Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Choosing Love...

This last week I checked out the movie "Defending Your Life" from the library...  It's an older Albert Brooks movie (probably late 80's or early 90's) starring Meryl Streep and Albert Brooks.  I remember seeing it years ago, and I remember enjoying the message, thus the last minute check out.

I am so very glad I did... and  I would encourage those who like to ponder, to take the 90 minutes to watch.  It's a story about choosing love rather than fear.  A choice that I believe we all get to make almost every hour of every day. 

As I've been pondering this movie, and the implications it has in my own life I am beginning to believe that fear and love are polar opposites.  That it's kind of like darkness cannot exist in a room of light.  When we choose to love we choose to release our fears.  When we choose to love, we have courage, we have joy, we have confidence.  I believe that choosing love has more to do with the truth that...  it is a choice...

I choose to be loving... Which includes loving myself, and loving all those around me.  Not because they are loveable all the time, nor even that I am always loveable.  Rather, I choose to be loving, for that is the person I desire to be. 

When I make that choice, I find that the "fears" I was so worried about are released.  I find that other drivers don't bother me, for as I choose love, I choose to see them as human beings, each with their own lives that are lives of importance.  It's incredibly freeing!  What others think of me is irrelevant, for I am choosing to love, and I have absolutely no control over their thoughts and actions anyway.

The other odd thing I've noticed - is that the actions in my life may not change depending on the choice.  For instance, I can get up and take on "my list" for the day - either in a state of fear, or in a state of love... The list may get accomplished either way, but I'm finding the difference to be my inner state of being.  When I'm afraid, I'm constantly looking for outward approval and acceptance.  When I'm choosing love, I find joy in the doing, and I'm open to the changes and opportunities that come my way.  Interesting.

However, lest you be under the illusion that I have figured out a way to do this continually...  alas...  Just like in the movie, there are still times that I am completely sidelined by fears...  But I was inspired.  I am finding it easier to take the leap, to continue to move through the moments of the day choosing love...  and perhaps, choice by choice, I will find that I have released my need to be afraid...  And in the terms of the movie, I hope to 'move onward.'  Here's to hoping! 

As spring sets into the beautiful valley we live in, why not try a scientific experiment...  Try making a conscious choice to love the next time you are feeling a bit afraid... and just see what happens...  It might be fun! Have a super loving week!
-Jo

Thursday, March 13, 2014

This past week, I was finally cleaning out the old bakery closet...  (Stuffed full with promotional material from 19 years ago...as well as some camping gear!) when I stumbled across a pile of old menus...  I realize you may be wondering why that might be exciting for me...  but for those of you who were customers all those years ago, you might remember that every month, I included a message on the back of each menu...  A short essay of thoughts I'd been pondering on, and I sat down and read a bunch of them...  And well, that is why I'm stumbling through my first blog post...

I loved rereading the journey from so long ago...  Some things ring so true, so profound, and so simple.  It's interesting how life trips along it's bumpy path, and we remember parts with smiles and giggles, and then you see parts that are shadowed in grey's and blues...  Yet all these different memories make up the tapestry that we call life...  Truly, as I reflected on my journey of the last 19 years as a bakery owner, as a wife, as a mom, as a friend...  I smile...  Not because it's been easy.  Not because it's been fun all the time.  Not because it looks like what I imagined my life would look like!  But because it has shaped me into the woman I am today, and is preparing me for the journey that lies ahead of me...

I'm grateful for those memories, I'm grateful for the amazing people that have walked parts of that journey with me, and I am so grateful for the lessons, that life has handed me in so many different packages!

So with this first blog, I begin a new dialogue...  One that I hope we can learn from together.  A place where we can share lessons learned, and new discoveries made as we skip, run, crawl, jump, and sometimes even fall on this journey called life...

Here's to new adventures...  and grand possibilities!
Lovingly,
Your life seeking baker - Jo