Courage with Softness

"Women are like teabags; you never know how strong they are until they're put in hot water." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Don't you love that? I do. Eleanor Roosevelt had the right idea. Women are strong. Women are resilient. Our hearts may break, but when things are tough, we are tougher.

We are not tough in the same way that men are. We are tough on the inside, with tender hearts. It's an interesting mix. We are courage, with softness. We stand up for truth and for those who need us. We don't give up.

We can be there in a flash with a casserole, a flashlight, or a listening ear. We can dry each other's tears and we can strengthen each other's backs. We can inspire, hold, touch, hug, and scold. We do our best work heart to heart. We feel things deeply and we care deeply.

In crisis, we are calm and resourceful. We draw on inner strength from spiritual connections. We store food, soap, bandaids, water, and faith.

We can fix a lot of things. We use duct tape, gorilla glue, twisty wire, bandaids, and prayer. We kiss things better, and we put things back together again. When the damage is too much for us, we hold on, we love, and we trust.

We are healers. We can't do everything, but we know who can.

We use our hands to do His work, and we want our hearts to be like His.


Linda Garner

We Can Be More Gentle With Ourselves

I love the holidays, but there is so much to do. It can be hectic. High expectations. High stress. It's hard to measure up. Take time to do something nice for yourself, and please while you're dishing up kindness to everyone else, take a nice portion for yourself. If everything's not perfect, relax and look for the humor in the situation. Reduce stress by choosing gratitude. When things go wrong remember how awesome you are and always be gentle with yourself.

I love these healing words by Michael McLean. You may want to post them somewhere in your home to help you find peace when you are doing the Holiday Dance of Stress.


Gentle

Words and Music by Michael McLean


Like a gentle wind can blow the clouds from the sky,
Like a gentle touch can ease the pain of goodbye,
Like a gentle smile embraces empty souls in lonely places,
We should be more gentle with ourselves.


Like the friend who gently builds us up when we're down,
Like a gentle kiss can turn our world all around,
We've been hurt by others often,
We've forgiven and forgotten,
We should be more gentle with ourselves.


Life can be hard but
we need not be so hard
on ourselves,
If we will see...


Like the Shepherd leads his flock with gentle commands.
With his gentle voice that only hearts understand.
One thing we can know for certain, He has borne the awful burdens
so we can be more gentle with ourselves.


One thing that I know for certain:
He will bear my every burden,
So I can be gentle with myself.


Thanks, Mike. I love those words.

Linda Garner

Let the Healing Begin

“We think that depression is a negative thing, but really it’s a chance to go inside and do some deep cleaning. It’s a time to rebalance and remember who you are.” Janet Wuthrich Stuart

Those aren’t Janet’s exact words, but they are close. Janet was my friend and she died a few years ago after a long illness. I believe she was well acquainted with depression.

Most of us have dealt with depression at least once in our lives. There are different kinds of depression. There is the kind that seems to come from brain chemistry and there is the kind that comes from challenging circumstances. Sometimes they come together.

In today’s world, there is a quick fix road for depression that includes prescription medication. I can tell you from experience that it is anything but quick. For some, it can support healing, when combined with other kinds of treatment. For most, it is not a long term solution.

When I think about my friend’s words, I realize that there is much more to healing than medication. Going inside is often painful, but crucial to healing. Deep cleaning is difficult but essential if healing is to be complete. At times we all need to rebalance in meaningful ways. I can’t think of anything that would do more for us, than remembering who we are.

Today a close friend told me that he is depressed. My reaction was not what you might expect. Instead of worrying about him, I rejoiced. My thought was this. Thank goodness. You are beginning to feel again.

Have you ever buried your feelings because they were too painful to deal with? Have you ever masked your hurt under a blanket of apathy? Not caring is a way to cope, but it doesn’t serve you well in the long run. You can only hide your feelings for so long. When the light reaches inside, those hidden feelings must surface. Will it be painful? Yes. Depressing? You bet. How long will it take? Who knows.

But the good news is, this is the first step to healing. You may want to get some help, but much of this is a do-it-yourself project. Who but you can go inside your head and rebalance? Let the healing begin.

Grab your cleaning supplies, and get ready to scrub. Couldn’t we all use some deep cleaning?

Linda Garner