Today’s world appears stressful with chaos abounding. There are myriad activities outside the home, household chores, communication with the family, and, as a result, inability to find desired quiet time for ourselves. We can experience a peaceful lifestyle. How? “Let it begin with me.”

Possessing habits means being consistent, repetitive. We all have many. Many are good; some are less preferable. How do we release the less preferable? It seems the more we try, the harder it becomes to let go.

By using preferred habits and focusing on organizing them into our time available and our flow of activities, the less preferred eventually effortlessly get tucked away and forgotten. Other preferred activities take precedence.

One such habit that is favorable to most is eating an evening meal. This comes in various styles, according to surrounding family activities. Rather than attempting to fluctuate meal time around the various activities of other family members or fussing at them for not being available at mealtime, we can let the family know when the meal will be served and stay as close to that schedule as possible. Others will learn when the meal will be hot and work their activities around it. This is not to say that something like this has to be on a rigid schedule but the family is entitled to know, ahead of time, when meals will be on the table. This helps the person preparing the meals, as well, to organize other activities in compliance with this schedule.

Another way to create personal time is to schedule various necessary errands for the same day each week. It may seem tiring to have to stop seven or eight places in one day but it is worth it. This takes personal discipline, planning ahead and not giving in to run a quick errand or two on non-scheduled days. Once this organized pattern becomes habit, it offers stress-free time. The rest of the week is free, except for some unknown emergencies.

It is also good to delegate some errands to other family members, offering trust that they will take care of them. If necessary, a chart or calendar for chores and errands by family members can be posted in a familiar spot.

What about household chores? Our ancestors had their reasons for “washing on Monday, ironing on Tuesday, and baking bread on Thursday.” Our reasons may be different than for those of the past but we can benefit from this type of schedule.

Children can learn from a very young age to make their bed and put their dirty clothes in the hamper. Weekly rewards are a good enticement.

Meetings? Choose one or two evenings a week, maximum, for attending meetings of any kind. Give wholeheartedly to those interests. Attempt to match the meeting nights with children’s activities that do not need your attendance. If a function for your child comes up for one of those nights, presence at your child’s activity definitely takes precedence. There is no need for concern for which to attend.

Invest relaxing time with your spouse. Communicate. Ask questions. Listen.

Since, in the evenings, my husband enjoys watching television movies that I do not care for and I invest a good deal of my free time on the computer, we enjoy an extended “coffee time” together each morning. Sometimes we reminisce – a delightful experience – sharing something that happened before we met or giving our interpretations to an event that we participated in together. Recalling healthy memories is good medicine.

A special time for meditation is always a good habit to develop. For awhile, I let my quiet time slip out of my daily routine, even though I knew it provided spiritual energy. Once I began the regime, after scheduling and actually taking this special time for three days, it felt to be the natural thing to do.

We yearn to experience peaceful lives. It is easy to blame others for stepping in and putting our lives in chaos. It is easier still to ponder peace and say, “Let it begin with me.”

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Quiet Gratitude

Thank You, Lord,
for this quiet time
with You.
Let me hear only You
in everything
I hear.
Let me see only You
in everything
I see.
Let me touch only You
in everything
I touch.
Thank You, Lord,
for this quiet time
with You.

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Some sites I recommend:

Find your daily angel

Beliefnet

BibleGateway.com

Horseback Riding Around Lake Tahoe

InnerSelf

Embracing the Contradiction

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And, for anyone who enjoys playing at ebay, I continue to have a few items (which change daily) available for sale -
Dusty's eBay

(`~`*`~`)`~`*`~`(`~`*`~`)`~`*`~`(`~`*`~`)`~`*``~` (`~`*`~`) You are welcome to forward this newsletter to friends who might be interested! If they would like to subscribe (at no cost), they can write to me , Dusty Thanx muchly!

Working toward consideration and to better humanity, we want to encourage free enterprise, free speech. We are Life Now, a spiritual happening on and off the Internet.

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PATHWAY

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LIFE NOW

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