Reflecting on Some Daily Quotes

Right now I'm reflecting on a quote from my daily calendar. The calendar is one of those thick five-by-five inch spiral bound calendars with a daisy on every page that sits on my desk at work.

I've neglected to turn the page for a while. I liked - and maybe needed - to be reminded daily of this quote from November 13th: 

"It is not in doing what you like, but in liking what you do that is the secret of happiness."- Sir James M. Barrie. 

For the past year or so, that quote has remained. Then something made me reach out to the calendar and see it anew again. Flipping through the desk calendar earlier this week reminded me that I had written some milestone moments on certain pages - anniversaries, birthdays, first moments from my kids.

Today I reached out to it again, and not appreciating the quote on May 30th, I flipped back a few pages to see what I had missed this week. The entry on May 26th resonated with me.

"Be still, and in the quiet moments, listen to the voice of your heavenly Father. His words can renew your spirit... no one knows you and your needs like He does." - Janet L. Weaver. 

Today, I needed to hear those words. Two weeks ago I went to Mass and heard the priest call on us to pray to the Holy Spirit, in a simple "Come O Holy Spirit, Come ____". The blank could be filled with "take my anxiety away" or "give me strength" or "show me what I should do next". Whatever I need, pray for it, I should rely on the Holy Spirit to guide me. And in the seldom quiet moments I allowed myself, I did hear His voice. I heard it when I was overwhelmed after the kids went to school and there was too much to be done at work and at home. When I was going to bed and anxious. When I had stayed up too late and wanted another ice cream although I knew it wouldn't make me feel better. When I didn't want to go out on a walk but sit inside and mope. And mostly when I felt guilty for loosing my cool and being angry - or not paying close enough attention to my kids when they needed me to protect them or teach them. It had been a very angry and anxious week.

To overcome those angry and anxious feelings, I've learned a lot of things in the past few years: exercise, pray, get enough sleep, don't let yourself get hungry, eat right, talk it out (either to my husband, mom, coworkers, or on this blog). It all really does help. But one of the things I didn't feel I've been doing well is praying and LISTENING. Something made me reach for that calendar today, and made me turn the pages back. So this week I'm going to try that out and try and listen.