Take a Moment

A pleasant smile and a happy face,

Make the world a brighter place.

Live with zest and love and style

And always wear a happy smile.

And may this letter in its way,

Help you have a happy day.

-              Mabel Praschma

This morning began the first darker work morning of the season. While it might be a little harder to get up in the dark, the rewards of what seems like longer days is so lovely. And the sunrise this morning, well here in my part of the world it was over the top beautiful. A positive sign of some kind? Perhaps.

As today’s video shares, we did it!  We finished the major closet projects I went into winter ready to take on. With the amount of work these closets took from purging, rediscovering, letting go, and over all just a really good cleanse and reorganization, the time and effort was so worth what we now are enjoying.

One of the things I found in my office closet among some pictures and papers was the above writings from my grandmother, my Grammy, Mabel Praschma. She had signed off with this poem in a letter to my mother so many years ago in this beautiful loving way. At the time she had lived in Kansas City, Missouri while my mom was living in Southern California (Grammy eventually moved down the street from us in California).

What I have found to be true, when we come across the unexpected during clearing/cleansing projects, how important it is to take the time in savoring some of our discoveries. Most especially before discarding whatever it might be in the rush to get a task done. I think you could equate this to being present. Embracing a thought, a memory, a hope, or a dream, either of something of our own, or someone’s we love.

In the case of finding this letter I felt the love my grandmother had for my mother in such a beautiful way. In that moment it felt like a warm hug from both of them. I also came to realize/remember that both my Grammy and my Mom loved to write poems. Though they were pretty quiet about it and we have discovered them since their passing.

So, to give my Mom equal billing this morning it seems appropriate to also share one of her poems that we discovered after she left the planet. I shared this in the opening of my second book, Victory One Moment at a Time.

With time on our minds, I wish you a week ahead that brings you what you need, along with a prayer for peace for our world that is so needed right now.  I will close today’s letter with my mom, Jeannine Landreau’s poem:

Do not take this moment lightly for it is the most important moment of your life.

It is all there is of the present. Live it to the fullest for it will never come again.

All that has gone before it is a memory and all that will come after it is only a hope or dream of future things.

It is more than the beginning of tomorrow and the end of yesterday. Make it a great moment, it is your life right now and you will never live it again.

Plant often and with Love!

Cheri

Cheri Ruskus

Author and Growth Enthusiast