Courageous Love

Courage is not the absence of fear

For fear will still be around

Yet to step out and move forward

In the face of that fear

Is what bravery is all about

We may still tremble and we will quake

The other direction we will look to take

Then love draws our gaze back

Hope considers risk

Pain must still be felt, compassion achieved

And we never lose if we have it guide us

By the hands of love

Rather than into the prison of fear

For fear teaches us it is meaningful

That there is something amazing at stake

It ignites within a depth of life

That being willing to lose is not a mistake

For to experience, to really live

Is to love even if love is one day lost

To love even if love is not returned

So we are ready for recognizing, accepting

That gift of lasting love that is present

We will know fear then in truth and awareness

And bravely be open of ourselves and others

To love beyond this world…

A love that is courageous

 

Where Life Does Flow

Have you ever touched a bare branch in winter?

Aware with eyes that it is naked of leaves

It’s emptiness at first appears cold and lonely

Yet I’m not hesitant to feel it in my fingertips

The crisp barren cold is not most apparent

It does not chill my blood at my skin to tree touch

Instead there is awareness that life is still flowing

That energy is there in that bare branch even rough

Regardless of me and my perception

Not bothering to appear any other way than what it is

The empty tree branches in winter touch me

With the beauty of life flowing even when unseen

I love to think of how it ebbs within those little branches

Stemming from far down into the roots

They spread out alive below the frozen surface of soil

They pulse of continuing energy that runs true

How precious and energetic is that hidden glow

So amazing and miraculous that every second it flows

And even though in seasons the external appears dormant

It is still full of life flowing, I feel it so

Being aware of my joyous energy

In my touch and feelings and growth.

This is My Life’s Heart!

Down for the Count

Discouragement is heavy, holding me down

Sadness is pinning me to the ground

It hits hard, striking low, never seeming to let up

I’m assaulted and outnumbered

Feeling broken and crushed

Yet just as it seems time is ending

I breathe in and push myself back up

Onto my knees gasping, shakily to my feet I rise

No matter how many times I am down for the count

There nowhere else to go but up

And how long I stay down depends upon only me

Keeping myself there or getting back up

Enduring Hope

Why does hope have to be so much work?

Am I doing something wrong?

The intensity of my passions

It calls upon

Every thought so examined for support

Like a cheering song

I must muster courage and most times am alone

Expectations cannot be on others

I must do this climb solo

All of me it requires, all of me it takes

Because God wants for all of me

To enjoy what only hope can taste

My Blog Review for 2012

I’m a pretty open person and happy for that quality. With that in mind, I want to post my Blog site stats from this past year for all to see and to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has visited my blog and read my posts! It could not have been possible or as wonderfully enjoyable without all of you. Hope to see even more of you in 2013. Let the blogging fun continue!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 3,000 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 5 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.