefit everyone are quite different from group think.

Solving problems by creating policies which use our resources for the benefit of everyone is the best way to think.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

www.pebblesofpeace.blogspot.com 

The Delight of Peace

When we have peace and satisfaction in our hearts, it is a delight to share it.

We naturally see others as precious and valued.

We see everyone in terms of their unique and productive individuality.

We see that what they contribute to society is based on their point of view.

We see that as we value everyone, they bring another way to share harmony in a wider community.

When we settle our basic needs through doing what we love, we have more peace to share.

We want others to have the means to do what they love so that every member of the community feels loved in every way.

We see unlimited opportunities through individual and unique thinking.

We see unlimited opportunities through cooperation.

We see goal-setting in terms of how everyone will be benefitted and how we can each contribute to the well-being of all of us.

We utilize our talents directly and also in bringing out the talents of others.

We contribute our uplifting ideas and let them harmonize with the uplifting ideas of others.

A viewpoint which embraces all members of the community allows more ideas to flow.

With a wider viewpoint, there are unlimited possibilities for solutions which bring productive and peaceful lives for all of us.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

www.pebblesofpeace.blogspot.com

Peace By Appreciation

Appreciation expands our lives.

It increases our ability to be grateful.

It gives us new ways to look at everyday things.

And appreciation sends our peace in many fruitful directions.

As we notice and recognize all the little things which are being done to harmonize our daily lives, we expand our awareness of peace.

As we notice and recognize all the people who are doing all the little things to harmonize our daily lives, we relax in the appreciation that all is well.

After all, we, too, are doing the little things which help take care of others.

It is normal and natural to be aware of the help we receive as well as give.

Appreciation grows in our lives as we take the time to observe all the good going on around us.

The good we express, the uplifting thoughts we share, the consciousness of the effect this has on our surroundings encourages us to continue.

We have a choice in how we perceive our world.

Even the turmoil is bring to light things which we need to take care of.

We can appreciate even that aspect of our new awareness.

© 2017 Kathryn Hardage

www.pebblesofpeace.blogspot.com