The Cost of Greed

Although many of us grew up with the legend of King Midas, we are seeing another story of greed enacted in our own day.

At the height of King Midas’ greed, his touch turned everything to gold, including his furniture, food and drink, and finally, his daughter.

The loss of his daughter caused the king grief and he asked for his “golden touch” to be taken away so his daughter and kingdom were restored.

Today, we are seeing the price of greed being paid through the experiences of having the government run by an oligarchy.

A small number of Americans, those voted to represent all the people, have been corrupted by their own greed in response to the greed of the oligarchs.

Services and privileges that we, as Americans, took for granted, are being taken away in order to feed the void that greed creates in those who practice it.

The good result of this is the great awakening of more and more American people.

In many cases, legislators have resigned, rather than face the outrage and disgust of the people they were elected to represent.

The level of greed being practiced in the highest public offices is unprecedented and goes against the safeguards of The Constitution of the United States.

The price of pretending to be above the law has yet to be measured.

We know that significant indictments and convictions have been made as investigations progress.

We know that public trust has been betrayed multiple times.

We do not yet know what the total price in dollars is, although it is high.

We do not know what the price is yet, in undermining our democracy.

The price of ignorance is becoming more and more visible, but many choose to keep their ignorance.

My hope is that we will effectively reeducate those who have willingly stayed in the dark, and we will be brutal with those who have duped them.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

www.pebblesofpeace.blogspot.com 

Overflowing Peace

The more I devote myself to what I love, I feel an overflowing peace.

Doing what is important to me, adds to my peace of mind.

Learning sustainability skills helps keep me in tune with my relationship to the planet.

It helps elevate my ability to live in harmony with the environment.

Expressing our individuality adds to the peace.

We have a universal purpose which harmoniously fits into the scheme of overflowing peace.

Overflowing peace happens when everything is working together.

Our goal in establishing our own peace is to contribute to this goal.

Being self-sustaining in communities honors our earth and our place on it.

As we steward our resources responsibly, it adds to the peace.

We can add to the peace by filling ourselves with peace until it overflows.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

www.pebblesofpeace.blogspot.com 

Keeping My Peace

I have been working on several projects that I love for several years.

Some of them have been completed.

Others have been in-progress long-term.

Keeping my peace means reviewing what I love to do and making sure I continue to do it.

By listening inwardly, I am guided to take the relevant steps each time I return to the project.

I may find new resources.

I may take a different direction.

I may write down more ideas.

All of these steps honor the projects and keep them alive.

All of these projects enable me to keep my peace through what they allow me to contribute to society and civilization.

I can remain peaceful within because I can express the wonderful ideas I receive,

This eliminates tension and uncertainty for myself.

I know I can continue doing what I love.

I know I can continue contributing uplifting and inspiring those who will benefit from what I do.

Continual uplifting expression is one way I keep my peace.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

www.inspiredpractices.blogspot.com

Finding My Peace and My Focus

A lifetime of looking for ways to be positive and uplifting in teaching and raising children and running a household has helped me cultivate resources way beyond what I could imagine.

Those were challenging experiences and I am so grateful for them.

As I continue to engage myself in uplifting experiences, I am finding my focus change to even more inward listening.

I am finding space for deeply held desires to be expressed, and new ways of expressing them.

The peace I am finding in self-affirmation is incredible.

All the doubts, as I learned my craft and how to develop relationships in positive ways, are gone.

All the resources I used to uplift myself and to improve my situation constitute my current foundation.

I am able to focus on a completely different set of goals.

These have been growing within me as I have done my daily deeds.

I have the time and resources to write and to learn more techniques for releasing my ideas.

I have had the opportunity to place myself in a completely different community and to develop valuable friendships and skills.

I continue to learn and to progress and to add to my repertoire of sustainability.

Despite the disorienting and upsetting news, I am learning to keep my focus on what brings me peace.

I continue to love and respect and value each of us as precious individuals.

I know we are all working our way towards a deep sense of peace through generosity and sharing.

This is the only worthwhile goal and it can be accomplished with the inner resources which we all have as we listen within.

This is my new goal and focus.

We are all worth it.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

www.inspiredpractices.blogspot.com

New Found Peace

Every day, when I read the news, I find myself getting very upset.

In addition to alerting my congresspersons, and taking action that way, I actively seek out a deeper sense of peace for myself.

I make sure that I am finding something that I am genuinely happy about, or that I respect.

I replace the feelings of betrayal and despair with a conscious uplifting practice.

I am grateful to have so much corruption exposed and to discover many ways of correcting it.

Each time I encounter a problem in my own life, I know there is a solution.

There are so many of us working to create a healthy political environment in order to create healthy practices in our own country.

We do have an active part to play and so many of us are more engaged than we have ever been.

This is a source of peace even as we struggle to turn what appears to be a very strong tide.

My source of peace is my daily practice of turning within to discover my next step of progress for my own life.

I am acquiring new skills, I am interacting with many different communities of wonderful people.

We are all practicing ways of living which uplift and inspire and which create beauty.

These are the long-term actions which create peace in our communities.

These are what our country is built on, honesty and the expression of beauty, and respect for all our people.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

www.inspiredpractices.blogspot.com 

Establishing Peace in a Garden

It always feels so good to work in the garden.

I love the feel of dirt in my hands.  

The texture and smell are so enriching.

Spending time in nature is calming and energizing.

It is our ancestral first environment.

The more time we can be in touch with natural growing areas the better we feel on a deep level.

Part of the balance of life is the peace we feel participating in activities which are part of the earth.

We patiently observe the first tiny leaves and how individual they are.

And of course, there is the miracle of seeds themselves, becoming active and growing into plants.

The many different shapes and sizes of seeds and plants, the infinite variety, color, smell and patterns offer a restful and peaceful view as they harmonize in the landscape.

I am grateful for the opportunity to observe them close at hand and as I pass them down country roads.

I am glad I am learning to make my garden part of a new practice of peace.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

www.inspiredpractices.blogspot.com 

Redefining Peace

My new definition of peace is having the strength to pull myself back into a calm state of mind after hearing lots of disturbing news.

Since I have good standards of behavior for myself, I expect no less from other well-informed and well-educated people.

So I pull myself back into a peaceful state of mind by reminding myself how powerful good and innocence and compassion and actual, core truth are.

I remind myself that despite the egregious sense of entitlement and criminal greed, there are certainly more decent people on earth.

Most of us value our fellow man.

Most of us support public policy which allows everyone to have the tools to create a good life for themselves.

Most of us have a balanced outlook.

Most of us have compassion for each other and are willing to bring attention to unfair practices and to help remedy them.

Most of us are willing to look for creative solutions to problems instead of perpetuating them.

Most of us really do not like lies.

We can tell the difference between what is true and what is not.

Even though it is frustrating to watch the attempted take over of a beautiful, if imperfect,  governmental system, most of us are working toward creating a much better version of it as a result of the extreme weaknesses which have been exposed in it.

Becoming more aware can be very disturbing, but it can lead to a new, redefined peace.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

www.inspiredpractices.blogspot.com