C O F F E E T H O U G H T S

i am in no way embarrassed to admit that a good cup of coffee makes me think soo much better than it should. you might call it addiction but i just think it's a part of every day life.  after clearing away the clouds in my mind i sometimes come to a new understand of who i am. weird but true, coffee carries magical powers, who knew?

today's cup suggested to me that maybe i am not bound by one type of category. when we meet new people we try and figure out how to explain ourselves through small titles. we want to categorize our personality so others understand just who we are, but my coffee thoughts say it's impossible to sum up people with titles. 

i simply don't fit in just one category because the categories that i want to claim contradict one another. (that might just be the only easy going thing about me.) so you want to talk about organic healthy living? you got it! want to watch football and drink a beer? you got it! Want to shop high end fashion and be a hipster? okay that's easy! i can't tell you that it's entirely normal to be that indecisive about what you like but just look at my closet and you will understand that i just like too many things to claim one type! i want to be a hippie and a casual prep? is that even possible? i guess what i am getting at is that maybe it's okay that we hate the idea of hot dogs but love Coney Island. do things like that have to be the only way we define ourselves? life is about balance and dabbling a small amount in everything helps you do that. it also keeps people guessing. 

life isn't about what we do but who we are and defining who we are is up to us. i am me...that's all.  

Virtue #4

I sometimes find myself lost in thoughts of past, present, and future.  I imagine these moments as moths caught in a spider's web.  Thoughts, especially mine, can do that to you.  They get you tangled up in something not worth focusing on.  Do you ever feel like every time you turn around something else isn't going as planned?  It happens.  We are, after all, only human.  It is easy to be quick to anger, fear, or worry when we are caught in our thought webs.  We feel the need to re-do failures to prove to ourselves we can conquer anything.  We avoid people and things when we don't get our way.  This year, I am trying something new.  I think that if just once I let myself accept the fact that I am not in control of all circumstances I might actually find peace.  

Virtue #4 is Acceptance:  To consider circumstances, especially those that cannot be changed, as satisfactory.

I won't write a negative list of "problems" that I have yet to accept as things I am not in control of.  I am simply going to say, life is full of ups and downs.  I fear that if we do not learn to accept some of those downs we may never feel successful, inspired, or clear-minded.

I am learning to refine my edges, part of that to me is learning to balance.  Learning when to accept "defeat" and when to keep pushing for "more".  What I do know is that there is an art to balance, we cannot always accept what we are given but we also must be aware that we cannot always control it either.

My hope for you today and this year is that you begin to see the things in your life you can accept.  In balance with that, I hope you are also able to see the things you want to continue to push towards a new outcome.  Acceptance will take practice.  It is almost as though you are retraining your mind to not feel the need to control.

Start your practice soon, before you forget!

Best,

Cordelia