Balance ...........1,001; 68.5

Woke up this morning in my comfy bed, feeling uncharacteristically cheerful.  This may have been linked to the aspirin I took last night to ease aching muscles due to some age-inappropriate yard work yesterday.  Whatever the cause of this great windfall of optimistm, I lay in bed reveling in The Happy, smiling at the lazy overhead fan, newly painted wall, sun-filtered curtains in the bedroom, and tolerating the cat bumped up against my leg.

I spent some time thus employed--not moving body while mind raced through personal universe at the speed of a Higgs-Bosun particle.  So it was that the pleasant Living in the Moment thoughts eventually wandered over to my other mood: the Dark Side.  The Dark side is not amenable to maintaining a cheerful morning outlook, but it pops in as it will.  So as cat #2 hopped up to join the party and ask for food, I peered into my personal void.  I thought of a friend who is worried about a basal cell melanoma he had removed a week ago and wonder if he got word on its cancerous potential.  I reflected on the strained relationship I have with one of my children, feeling emotionally helpless.  I wondered if the bugs, frogs, birds, squirrels, chipmunks, maybe possums in my backyard were getting enough moisture during the horrendous heat and drought, or if they were accessing the rag-tag collection of bowls and dishes and baths of water I scattered around.  Feeling the weight of this world, I had a cry, disturbing both kitties.  I believe (when not participating in the actual act of crying) that it is excellent tension release.  This morning, I accepted that Happy Thoughts and Dark Thoughts were both in my head.  There is room for both. I decline Giddy and I decline Wrecked.  They both exist and, I made up my mind, they can share space. They can Balance in my life.

So in about 15 minutes jumbled between sheets and kitties, I was called to Joy and Sunlight, went through What the Hell is My Life About, and back to Furballs Who Love and Want Breakfast.  I decided to go forth and face the day, with warm furry bodies and innocent expectation of good.  Their form of love is trusting me:to provide for them.  Provide: daily breakfast treat, regular food, clean water, clean litterbox, daily excursions into the great outdoors, and the occasional rubbing of head and back.  Their form of grief is being ignored all day, not getting breakfast treat, and getting bored.  They demonstrate an accessible lesson in balance.

So before rolling my spiritual and corporeal self off the bed and towards the Light and Fridge to retrieve spitiual nourishment for the Feline Ministry Mission, my form of prayer this morning (my 90 year old Mom regularly informs me she prays every morning, ergo I should pray every morning, so in recogntion of being thought-of daily I accede to her directive in the form of Thinking Thoughts) was to take joy in this moment of my life, recognize the equal amount of grief in other moments of my life, and go forth in balance. 

I reflected, I felt, I conquered.  I balanced the good and bad.  I balanced outlook, cats, and Mom in one fell swoop. 

Great way to start the day.