Stop and smell the roses!

Or was it "Wake up and smell the roses!" ? Whichever it is, whoever coined that term was probably a woman *grin* well, at least I'd like to think so.

Sometimes I forget how rest feels like, beyond my usual 5-6 hrs nite sleep. Do you? My humorous quip that I love to use on others when they tell me to rest is, "Rest?!? What's that? Can eat ar?" I have an inherent nature to behave in mannerisms that border on OCB* and somehow have lost the ability to go back to sleep once awoken in the morning (woe is me!). At times, I even notice a slight breathing insufficiency, almost like I'm hyperventilating. It's been tough too trying to remember to sing in the shower *wider grin* What, and you don't sing there??

Took time off the past two days to recoil and just...be.

Sang. Prayed. Read. Thought. Slept. Sang, still. and slept some more. Man, that was so good for my soul. I smelt the roses, figuratively speaking (there were dried-up roses which I smelt literally, too, but that's another story *wink*)

What do YOU do that is good for your soul? Often I find solitary bus rides into or out of the city centre to be rather therapeutic, though some think its odd. Snuggling up in San Francisco Coffee with a good book, a hot latte and jazzy tunes in the background - another excellent option. Especially when it rains, which has been the case lately in KK. Going for movies with my favorite companion is another good soul-care time, besides plucking on my guitar strings and singing along with the mosque-choir at certain times of prayer during any given day. Dogs in my neighborhood seem to enjoy that too, judging by their attempts to 'blend in' vocally and perform some ad-libs ala Christina Aguilera. Ok, almost blend in.

Used to have no problem telling others I'm too busy for anything else except what I must do, or what I consider tasks of utmost urgency or importance, a.k.a. WORK. But of late, like the past year, that paradigm has shifted mentally and emotionally. Which is good.
"Janice, are you busy?"
My answers vary from "No, not really! Can talk, can talk." to "When are we ever not busy one?" or "No-lar, I'm very free bah!"

Life is what happens when you're too busy to notice. ~ Wayne Muller
http://www.orgcoach.net/newsletter/april2001.html

Call that someone or someones you love hanging out with, and go DO those stuff YOU do that are good for your souls. You'd be surprised how much it can lift up your spirits. And make you laugh.

"She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches
over the affairs of the household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her
children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: "Many
women do noble things, but you surpass them all." Charm is deceptive, beauty is
fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised."

You wanna be blessed, successful, remembered?
Stop and smell the Rose of Sharon. The best fragrance that rubs off on us to others stems from when we take time to sit at His feet and just...be. A love for His smell, the touch of His grace, His soothing words.....
Inhale.
*deep breath* aaah! Good for the soul.

I wanna be a woman who fears the beloved Rose.


* OCB = obsessive-compulsive behavior (many append this 'disorder' to the female gender as a permanent characteristic to describe our species, to which I violently object)