Soul Runnings

Today's fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22) is goodness. For me, this is more challenging than kindness.  I consider being kind an active word. Doing random "acts" of kindness.  As I mentioned in my previous blog post, these acts of kindness often benefit me as much as the givee. But "goodness".  That is who I am deep down for goodness sake! My core below all the layers that life has piled upon me... And I struggle with low self esteem. I am trying to let God remake me and mold me into a kind, giving, generous, peaceful person. But sometimes I just feel rotten to the core! But I know that is my faulty Eeyore mentality. Underneath it all, I am pure, radiant goodness enveloped in many years of victim mentality I fight it daily. Today feels like a good day.  I did not hit the snooze button more than twice! I started with some stretches and wall pushups. Since I have not had time for the gym lately, I'm trying to get exercise in my everyday life. I...

Today my fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) is kindness. I like focusing on kindness. I find that no matter what frame of mind I'm in, that if I am kind to someone, it lifts me up.  It seems like the more random, the better. For instance, my very kind #34 bus driver.  I think both of us have better days from our brief interaction four mornings a week.  She sits at the light and waits for me. I greet her with a big thank you and a smile. We chat for all of 5 minutes to the church and then we wish each other a merry good day! If only all of life's interactions were like that! Yesterday, was a particularly smooth transition. I got off of the #33 at 9:44. I was waiting for the "walk"  sign to come on to cross the street to the #34 bus stop. Just as the light turned green, the #34 pulled up. She waved at me. I waved at her. I turned and waved good bye at the #33 driver. (He is awesome too. He has been with Tri-met for many years. His uniform is decorate like ...

Today's fruit of the spirit that I am focusing on is patience.  This I need more of. And coincidentally (or not), I read in my book Challenge: A Daily Meditation Program Based on the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius by Mark Link, S.J. the following: "I asked God to give me happiness, and God said, 'No.' He said that patience is a by-product of tribulation. It isn't granted, it is earned." Well, not to sound smug, but I am certainly earning my patience award!  :) I am having a good day, however I am a bit over caffeinated. I earned (patiently lol) a free latte today at Starbucks.  On a side note, I love being a regular customer. I walked into my regular Starbucks today, and one of the barista's yelled, "Zita!" from across the room. I felt like I was in an episode of "Cheers"! I love being recognized in a friendly manner. I had a venti "Smoked Butterscotch Latte with soy".   I have found the per...

Today's spiritual fruit is "peace".  This I try to practice everyday. In fact, my email signature says "Peace, Zita". But what does the word "peace" really mean?  It brings to mind the hippie movement.  I was just a child. But a hippie wannabe.  I envied their long hair, barefeet, flowing clothing, and carefree ways. And the would often hold up two fingers in the peace sign.  So in a sense, I think of peace as freedom. I also think of peace as the absence of war. And inner peace.  But I thought I would look up the etymology (origin) of the word. And it was very interesting! I went to my friend Wikipedia and found: " The term 'peace' originates most recently from the Anglo-French  pes,  and the Old French  pais , meaning "peace, reconciliation, silence, agreement" (11th century). [1]  But,  Pes  itself comes from the Latin  pax , meaning "peace, compact, agreement, treaty of peace, tranquility, absence of hostility, ...

You know you are going to have a good day when you make all of your bus transfers. I did have to run for two, but hey. I ran! :) I got to Starbucks early and the barista smiled at me and said "Zita, right? The usual?" I had my usual LF. I brought a hard boiled egg from home. And my little mini travel bottle of Tajin. Even better, the next table was filled with Portland Police.  I sure do admire a man in a uniform.  One of them went up to grab his coffee. The barista noticed his name tag. "McCool".  She laughed and asked if that was his real name. He said indeed it was. I wish that was my last name.  Imagine, Teacher McCool! After Starbucks I hopped I the #33 bus for a short trip down the hill to transfer to my final bus, the #34 that lets met off in front of the bus.  As we came to the stop, I spied my bus.  I said, "Oh, there's my bus!" The driver, kindly honked his horn. But I told him that was not necessary. She was waiting for me and...

Monday morning. Cold, dark, pouring rain. It's fitting that I start with the day with a "London Fog"! I am glad to see the rain. It feels like business as usual here in Portland.  We can do rain.  I was worried that the snowstorm that had been forecasted for early this morning would hit.  The weather men had said it would rain all night and that if the temps got low enough we could see snow accumulations. I think we've had quite enough snow for one winter. Thank you very much! I am feeling quite good today. I am not as stiff and sore this morning. And my face not as poofy I had a good soul breakfast of prayer, bible study and reading a daily reflection. I am not usually hungry first thing in the morning.So I packed a hard boiled egg, an apple and some rice crackers. I ate the egg sprinkled with Tajin at Starbucks. I ordered my London Fog with soy milk this morning. I like the taste of soy. I was starting to feel guilty about my Starbucks habit. So, to e...

Whopper with Cheese on Rice Cake That is not the most flattering picture, but that Whopper with Cheese sandwiched between two rice cakes made me smile today. Plus a few more ingredients that helped me break through the wall of my latest depressive episode: I got a good solid 8 hours of sleep last night. No dreams. No waking up in a state of panic. Just good ol' zzzz's! I made myself get vertical and go to church. I was tempted to sleep in, but I knew I would regret it. I cancelled my piano students for today. I did this a few days ago.  I applaud myself for this move.  I was feeling the depression loom and I knew I needed a day of solitude and freedom to think and just be.  I do need this. I think I will rework my schedule and budget so that I do not work Sundays.  Even God took a day of rest! I had another moment of foresight. Last night my daughter was in a crockpot freezer meal prepping mood. We prepped several weeks of dinners and put them in freezer bag...