A GIFT TO MYSELF

By Danelle Carvell 

                                                                             

Appreciating the calm beauty of each day is the best gift.

I'm turning 60 on June 25. I haven't really decided how I feel about this. I guess I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I am this old. How will I celebrate my 60th birthday? That is undecided as well. I do feel the need to get away, so I phoned a close friend to see if she's free next weekend, but she's headed to Myrtle Beach with a nice man. That sounds fabulous!

The Beach is a great place to clear your mind and feel refreshed. But since I can't go right now, I think my birthday present to myself is going to be a mental break from everything troubling. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's feeling the need to escape right now. I can't recall a more stressful world than the one we're living in now. I don't have to expand on that. You know what I'm talking about. 

It seems to me that most of us are not very good at tuning out the cares of this world. We can't put our phones down. We bombard ourselves with television shows and commercials that heighten our stress levels. We can't take a break from Facebook. And we don't know how to get quiet and allow our minds to relax. 

Last night I sat outside after nightfall, lit a candle and watched the night sky. It wasn't a dark sky, but resembled the gloaming of a full-moon night. Lightening bugs flashed their happy glows both at a distance and right in front of me. The moon was peeking through the pines across the street, casting a single luminous ray toward me. I absorbed my senses with the life and the beauty around me and knew it was all created. 

I do have a favorite prayer: "Let me see You in this day." I want to be reminded each day that God sees me and he cares. This morning, as I sat on the front porch, a dove landed on the grass in front of me. It looked directly at me, then flew into a nearby pine. A dove is one of many symbols used for the Holy Spirit, which is God's power in action. This bird represents God's active force. When a dove lands several feet from me and looks directly at me, I know what it means and who sent it.  

God is always showing us visible proof of Himself and countless ways to relax. The peaceful symphony of song birds, the fluttering wings of a butterfly, and the intricate beauty and intoxicating scent of a flower are here all summer, waiting for us to take notice. For my 60th birthday, I am getting drunk on all these things. I'm tuning out everything that's not peaceful and I'm inhaling the beautiful calm of each day, wherever I can find it. I don't need to go to a beach to clear my mind and feel refreshed. The only thing I need to do is change what I focus on and what I appreciate.

Happy Birthday to me.