The prayer of St. Frances de Sales

 During these tumultuous and challenging times, I have found this prayer to be a source of comfort and strength, and would like to share it both in its original form, and in an adaptation by Maria Gullo in her guided meditation on the Insight Timer App.

The original prayer

Do not look forward in fear to the changes of life;

rather look to them with full hope as they arise.

God, whose very own you are, 

will deliver you from out of them.

He has kept you hitherto,

and He will lead you safely through all things;

and when you cannot stand it,

God will bury you in His arms.

Do not fear what may happen tomorrow;

the same everlasting Father who cares for you today

will take care of you then and every day.

He will either shield you from suffering,

or will give you unfailing strength to bear it.

Be at peace, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.

Maria's adaptation

Do not look forward in fear and anxiety to the challenges and chances of this life;

they are inevitable.

Rather look forward in hope with full confidence, 

that as changes and challenges arise,

God, to whom you belong

will in His love enable you to profit by them,

and will deliver you, for God is your keeper.

God has guided you up to this point in your life,

and he will continue to lead you safely through all things,

including all trials and triumphs.

And when you cannot stand

God will bear you in His arms.

So release your grip on worry

and hold tightly to the hands of God,

who is safely leading you.

Do not look forward in fear to what may happen tomorrow,

for the same everlasting God who cares for you today

will take care of you tomorrow,

and every day after.

God will either shield you from suffering,

and when it is necessary,

God will give you unfailing strength and courage to bear it.

Therefore put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations

and be at peace,

for Grace abounds to you in this very moment

and all the moments in your life.

Remember: Live quietly in the moment and see the beauty of all before you. The future will take care of itself. Yogananda.

Our downsizing journey

 Earlier this year we made the decision to sell our farm and to eventually move into an Over 50's Lifestyle Village on the Mid-North Coast of NSW. Since then, we have reached settlement with the sale of our property, prepared to have an on-line clearing sale in October, and taken out a contract for a house in a newly developing Lifestyle Village, which will not be completed until May of June next year (at this stage). These are some of the aspects of this journey that we have experienced thus far:

Setting "trains" in motion on various "lines"

We found this to be a useful metaphor to use as we juggled  the diverse aspects of our downsizing journey, and patiently (or impatiently) waited for processes to rumble along (or sometimes finally move on from stagnation at a "station"). Our "lines" included legal processes around the sale, choosing a house design and colour schemes for our new home and being at the mercy of the delayed developments on the site (they are still doing Civil Works as I write, and slabs now will not begin to go down until at least November, despite originally planned for August), investing proceeds from the sale into Superannuation and Managed Funds (a long process, still not completed, with long delays for appointments), and organising a Clearing Sale.

Decluttering our house

This was mainly my job, as my husband concentrated on outside sheds and machinery etc., and I started it as soon as we had a buyer for our property (our neighbour, as it happens). I chose to begin at one end of the house and work my way through rooms, clearing out cupboards and only leaving the things that we would eventually take with us, whilst also being mindful of keeping anything we would need to use in the meantime (our neighbour has kindly allowed us to stay here for now).

So in some rooms the only things left on shelves are those that are ready to pack, we donated a lot of things to Charities as we went (a good decision as it happens, as now that we are in lock-down we can no longer do this), and other things have gone to recycling or the local Tip. There are a few things requested by our offspring, but these will have to wait to be delivered to them when we are out of lock-down (for our son) or can cross the border into Queensland (for our eldest daughter).

Clearing sheds and preparing for a Clearing Sale

My husband had over 90 years of clutter to sort through, being the third generation of the family who have owned this property. This was both nostalgic and very hard work, turning up old treasures, but also creating a mountain of scrap metal, whilst deciding what could be set out on pallets for the Clearing Sale. Fortunately the Sale had been organised to be on-line, as since the initial date was set, we have gone into lock-down, and the Estate Agent has advised us to port-pone it by another month.

So now we have machinery neatly lined up and odds and sods sitting on pallets outside in the weather, waiting hopefully for eventual buyers, and then coping with the restrictions around them coming to pick up their purchases.

In addition to this he also cleared out our old house, where there were many possessions that, not having made it into our newly built house over 25 years ago, had sat accumulating dust, mud wasp nests and other offerings. Most of this went straight into piles to be burnt or to the local Tip.

Coming to terms with living in a house that we no longer own

We owner-built this house about 28 years ago, choosing and personally laying all the wall and floor tiles, painting walls, attaching the Colourbond roof, installing cladding, doors and windows, and employing relevant trades people at various stages. So we do have quite an attachment, and we still enjoy the beautiful views from our large windows, with the design deliberately chosen for this purpose.

At first it was really difficult to find a way to mentally cope with still living here, but no longer owning it. However I finally processed the situation and changed my perspective, from feeling like an imposter, to seeing us as guests and care-takers until we move out.

Remember: When we finally let go of what no longer serves us, what we're holding, what we know, we make room to invite new wisdom, new choices, new freedom. Tamara Levitt

The thing that you have dreaded has now come to pass

 In Central West NSW we have had relatively few positive cases of Covid 19 until now, but all this has changed almost overnight. In our local town there are, of today, 9 cases and some have been infectious in the community. Testing numbers are alarmingly low and the threat has become very real. It has also been quite difficult to obtain Covid Vaccinations locally until last week, with overstretched and inadequate GP services being the only sources. My husband and I chose to travel 125 kms to another town back in May to obtain our first AstraZeneca dose and had to do the same just over a week ago for the second dose, before the two local Pharmacies and an ADF pop-up clinic came on line last week.

Context

In some ways, with our focus on achieving and maintaining zero cases in Australia, we have been taught to be terrified of Covid 19 rather than to learn to live with it, and now in NSW we are facing the new reality of having to undertake a complete mind shift towards learning to live with it. This involves grieving for what we have lost, whilst realising that in the real life of a world pandemic, we could not continue to remain free and closed off from the Virus, the rest of the world, and other States within Australia. 

Allow reactions 

The past two years have seen us face trauma after trauma, with one horror being replaced by another, before having time to absorb the reality of the first. Bush fires on top of drought, a sickening mouse plague, and all of the tragedy and changes that Covid 19 has thrown at us.

So there are times when we have needed to pause and allow ourselves to react, to grieve, to become angry at injustice, to identify a sense of panic, and to offload our feelings/ have melt-downs. Suppressing, bottling up and denying reactions is never helpful.

Fear of what may happen is harder to live with than reality

When we harbour fears about "what ifs" our minds are dealing with myriad imaginations and possibilities, whereas when the thing that we have feared actually arrives, there is only one reality to deal with, and we are no longer living in that state of anxiety which is about waiting for the axe to fall.

Survival mode and daily living

Living with the thing we have feared puts us into survival mode and a focus on the present, rather than fear of the future. Our lives and ways of daily living are much the same, whilst acknowledging the challenges and restrictions of lock-downs, apart from the risk taking involved when we need to leave home to undertake essential tasks. Life is essentially the same, and it is only our thoughts that are different.

Of course, I acknowledge that I am writing this from the perspective of someone who is retired and spending most of my time at home, and that for others time away from home will be more extensive and carry more risk.

Break the numbers down

Having watched the daily case numbers grow in NSW over the past months to a really alarming level, it can be easy to feel terrified. However a look at a Postcode heat map reveals that there are still many places with low or zero cases across NSW, even in Sydney. This new perspective is helpful when it all begins to feel too overwhelming.

Fresh air to clear the head

We need time to re-engage with meaningful living when going through such times, and a good way to clear our heads to do this, is to go out into the fresh air to walk, to sit, to refill our lungs, to view the sky, to engage with nature and to experience surroundings unaffected by Covid 19.

Remember: The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. Elisabeth Kubler Ross

Just do the next thing

 In current times it can be difficult to stay focused and motivated and, instead, we can just drift into letting days flow slowly past in a state of brain fog. When this happens, I have found it helpful to go into "just do the next thing" mode to maintain some sense of achievement in my days. The benefits of this can be as follows:

It doesn't matter how long a task takes

This approach allows us to just continue on with something, taking as long as we need to do each step, with each step becoming the next thing to do. It is surprising how much gets done, as it encourages us to remain active.

It reduces procrastination

Because we are actually doing something, we move on from procrastination, and have some aims and goals to achieve.

The pressure is taken away

Instead of feeling overwhelmed, we can steadily work through one task after another at a pace that suits us. It is interesting how just writing a "to do" list and crossing a couple of things off can make us feel less pressured, even if there are many more tasks listed. 

Anxiety is reduced

Being active reduces the unhelpful chains of thinking produced by anxiety, as does the sense of achievement as each task is completed. Our thoughts can re-focus on the task instead of random, uncontrolled thoughts and worries.

Regular routines can be incorporated

These can become part of the tasks we do one at a time, as we "just do the next thing" that needs to be done.

Or we can just stay in randomness 

If structure is too difficult because of where our mind-state is at, it is possible to just do one task and then just find another after it is completed, without any pre-defined plan. The secret is just to keep active.

A caution 

It may be necessary to have a background "to do" list to refer to from time to time, so that some important tasks are not forgotten.

Remember: Every morning brings new potential, but if you dwell on the misfortunes of the day before, you tend to overlook tremendous opportunities. Harvey MacKay

A gift package for the laundry

Last Christmas I made up laundry gift packages for my adult children and their partners, using the laundry bag and peg bag patterns I have covered in previous posts. 

This is how I did it:

First take one  Enamel Basin from Odgers and McClelland Exchange Store (I used mail order);

Then add a jar of homemade Wool Wash with the recipe;

A peg bag with some stainless steel pegs inside (to reduce plastic use);

A matching laundry bag:

Some hand knitted wash cloths;

And here is the completed package.

Another version:

In this one I used tractor prints for my son.

Remember: Sometimes when we don't have the courage to change, everything changes around us to direct us to a new path. Rhonda Byrne.

Bag of the month: laundry bag

The first laundry bag that I made was for an Aussie Service man or woman currently serving overseas, and more information and instructions can be found here:  Aussie Hero Quilts and Laundry Bags

I have subsequently used the same instructions to make a laundry bag for our caravan and bags for Christmas gifts, appliqueing "Laundry" to the gift bags as an additional touch.

Making the bag

This is how I went about sewing them:

After cutting out the front and back, I added a feature strip and applique to the front.

Then I sewed the side and bottom seams (right sides together), made a lining the same way, (but leaving a gap in the bottom seam for turning), and inserted the lining into the bag, right sides together.

The casing was inserted between the bag and the lining before sewing the bag and lining together around the top (with the bag inside out). I made hems on the ends of the pieces of casings before doing this (see below).

I then threaded through  thick piping cord and tied the ends together in a knot.

And ended up with this!

Other versions

Remember: Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver. Barbara DeAngelis

Lessons from another river

 Having completed our following of the Murrumbidgee River, we had a yen to explore one closer to home.  Our journey along the Lachlan River began in November 2019 and is still continuing, due to interruptions from Covid 19, but in this post I want to concentrate on the headwaters of the River, before it reaches Wyangla Dam (or even half way to there).

Lesson one: Our suppositions about an experience will differ from the actual experience, always.

Despite having read some descriptions about this section of the Lachlan River, nothing prepared us for having to view its very beginnings from the back of an overgrown graveyard. 

In our lives, we can often imagine what an experience may be like, but it is not possible to know for certain, and we cannot anticipate emotions ahead. We may imagine a lot of possibilities, but when we get there, there will be only one way through the experience (despite a lot of possible "what ifs" beforehand). We certainly could not have imagined what being in lock-down or living through a Pandemic would be like until it actually happened, and I'm sure this is the case for many others.

Lesson two: Side tracks are worth exploring for ourselves, despite other people's opinions.

We followed every accessible side track to the River and found many interesting vistas and ways through, despite some tracks supposedly being closed and/ or inaccessible according to others (which proved not to be the case when we reached them).

Our life journeys are individual journeys, and different things will have different levels of importance to each of us, so we need to each choose our own side tracks, rather than allowing others to choose them for us, based on their opinions. 

Lesson three: Just because life seems dry, it does not mean we won't find enrichment if we take the time to look for it.

Having begun our journey along this River at the end of a drought year, we were surprised to find that it contained flowing water all the way along its infant course (we expected water holes at best).

If we spend our lives taking things at face value, we may miss some enriching experiences, merely because we have not looked deeply enough for them.

Lesson four: We need to do our own exploring, and not rely on the information of others.

The limited information we had about this section of the River proved to be very inadequate, and we found lots of lovely places by creating our own travel agenda. The most detailed travel article from a magazine was based on pursuing Clancy of the Overflow and, in the end, merely gave us an approximate location of the starting point of the Lachlan.

Information from others is always based on their perspectives (or even perspectives altered across time), so it pays to take the time to explore things for ourselves, and to find our own perspectives in our own time-frames.

Remember: It's a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things you lack. Gemany Kent.