Through a Narrow Window / Maintaining a Sense of Humor to Cope / 2020-21 School Calendar

There are so many Treasures
we find in the Magic
of this Moment
in Time.

The Gifts
given to us
by our Father in Heaven Above,
abound all around.
.
Listen easy,
and you can hear God Calling.
Walk barefoot,
and the ground
won’t pay any mind.
Look up,
while you are
standing in the rain.
The feeling
you will have
is the knowing,
that the drops that fall
did flow
in many a vein.

You
and this Beautiful World
are one,
the very same.

Walk
the Fields of Green,
and know Life
is but a Dream,
come True.

So Blessed,
so very Loved are we,
by our Father
in Heaven Above.

And the Time
is our Time,
in the precious moments
that catch us feeling,
while saying nothing,
and basking in the Sun.

With Love,
there is no measure
of Time.

Love,
is the only good
to be.
.
Love is a Present
from God to you and me
and all Human Kind,
a Gift
given by our Savior,
to savor.

My Dear Friends,
what happens
when we start to Live
as our True self,
the Truly Loving
ME?

The sounds
of silence,
become moments
that deepen the poignancy
of the Beautiful haunting Song
that is Life,
that is Love.

                      Mary Hopkin “For All My Days”

“For all my days in many ways
I’ll think of all I’ve lived to see
The mountains high, clouds in the sky
I thank the Lord for sharing them with me.
The summer’s glow, the winter’s snow
Are not to me just scenery
When tree tops sway I long to say
Oh thank you Lord for sharing them with me.
Life I believe, Love we receive
We shouldn’t take too casually.
For all my days in many ways.
I’ll thank the Lord for sharing them with me.”
– Jack Fishman / Roy Budd
click here to play this Beautiful Song

Struck
from the Chord of Life,
the moment
we become truly alive,
feels good,
and we are back Home again,
and find ourselves to be,
like a long lost friend.

Love
captures the very Essence
of Life.

“To all the Faithful or all those who find their Joy
from their own souls,
it reminds us that life is good,
the Universe is Beautiful
and we have a right to be here.
When we share this with our families, communities
and strangers, without prejudice,
we shine just a little better.
I am grateful.”
– Allan Edwards

The Fountain of God’s Truth
is revealed by Love
in all its Glory.
Your Human Heart
can drink at this Fountain
of Joy and Eternal Beauty.

The answers
we seek
are not separate
from the problems.

 The solutions
lie in the understanding
of God’s Love for
you.

The answers are not
outside the problem.
They lie in wait
inside
your Human Heart.

From innumerable complexities
we must grow
 in simplicity.
We must become simple
in our inward Life
and in our outward need.

The end is the beginning of all things.
The answers to our needs
are suppressed and hidden,
awaiting to be released
through the rhythm of
Prayer,
and Communion
with God.

Happiness
comes when we are doing something
because we really
Love to do it, 
not because it rewards us
with the illusion
of something material.

God is Love,
and Love is God.
Love
cannot be defined or described
by the Human mind.
Love is Eternal,
it is what is truly real, 
immeasurable,
and
the answer.

Peace
is of the Heart,
not of the mind.
To know inner Peace,
we must find inner Beauty,
for in understanding Beauty,
we know Love.

Through a narrow window
we can see only part of the sky,
not the whole vastness and magnificence
of God’s Beautiful Blessing.

Look
into all
that your Heart
can be.

And,
the last farewell,
will be a Greeting.
Just wait
and see.

Goodnight.

“Please don’t wake me up too late.
Tomorrow comes and I will not be late.
Late, today when it becomes tomorrow
I will leave to go away.”
– Paul McCartney

Maintaining a Sense of Humor to Cope

By

Elizabeth Scott, MS

Fact checked by

Adah Chung

on June 26, 2020

Hinterhaus Productions / Getty Images

A sense of humor can be an amazing line of defense when it comes to coping with stress. Unfortunately, stress is inevitable and you can’t eliminate it, despite your best efforts. You can, however, better prepare yourself for stress with several coping techniques.

Developing a sense of humor about life’s challenges is a great place to start. A sense of humor will help you to build resilience to stress as well as improve your overall physical and emotional health. It will also enable you to:

• Bond with others
• Look at things in a different way
• Normalize your experience
• Keep your relationships strong

Luckily, it’s not too hard to develop a healthy sense of humor — but it does require a bit of practice. Here are a few ways to find the funny in Life and better cope with stress.

Start With a Smile

Even if you fake a smile (making the physical shape with your mouth), it can lead to increased happiness (not just looking happier). This is because the act of smiling (real or fake) causes your body to release feel-good endorphins. Plus, a fake smile tends to lead to a genuine one — and this means that laughter will come more easily, and the stress will melt more readily.

Top 10 Reasons to Smile Every Day

 

Take a Step Back

When you’re in the middle of a difficult situation, it can seem overwhelming. Taking a step back, however, and viewing your situation as an observer can help you see your situation with a new lens. This is called reframing — and it works.

Value the Extremes

If your situation seems ridiculously frustrating, recognize the potential humor in just how ridiculously frustrating and annoying it is. In your imagination, take the situation to an extreme that becomes even more ridiculous until you find yourself amused.

For example, if you are waiting in a long line at the store, imagine that hours pass, then days, visualizing loved ones visiting you in your new home or holding your child’s birthday party in aisle seven…you get the picture.

Recruit Funny Buddies

Social support is a crucial part of stress management.3 Find a friend or group of friends with whom you can share your frustrations and challenges, and laugh about them in the process. Even when your friends are not there, you can lighten your mood by thinking about the retelling that will come later.

The Top 4 Reasons Friends Are Important

 

Make It a Game

You can have a “most annoying boss” contest with your friends, or try to count how many times the same potentially frustrating event happens in a day. (“I was cut off in traffic seven times today — I’m almost up to 10.”) This works well for predictable or repetitive annoying situations that you can’t control; you can begin to view them in their own special way instead of letting them unnerve you.

Watch Funny Shows and Movies

One of the reasons that sitcoms are so popular is that many of them take somewhat universal situations that people find frustrating and push them a little further to show the silly side of it all.

Realizing that some universally annoying situations are actually funny, can help you endure them with a smile — even if it’s a wry or ironic smile.

Read Funny Books

Reading humorous interpretations of Life can help you maintain a light-hearted point-of-view and find your own style of seeing the world in a different light. Look for an author skilled at finding the humor in Life events, ranging from annoying to upsetting or even tragic. Some suggestions: Dave Barry, David Sedaris, or Jerry Seinfeld. 

Reading Material Ideas for Brain Health and Fitness

 

Practice Relaxation Techniques

Laughter yoga, which combines laughter and intentional yogic breathing (pranayama), is a great way to release stress and get some more giggles into your day.  If this type of class is not available to you, there are other types of yoga and relaxation strategies (meditation, tai chi, deep breathing) to minimize stress so you can build your resilience and your sense of humor.

The school calendar is HIGHLY subject to change due to circumstances. Please contact the school to be aware of changes.
Thank you.

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