Photo was taken near Ballycotton, East Cork (Irl)

I took this on my phone but it still gives a sense of the beauty of a small beach.

Thought on Friday – October – 15/10/2021

‘Every day cannot be a feast of lanterns.’ ~Chinese Proverb

We sometimes may feel that life is boring and that everything is too predictable and routine. Maybe different aspects of our lives that were full of energy, now feel as if they’re gone stale. We begin to whisper to ourselves, “I’m missing something”, “There’s more to life than this.” So we begin to push the boundaries out and this can be a very good thing to do.

But sometimes we begin to push out unhealthy boundaries. To compensate for boredom we try and have it all. But life doesn’t work like that and if it does, it catches up on us very quickly. No one can ever have it all and that’s why routine in our lives can be a good and healthy thing. It may not always be good looking or attractive but at least it brings some stability into our lives. The moment we’re restless and feel we’re missing out, is always a good time to take stock and just realize how lucky we actually are.

There is a lovely line in Psalm 89: “In the morning fill us with your love, Give us joy to balance our affliction.” The psalms are always open and honest. There is never any hiding of emotions or difficulties. The writer uses the word affliction which means pain and suffering. Clearly life was difficult and challenging. Yet the writer of the psalm prays for balance knowing that joy, happiness and some good days would return too. We know every day cannot be a feast of lanterns and we long for balance in our lives. We do our best to find that balance in life, we pray that we will find that healthy balance in our lives and sometimes we must make some change for balance to happen.