Small difference

I have never been especially impressed by the heroics of people who are convinced they are about to change the world.
I am more awed by those who struggle to make one small difference after another.”

– Ellen Goodman
(journalist awarded the 1980 Pulitzer Prize)Tending the Holy, spiritual direction graduating class 2008
Christos Center for Spiritual Formation

Family support

In the last few days, being with family has been prevalent. Gregg and I helped do some yard care with one son and his wife, Gregg and boys finished reshingling the garage, my sister and I went to our nephew’s and my godchild’s graduation open house, and we did a brief Memorial Day visit to my father’s grave.

In attending my nephew’s open house in Iowa, I was again reminded of the value of connecting with extended family. Family can be such a gift, and though some work is necessary to stay in touch, it seems to me to be well worth it. Support of family invites numerous benefits.

A few ways to support family and positive development - specifically for adolescents – are listed at http://www.search-institute.org/assets/. Find there some ideas for concrete, common sense, positive experiences and qualities essential to raising successful young people; they include:
*Family support with high levels of love.
*Positive family communication where the young person is willing to seek advice and counsel from parent(s).
*Other adult relationships, with the young person receiving support from three or more nonparent adults.

Extended relatives, and family friends, can be some of that support toward positive development. I am grateful for getting to be a part of and amongst that support in these recent days past.

Sprung

Though it is a little chilly today, spring has most definitely sprung. I am outside - enjoying the warm touch of sunshine, watching seedlings flex their little stem muscles through the black dirt, listening to bird song, and glorying in the blue of sky and green of emerging leaves - as often as possible. Enjoying all things created is health to me, and reminds me of the lovingkindness of the Creator.I have no research to relay today, just a gentle nudge to enjoy the wonder of spring. In my yard we're nearing the end of the tulip blooms, but the lilacs blossoms are about to pop, the first of the lily-of-the-valley are opening, and the bleeding heart is about to display its showy pinks.

God is good.
~
"The earth is the Lord's and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it..." Psalm 24:1

Look and see

Mother's Day this year included a fun dinner with family, some planting of garden seeds, and a late afternoon walk in the Cannon River Wilderness area. Shortly after Gregg captured the beauty of this bird in picture, we ran into a bird-watching couple who identified the type of warbler we saw (Blackburnian) and told us that it is unusual to view so many warblers: the birds sometimes migrate at night or over a period of just a day or two, and in many years the trees are leaved out by the time they make their migration making them much more difficult to see. But on this blessed day, we looked, and saw.

Look and See

This morning, at waterside, a sparrow flew
to a water rock and landed, by error, on the back
of an eider duck; lightly it fluttered off, amused.
The duck, too, was not provoked, but, you might say, was laughing.

This afternoon a gull sailing over our house was casually scratching
it stomach of white feathers with one
pink foot as it flew.

Oh Lord, how singing and festive is your gift to us, if we only look, and see.

- Mary Oliver, Why I Wake Early: New Poems

Learned optimism

I am fascinated by what ‘works’ in life. Researcher Martin Seligman, University of Pennsylvania psychologist, who pioneered thinking about learned helplessness, has also written on “learned optimism.” He has found that people fare best in life’s challenges with different strategies for whether the news is good or bad.

“If the news is good, the healthiest people think, ‘This is always how it is in all sorts of situations, and it came about as a result of my efforts.’ When the news is bad, those same healthy people use an opposite attributional strategy: ‘That was awful, but it was due to this one fluky event, out of my control and unlikely to happen again or to apply to other parts of my life.’ Good news viewed as pervasive, long-lasting, and generated by your own actions; bad news viewed as just the opposite.”
[Quote from my favorite book on stress, Robert M. Sapolsky's Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: A Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping. Seligman’s book is entitled Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life, 2006.]

At first glance, does it seem like the approaches are a bit incongruent? But hey, if it works, it’s worth attention. Embracing opposites is getting seemingly easier as I get older; so I'm in.

May this month be full of numerous and pleasant discoveries of what ‘works’ for you.

P.S. It's spring! On a walk yesterday, I saw some trout lily blossoms - a sweet treat of spring. Not at all a result of any of my efforts, but none-the-less the beauty brings me to a place of optimism!

Sunlight and aging

I have a great like for sunlight. On this beautiful sunny day in my garden, I saw three other creatures loving the sun. Besides warming cold-blooded snakes, sunlight does some good things for us warm-blooded souls. In the March 2008 issue of Health magazine, I read -
"A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that high levels of vitamin D - a nutrient your body makes from sun exposure - can slow the aging process by up to five years. The vitamin apparently cuts down on DNA damage that boosts the risk of age-related illnesses like heart disease and cancer. Just 20 minutes a week of sunlight on the skin (preferably not on your face) can deliver 90 percent of your daily D requirements."

Like anything, we can overdo it: too much sun raises risks for skin cancer and premature aging.
So, in moderation (like I can talk! I'm still only so-so about being sun moderate, and was awful about in my younger days) might you enjoy the sun this spring!

Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.
Ecclesiastes 11:7