The Resolute Woman

Category: stress

  • What always changes?

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    resolutewoman
    in , ,

    All things pass, A sunrise does not last all morning. All things pass, A cloud-burst does not last all day. All things pass, Nor a sunset all night. What always changes? Earth, sky, thunder, mountain, water, Wind, fire, lake. These change…. Take things as they come. All things pass. I recently heard the Children’s Chorus…

  • A hermit in a cave

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    resolutewoman
    in ,

    The last time I was in Tulsa, I went with my son Jay to his church—St. Antony Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church. That Sunday, Father George told the story of St. Antony, who was born in Egypt in 251 A.D. and who became a hermit. He lived by himself in a cave for more than a…

  • Plodding along with books

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    resolutewoman
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    In a letter to Oprah Winfrey in 2006, Harper Lee defended her love of books. “In an abundant society where people have laptops, cell phones, iPods and minds like empty rooms, I still plod along with books. Instant information is not for me,” she wrote. Lee, who died recently, was the author of To Kill…

  • Remember to float

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    resolutewoman
    in ,

    My very busy friend Kerry, who’s the mother of two with a full-time job as a senior pastor at a Methodist church, wrote recently in her blog that she sometimes feels overwhelmed and exhausted. “The image that has been coming to my mind lately of my life is of me treading water,” she writes. “Treading…

  • How to have a good day

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    resolutewoman
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    Caroline Webb has suggestions for making the best of bad situations in her book How to Have a Good Day. * When you disagree with people, try repeating their side of the argument back to them affirmatively. They will feel appreciative even if they know they’re not winning the argument. * If you procrastinate, promise…

  • Mindful meditation

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    resolutewoman
    in ,

    Mindful meditation can help you gain control of your own attention and your own presence, says David Gelies in his new book Mindful Work. What is mindful meditation? “It’s really the practice of learning how to be right here, right now in an accepting way with whatever is happening, rather than letting our thoughts carry…

  • Shifting gears

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    resolutewoman
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    Sometimes, when you’ve been busy getting ready for a vacation, it’s difficult to slow down. This summer, when I was in Eureka Springs in a cabin on a hill, it took me two days to change my pace. But, one afternoon, I sat on the porch with a good book and enjoyed a cool breeze—and…

  • Better than heroin

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    resolutewoman
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    I’ve never tried heroin. So, I’ll have to believe that Mary Karr knows what she’s talking about. “Reading is socially accepted disassociation. You flip a switch and you’re not there anymore,” Karr says. “It’s better than heroin.” I do know that reading has given me great pleasure and comfort. We found Karr’s quote in The…

  • Avoid the duck syndrome

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    resolutewoman
    in

    Too many teenagers are pressured to be high-achieving in school and sports and music and community activities, says Gillian Barth in a column in the August 29, 2015, issue of The Dallas Morning News. They suffer, Barth says, from the duck syndrome—“appearing to glide calmly across the water while paddling frantically beneath.” I sometimes, too,…

  • What a world

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    resolutewoman
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    Abby, one of the characters in Anne Tyler’s book A Spool of Blue Thread, remembers that the wicked witch in “The Wizard of Oz,” said, “I’m melting! Melting! Oh, what a world, what a world.” Abby is the mother of four, the collector of “orphans.” Her orphans, who frequently show up at holiday dinners, are…