I was talking to a friend after 9/11. She asked me what shall we do in light of these terrible events? My reply, in part, was, "...we do that which we can...we pray, we care, we love those around us as best we can...small stones make ripples as much as big ones, it just takes a bit longer to get around is all...poets write, singers sing, speakers speak and all of us must look to the light and not get caught in the darkness…"
    And one more thing we must do is remember. Remember what though? Remember laughter, remember tears and remember joy. Remember miracles and remember to look for them all around us. Remember it's not the doing, but the being as we do, that makes all the difference in the world. Be you, clothed in bright colors or waiting naked in the dark, be fully you. 

From "Rainbows of my Heart", Shanyn French 2002

  
   
 
   
     
     
   
   
     
 

Taking each day with it's trials and it's joys is all part of the lesson that tells us that life is a journey.  We are, each one, on a path decided and directed from above.  If we choose to acknowledge that and work with our Creator then blessings upon us.  If we choose to follow our own directions we will find that although the part started out our own it ultimately ends up being still the path and work of our Creator.  We are able to choose but our choices always work towards the final end that was decided for us before we were born.  It may take a different path, and there will be strange and unusual landmarks but we will end up exactly where we are supposed to be and exactly when we are supposed to be there.  No amount of panic, worry or aggression on our parts will change that.  SJF

  
   
 
   
     
   
 
     
  Of course, it always comes to trust.  How much do I trust you?  How much do I trust myself?  How much do I trust myself with you?
There are three kinds of 'talking' you do with people, you talk with them, you talk at them and you talk to them.  Which do you prefer?
When I get frustrated I feel that I am not seeing the world as you do, but that difference doesn't make either of us wrong.  The world is as we see it, not as it is.  Our experiences, our personality and actions shade and color the glasses through which we percieve our world.  The glasses change the sights, sounds, feels, smells and emotions.  You can feel that you are projecting calm, or you are just joking and how it feels to me may be something both unintended and unexpected.
Questions are the most dangerous types of conversational tools.  They can so easily backfire, be misunderstood or miss heard.  For example, even if the emphasis is placed by the speaker but not clearly heard by the hearer, and there is a misunderstanding who has misunderstood?  When the answer doesn't answer your question listen again, perhaps it is the answer to an unintended question.  Simply complex questions are dangerous ground.
Sometimes our bodies react before our minds can….that sinking feeling, the numbness in the limbs is our body warning us before our conscious mind can tell us what the warning is about.  Or sometimes we do know but didn't expect the timing.
Common courtesy is not very common.  Please, Thank You and You are Welcome are so seldom heard that in some quarters that they are laughed off or ignored.  Other courteous things that I find so special and important in daily life seem to lack the power to register on the conscious mind of others.  It doesn't cost a single penny or ounce of extra energy to be kind.  Letting someone know they are important, that they have done well or that you hold them in a special place is so vital to the well being of them and you. 
I have fears, I have many many dark ones that haunt my days and nights.  I also have joys, many small and great joys that make me laugh out loud and some that make me giggle or just simply smile.  The balance is found in making sure that the darkness never totally overcomes the light and yet remembering that dark can be important for growing so the light must also have it's place.
Reaching out to someone has many risks for the person reaching, as well as for the one who chooses respond to that reaching.  When I needed my former mate to hold my hand, and I didn't verbally ask him, it seemed very much like a mute plea that more often than not went unheard.  The reason for that is simple, people do not respond the same way to gestures.  Even in a family there will be different verbal and non verbal ways of communicating.  Going from a very expressive family to one that is much less so is very much like learning a new language by immersion.  You are jumping in to new water, no idea how the currents work, where there are rocks or snags…so you reach out…you swim and struggle and gasp for air.   Then there are times when you can float for a while, face up to the sun like an aquatic flower, holding the hand or heard hand of someone you love.  Even when there is difficulty in physically and emotionally connecting I try.  Sometimes failing grandly by trying too hard.  By pushing away those very people with whom I desire contact.    Misunderstanding can come from two different directions in the same set of events, and result in longer and deeper wounds than either had ever intended, often taking everyone by surprise.  Gesture, tone of voice, body language and eye contact (and a multitude of other sensory inputs) color the words that are being said with things unsaid.  (Note: This was written long ago...)  SJF