
I love sunrises. Unfortunately, one reason for this is because they're so rare for me. I see sunsets much more often.
For me, a sunrise is a fresh beginning on a new opportunity to do things right that I may have missed the day before. It's funny that New Years Day doesn't do the same for me, but sunrises are rarer, even, than New Years. I get up at about ten, go to bed well after midnight, often as late as 2:00, because that is the best time to focus on writing. That, plus my poor mother having trouble sleeping at night, keeps me going into the early morning hours. That is why I love a sunset.
They can lift me in ways nothing else can. They hold promise, and such beauty. Recently I discovered a way to give myself a lift despite the lack of sunrises in my life. I surprise myself by recalling something I actually like about myself. Most of us have a bad habit of putting ourselves down and counting our faults. We can so easily keep track of our mistakes during the day. I have that tendency. But what if we were to focus on something we've done right recently?Did you allow someone to pull in front of you in traffic without muttering or honking the horn?
Have you ever smiled at someone and cheered them up? Have you helped someone out of a tough spot? Have you felt your heart go tender for someone whose heart was breaking? Think about it. Are you a kind person, do you have qualities that you appreciate in others? Do you have a creative personality?
Give yourself a sunrise today, lift yourself up. Look for the good in yourself, and not those things that the devil seems to love to whisper into your ear at every opportunity. Focus on the good in yourself, and that is the direction your heart will lean.
And then share here. I'd love to know what good things you are thinking about yourself today.
Labels: Eugene Arthur Patterson photography, helping others, losing ourselves in helping, Sunrise

I think I'm going to print out this picture and put it on the wall next to my computer. It has been so very hot here in Missouri--and in so many places around the country--these past two weeks. How does one stay cool and still look decent in public?
I could use some input on that. My fallback measure is always jeans or blue-jean cut-offs, but the cut-offs just won't work for a wedding. The medication I'm taking makes me perspire (or as some would say, glow) so heavily I'm always wearing wet clothing.
How do you beat the heat? I love linen, but I don't iron. I love silky shirts over tanks, but I don't have any decent looking shorts, and the jeans are just far too hot right now. Undergarments are also problematic (if you know what I mean, girls) or I'd wear sundresses all summer. Pantyhose do not exist in my house. And they won't.
Who has some great cool-down ideas for summer clothing?
Labels: Eugene Arthur Patterson photography, keeping cool, summer heat