Tag Archive | joy

Dance!

Jun28

When it pours
Dance in the rain!
You can complain
But dance instead!

When life gets busy
Take one step at a time
You can get overwhelmed
But count your steps instead!

When confusion reigns
Just relax!
You don’t need to know
All the answers right now!

One step at a time
Dance the dance of life
Sometimes slowly
Sometimes quickly
Sometimes with grace
Sometimes awkwardly

Dance in joy
Dance in sorrow
Dance your worries away
The secret is to hear
The music when others may not!

Lida berghuis
June 28th, 2013

Castaway

May24

 

beach

“The castaway’s worst mistake is to hope too much and do too little”*

Feeling depressed is similar to
being stranded on a boat in an ocean
with no land in sight

Every day is the same
The challenges are the same
The fears are the same
The limitations are the same
The questions are the same
Why am I here?
What happened?
How am I supposed to survive this?
Who is going to rescue me?
How long will this agony continue?
When will this nightmare end?

Floating on an ocean of negative thoughts
Dark clouds of hopelessness surround you
Sometimes it pours misery
Sometimes the heat of trials is unbearable
Sometimes you feel numb to all feeling
And all the while you wonder how to go on

The loneliness is intense
No one to console you
No guarantee that the rescuer
Will arrive in time
Or that you will find your way
Out of this maze
Sometime

The mistake is to rely on hope only
To choose patience over action
To count the days
Till someone comes

The mistake is to think
That the only thing that brings you joy
Is the sight of land

Salvation lies in realizing that
Some of the answers lie within you
Your actions will determine your fate
Praying is appropriate
But so is taking a stand!

Salvation is in problem solving
When no solution seems to come to mind
Salvation is in not giving up
No matter how many times
What you thought may work proves wrong
Salvation is in taking small steps each day
Steps to help you stay afloat a little longer

It’s no picnic
No walk in the park
But giving up is not an option
Persistence and action is the answer
To finding a way out!

Lida Berghuis
May 24th, 2013

*Life of Pi

Not today!

May12

I care about the news of the world
But not today!
I pay attention to my to do list
But not today!
I have my daily routine
But not today!

Sometimes I need a day
Like today
When I can leave my cares behind
Think of other things
Or nothing at all!

My duties and responsibilities will be there
Tomorrow and every other day

So, today I choose to forget them
Set them aside
Take a break from them
Banish them from my mind!

Because without days like today
I will bend and sometimes break!
We all have different limits of endurance
The load you can easily carry can break my back
I now know that I can’t and should not compete
With those who can carry heavier loads
Or have unrealistic expectations of my own

I hope I’ve learned how to take care of myself
I hope I’ve figured out what rejuvenates me

And so today…
I write myself into my peaceful place
The place of serenity and calm
The place of tenderness and love
The home of joy and peace of mind!

Lida Berghuis
May 11th, 2013

Beauty revealed!

May6

Beauty revealed!

The purpose of art if any needs to be stated
Is to bring beauty into our world
Or to reveal the beauty that exists!

Beauty inspires
Beauty heals
Beauty eases the suffering
That is inevitable
In life

Beauty soothes the soul
And calms the heart

Beauty elevates and
Bestows joy

Beauty vivifies and
Energizes

Beauty makes hope blossom!

Lida Berghuis
May 6th 2013

Laughter and tears

Apr3

The one who laughs a hearty laugh
Has probably cried many times

True joy doesn’t exist
In one who has not suffered at all

Joy springs from understanding
From having endured difficult times

Let your laughter ring out
During times of joy and wonder
Let your tears fall when broken hearted

Laughter the sun
Tears the rain
Both are needed
In our life on earth!

Lida Berghuis
April 3rd, 2013

Fragile 2

Mar18

Sometimes I think I feel too much
Absorb the energies around me too much
Positive people lift me up
But negativity drags me way down!

Somehow I feel this life
Is not meant to be easy
It will always be a struggle
With brief periods of respite!

Struggling and learning is part of life
But I sometimes wonder where to get
The energy to carry on after having fallen down!

Sometimes I feel so fragile
I feel like a flower petal that can be crushed
Blown away
And rained upon!

Sometimes I feel I’m not strong enough
For the needs of this world
That my skin is not thick enough
To withstand the bruises and the cuts!

Struggling is part of life
Joy is part of life
And the things that keep me going
Are art, the love of family and friends
My faith, and the beauty I see all around!

Lida Berghuis
March 6th, 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

Red

Feb21

Red is a state of mind
It’s fire
It’s creativity
It’s joy

Red is a state of heart
It’s love
It’s friendship
It’s compassion

Red is a state of soul
It’s exaltation
It’s anticipation
It’s flight

Red is a state I like
To be in
Even if it’s From time to time

Lida Berghuis
February 15th, 2013

I thought I could not!

Feb20

I thought I could not
But I did!
I thought I would crumble and fall
but I did not!
I thought joy was gone forever
But it returned!
I thought the night would never end
But morning came!

I thought all hope was lost
And the reason to live
Had become hard to find
I thought this time was different
And I would not survive

I thought I had come to the end of my rope and could not take another step
I thought life was unfair
And I’d suffered enough

I thought I had reached my
Threshold of pain
And continuing would only
Bring more of the same

But despite all that
Hope gradually returned
Suffering eased
And I smiled again!

Lida Berghuis
February 20th, 2013

Duduk

Dec17

imageThe melancholy music of the duduk
Reminds me of the crying of the Persian violin
The music I heard in Iran as a child
It reminds me of the lament of the violin
As it sang its melancholy song

The cry of the violin
Would tug at my heartstrings
And overwhelmed by emotion
I did not know if I should stay or run

Now, the sound of duduk takes me there
There is a deep melancholy
It can only express
As if it’s crying for all the injustice
In the world
All the crimes committed in the name
Of nation and tribe

The music takes a happier turn
I can let go of the sadness
Glad that melancholy and joy
Reside side by side

Sadness gives way to joy
And joy to sadness in time
This is the reality of this world
From which there is no escape
No matter how hard we try

The secret is to learn to
Sit with the sadness
Accept pain as part of life
Without sadness , there is no joy
Without night, no daylight

Lida Berghuis
December 16th, 2012