More Hidden Power of Kindness--- and the Homeschool Journey

Looking through HP of K last night, I found these quotes I had marked in the past. I see how they relate so well to the journey of homeschooling... what a gold mine!

"You want quick and easy solutions. When they are not forthcoming, you get depressed. Nature has a way of taking its own sweet time, and you are a part of nature. You cannot force things. Cultivate a respect for time and the essential role it plays in all human activity."

"The important thing is not to let your mistakes and failures gnaw at you. Regret is an appalling waste of energy. You cannot build on it."

"Action is one of the most efficient forms of self-encouragement and good cheer. There is something intrinsically humble about action. When you act, you come to grips with reality. Action does not make your problems magically dissappear, but unlike talk or dreams or merely good resolutions, it does begin to solve them."

"A sense of humor is the aquired abiilty to see contrasts and inconsistancies in life, especially your own life and to be amused by them."

I love that last one.. and the fact the he calls a sense of humor an 'aquired' ability. Humm.. how often am I just to serious around here. Picking up clutter, seeing the negative.... am I fun to live with?

Here is an example that struck me. When we dogsat last month, the client's house was beautiful and also immaculate. No clutter. Decor was pretty. Very relaxing to me. It is like a mini-retreat as I sit there with the dog, knowing I can just relax.

Then as the boys and I were chatting one day as we walked in, B said how he pretended this was his house, thinking... would he like it? He of course, was thinking of the game room, the layout, as an exercise b/c recently we were looking at houses in a potential move so were in that frame of mind.

I stopped and pretended that this house was mine- I lived here. It was weird! Suddenly I saw all sorts of things I had not before! I saw clutter, scratches on the counter, dog hair on the floor, the smallness of the living room. It was like in the optometrist office when he puts a new lens on you and things suddenly change.

I saw the power of my negative thinking! It was actually a big scary! And showed where my mindset often is- within a critical spirit. (oh, this belongs in my previous post..) and the spirit was critical of myself- when it was her house, it was pretty. Once it was 'mine' I saw all the flaws. And that is actually how I see my own home.

I wish I could find Fr. Lovasik's quote on this.. I read again last night. About searching out beauty and offering kindness. His example was how one could walk past a friend's broken gate and not notice it, but comment on the beauty of the single rose within.

I have a lot to work on, but what peace there is in kindness, even to oneself. :)