The Sweet Spot Moments of Life

snuggly g 3e

It has been a challenging year for John and I – many good things this past year, but also some tough times, too. Ah, the ebb and flow of life.

Last night John and I chilled out in the living room after spending the afternoon with his side of the family celebrating Thanksgiving, plus a milestone birthday for his mom and the announcement that one of his sister’s is getting married.

John was watching the Packer game and I was snuggled on the sofa, my nose deep in a book. Gidget was burrowed under her blanket beside me, the woodstove stoked keeping us warm.

With much on our mind lately, John and I treasure our times together whether we are deep in conversation or just simply being together. Being together for 36 years now, recently celebrating 30 of those years as married, we have grown together in a way that I am very proud of.

As I was reading, and I thought John was watching the game, all of a sudden I heard him say very sweetly, “I have a very beautiful wife.”

I looked up from my book to see him looking at me– that look of pure love.

My heart melted into a thousand pieces. It felt so good to hear him say that. Not that it was about how I actually look in terms of looks, but it was how he said it. And how it felt deep in my soul. That he loves every part of me.

“Thank you for saying that, honey,” I said, and smiled. Those sweet spots in time that you want to hold onto forever and never let go.

But always there, tucked inside your memory for a rainy day when life does not seem so sweet and to know that those moments of sweetness is what makes everything all worth it.

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A Gift to Yourself and to Others Called “Holding the Space.”

john and gidg

I hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving. John and I spent a quiet day at home, just the two of us, which has been typical for quite a few years. We napped, played Monopoly, which I am happy (and bragging!) to say that I won.

The reason I am bragging is because I have never won a Monopoly game against John, so I was pretty excited. We also enjoyed our woodstove and as you can see in the photo, John had a special little helper to keep it stoked.

Today I want to share something I recently learned  that I thought you might find helpful and of interest.

Recently at my SoulCollage(R) Facilitator training, Audrey, our trainer told us about something called “Holding the Space.”

This is a way in which to be present for someone who is going through something difficult – oftentimes when there really aren’t words needed to fill the space, but just that someone needs a container in which to be heard.

I also think this can be quite valuable when we find ourselves in a situation that can tend to suck all our positive energy from us.

Holding the space for yourself can keep you centered and put up a protecting energetic field around you so that negative situations don’t leave you feeling so drained.

I’ve shared this with a few people lately and they said that it has helped them as they were going through some tough times.

And then I also had an “aha!” moment just the other day as I thought more about this concept.

Dogs seem to just do this naturally!  They seem to always be holding the space for we mere human beings.

It’s why I love being around them so much. When I want to talk, they hold the space. When I want to be silent, they hold the space. When I want to cry, they hold the space.

What a gift this is!  A gift we can learn to give others, as well as, to ourselves.

Please feel free to leave a comment…