Easy to hide!

Jan21

It’s visible
And yet easy to hide

It needs attention
But it’s ignored

It can be treated
But it’s often not

It can be dangerous
If left alone

The treatment can be multipronged
But some modalities are frowned upon

Go to a psychologist?
Why? What’s wrong with me?
How can talking to someone else
Resolve this?

Take medication?
Out of the question!
What about the side effects
How can meds help me anyway?

Get out of the house?
You’re kidding me, right?
That’s the last thing on my mind!

Start exercising?
Are you joking?
I don’t even have the energy
To do the simplest thing!

Call on my friends?
And tell them what?
Everyone is busy with their lives

See my family doctor?
What can he do?
It’s not as if I have the flu!

All I want to do is as little as possible
I want to help myself
But it’s so hard
That’s why I do nothing at all

It’s visible
But easy to hide

It can be treated
But it’s often not!

Lida Berghuis
January 20th, 2012

The cliff

Jan16

The cliff accepts the wave
It does not fight the wave,
But it does not crumble

It does not get angry at the wave
It’s the nature of the wave to lash out

The wave is inevitable
Cannot be wished away

After the wave recedes
The cliff knows that the wave
Will be back

It’s not fearful
It’s not perturbed
It knows it has the strength
To face it again

January 11th, 2012
Lida Berghuis

Note to self 4: live and let live

Jan10

img_4219

 

Expect different attitudes and ways of thought
Don’’t judge and you won’’t be judged

Action speaks louder than words
No need to preach, to each his own

We each have different philosophies in life
Let’’s acknowledge that and move on
No need to change others
Or agree with everyone

Focus on the positive, laugh and smile
There’’s always something there
To cheer you up

Your armor of love and good will
Will protect you
See the good in everyone

Difficulties are not to be shunned
These things are part of life

Don’’t be surprised or perturbed by them
You are ready to face them

Live and let live, my thought today
Let go of hurt, grow and thrive…

Lida Berghuis
January 9th, 2011

Tidiness is overrated!

Dec12

What do the back seat of my car
My bedside table
My reading spot at home
And my coffee table
Have in common?

They’re strewn with books
And when I think of putting them away
I realize that that’s how I like them

My books are my companions
I read a few at a time
One at bedtime
One with my morning coffee
And one when I have extra time!

I don’t want to put them away
Because they grow on me
I like seeing them lying around
They’re like my recent history

Their beautiful jacket designs
Remind me of what I read
How I felt as I read the book
And of my friend
If they were given to me by a friend

Gradually, they become
A part of the furniture for me
How can I remove them?
They are also a part of me!

Lida Berghuis
November 2nd, 2011

Creativity and Freedom!

Dec11

 

“There’s a connection between creativity and freedom!”*
That makes sense!

To be creative
One must feel free from that which already exists

To be creative
One must create that which does not exist

Freedom from tradition!
Freedom from convention!
Freedom from the status quo!

Freedom from shoulds
Freedom from don’’ts
Freedom from must be sos

To be creative
One needs to be a rebel of sorts
Otherwise one will follow in the footsteps of others
And not create something new

Creativity and freedom
Such beautiful words
Such powerful words
Such harmonious words

Freedom to dream
Freedom to be
Freedom to open the doors

Lida Berghuis
December 3rd, 2011

*Walter Isaacson

What’s the rush?

Dec2

Faster, faster!
Better, better!
More, more!
But what if the destination
Is not well thought of?

Bigger, bigger!
Higher, higher!
But what if the concept
Is not a good one?

Sometimes we have to
Slow… down…
Come to a stop

And think about where we are
Where we are heading
What’s the rush?

There is no point
In going nowhere fast
There is no point running
Without a plan

So often we get caught up in life
Taking a step back
Can help a lot

Why are we doing what we do?
What is our ultimate goal?
Who are we trying to please?
What is it that makes us happy?

Whose race are we running?
Ours or theirs?
Who has set our goals?
Us or them?

So, let’s slow down
Let’s take stalk
Let’s reflect
Before we go on

Lida Berghuis
November 16th, 2011

The humility of acceptance

Nov28

“The humility of acceptance”
What profound words

To accept our shortcomings
To acknowledge them
To live with them
And work towards overcoming them

Not to expect perfection
Because that can’t be
But to seek improvement
Be as good as we can be

To know we have limits
And to respect them
To know we can break
If we don’t acknowledge them

To accept ourselves as we are
Even during moments of weakness
To look for lessons we need to learn
To know we can be mistaken

To realize that growth
Can happen anytime
When one is an adult
Or a child

To face problems
Rather than run from them
To know we can succeed
If we try

To feel empowered to act
To have faith in goodness and kindness
To reach out to others
When we’re down

To have patience when
Something takes time
The end will come
It always does

The humility of acceptance
Comes with time
Comes with trials
It comes with battles lost and won

Lida Berghuis
November 5th, 2011

Ode to facebook!

Nov12

To Facebook or …
Not to Facebook?
Perhaps the answer is not no or yes
It’s hard to ignore something
So ubiquitous!

Rather how much should I facebook each day?
To avoid getting addicted or perturbed?
And who should be my ‘friend’ on Facebook?
Who should read every update
And see every photo?

Pictures and words can connect us, of course
Keep us up to date and in the know
But should I put all my pictures on Facebook?

I’m impressed when people ask for information
And pose questions in their status updates
An interesting way to use their network of friends

But do we need facebook for
Relationship updates?
‘In a relationship’ can mean one thing to me,
Another to my ‘friend’
And what does ‘it’s complicated’ actually mean?
This one really confuses me!

‘Friending’ is fun
But when do I defriend?
How do I feel if I’m the one being
Defriended?

How often should I change
My profile picture?
In it, should I include my spouse
And my lovely children?

Do I have to ‘like’ someone’s comment
So they know it was read?
Do I ‘like’ the whole album
Or just photos of a friend?

Facebook like anything else
Can be used in different ways
And these are choices that we need to make!
And for good or for bad I am afraid,
Facebook is here to stay
My friend!

Lida Berghuis
November 11th, 2011

Mistakes?

Nov6

“Getting to what feels right
Often comes from things going wrong!”*

How true is that!
Been there, done that many times!

Why do we think we should have the answers
Right away?
Why do we see mistakes as a waste of time?
Why do we think of failure as final?
They could just be a new place, to start!

A choice is just that!
It has consequences of course
Consequences that we will like, or
Consequences that can lead us somewhere new

Those who succeed, fall many times
The secret is to have the strength
To get up each time!

Why are we so hard on ourselves?
Why do we expect success the first time?
There is no shame in turning around
Until we get to the place that feels right!

Lida Berghuis
November 2nd, 2011

*Oprah