Tag Archive | challenges

On the lookout for beauty

Aug28

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On the lookout for beauty
Something to cheer my soul
Because doesn’t beauty do that so well?

A beautiful melody
A beautiful arrangement of flowers
A beautiful piece of art
A beautiful poem
A beautiful song!

All these cheer my soul
Bring me to a place of calm
I can leave my worries behind along with
My to-do list, my obligations, my responsibilities
All these can wait for a few moments as I breathe in
Deeply the fragrance of beauty

The challenges of life are many
And in the end, one of the things that sustains me
Is beauty!
In a world full of trials
Where sadness and sorrow can’t be avoided
Where we are tested each day
Where disappointment is inevitable…
Art and beauty provide a balm
A reason to go on and
To celebrate life and love

Lida Berghuis
August 3rd, 2014

The climb…

Jul31

This world is like a mountain we have to climb
Challenges are there
Our strength and perseverance is tested
But each height we reach is breathtaking

What can make this climb more manageable?
The support of friends
Someone to cheer us on
To walk along side us
A shoulder to cry on when things get tough
A friend to lean on when our strength wanes

And sometimes we’re the one who does the cheering up
The one who others can lean on
The strong one, for the moment…

Lida Berghuis
July 26th, 2014
Montreal Youth Conference

Cold comfort

Jun23

Everyone tells me I’ll be fine
I’ve been here before
And I’ll get out again

I believe them, sort of…
But that doesn’t ease the pain
The challenges I’m facing now are ever present
I’m still in the battlefield being battered and bruised
The fact that sometime in the distant future
This will be all over is cold comfort!

Yes, I’ll be fine
But what about now?
How am I to endure this pain
That won’t let go of me
How am I to smile
Knowing that tomorrow will be the same
And victory is in the distance

Nevertheless I have to find reasons
To keep hope alive
I rely on my friends
On prayer, on art!

The journey is long
There are not that many signs to
Show me the way
I walk with a heavy heart
With indescribable sadness
Feeling incapacitated
My energy drained
My laughter silenced
My mind foggy
My flow of words slowed to a trickle
My surroundings grey

It’s cold comfort to know that
Nightmare will be over when one is
In the midst of one
But human beings are resilient
We can always find reasons to go on!

Lida Berghuis
June 9th, 2014

Collage

May7

Collage

Can’t pretend nothing happened
Can’t pretend it was easy
Can’t try to sweep it under the carpet
Can’t let it go without addressing it

And what was it this time?
Why again?
Why am I so fragile?

It was a marathon
A test of endurance
Putting one foot in front of the other
When pain, sorrow and anxiety
Was the order of the day

Everyone told me I would be fine
But in the meantime
I had to go through what seemed like
Unbearable times

I know I’m not the only one who suffers
I know I’m not unique
But I have to acknowledge what was
I have to come to terms with it
Understand it
Or at least be at peace with it

As I celebrate the return of light
I have to revisit the past
Arrange and rearrange the pieces
Until I’m satisfied
Until it’s ready to be a part of the collage of my life

Normal!

Jan26

Normal is so predictable
It poses no challenge
It’s a puzzle that has already been solved!

Normal maybe comforting, safe
Won’t raise any eye brows
But it won’t intrigue either
It doesn’t bring excitement to the table
I doesn’t go somewhere new!

Normal does not test one’s resolve
Normal does not make us problem solve!
There is no hurdles to overcome
No mountains to climb

Normal does not celebrate the human spirit
The will to achieve the impossible
The strength to endure!

Leading normal lives not what we’re here for
And I wonder sometimes if normal only exists in our heads!
A nice neat package wrapped in pretty paper with a bow!

Lida Berghuis
January 26th, 2014

Fire of trials…

Oct25

Can’t feel pain unless we step into the fire
Can’t burn the impurities off our soul
Can’t experience pain just looking at fire
Can’t understand pain intellectually, no!

Once heat has seared our skin
Once our soul has felt the heat of trials
We are transported somewhere else
A place that is hard to describe

But those who have been there can tell you
It is worth the pain, abundant the rewards

Lida Berghuis
October 25th, 2013

That’s life!

Mar10

“Surprise and challenge in
Heartache and joy out!”

I think this pretty much explains life
There are always surprises, big and small

What we plan does not work out
What works out, better than what we planned

Challenge is on-going like the waves of the sea
There is respite, but not for long

Heartache always visits us
But what we’ve got to do is to let go
Feel it deeply and let go
Accept it as part of life

Joy always returns and washes the pain away
The sun always returns another day

Lida Berghuis
March 9th, 2013

*Mark Nepo

To be an immigrant!

Feb28

To let go of where one is
In anticipation of going somewhere new!
To have the courage to
Face the unknown!

To be curious
To seek what’s on the other side
Not content with the status quo
Willing to accept the discomfort of change
And starting over
And tolerating feeling lost at times
And homesick too

To see the potential
To want to have new experiences
Realizing that there is so much
That is unknown

To be naive
Not anticipating all the challenges
Or just being so drawn to something novel
That one is willing to accept
The challenge and discomfort

To be an immigrant
A blend of courage and naiveté!
Building on the past
Somewhere new!

Lida Berghuis
February 26th, 2013

"There is so much abundance wherever we are!"*

Feb22

I feel in life
I’ve been often led
Sometimes even pulled and drawn
Against my will!

What I said never to
Has come to be
What I thought would break me
Has built me up

Somehow I thought I knew best
Somehow I thought I should decide
The unexpected arrived
And inconvenienced me
I complained
I did not know why!

Why were my plans
Turned upside down?
When I expected to go left
Why did I end up going right?

My unhappiness came from the fact
That I did not consider
That I didn’t have the answers all
That I was in fact wrong at times!

Maybe I didn’t have the humility
To accept a different path
A better path
In the long run!

Maybe I looked at the short term challenges
And did not look far enough
Maybe I did not realize that experiencing
Discomfort was part of growing up!

Lida Berghuis
February 21st, 2013

*Mark Nepo