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Posts Tagged: joy

Threads of Life

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

Threads of Life | focuswithmarlene.com

I wish all of you a Happy New Year, with prayers and best wishes for a blessed 2021. I want to begin this year with a new series entitled Threads of Life.

Throughout our lifetime, we are weaving together the threads of our existence. Those threads are all around us – ready to be woven into a tapestry that shares our story and defines who we are. We choose how we weave them together. We are the designers.

Developing a life of meaning, purpose, and joy

I have been reviewing the stories and blog posts I have written or used in presentations about ways you can enrich your life, find comfort in your losses, and overcome what might seem like impossible odds.

Hope Helps Us Move from One Season to Another

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

eagle soaring

A time to laugh and a time to cry.

Every year we prepare for the traditional changes that occur with the different seasons – fall to winter, winter to spring, etc. We can also identify with the writer of Ecclesiastes when he talks about the seasons of life we go through. But we are not always ready to accept them, especially when that season exchange is out of sync with our expectations.

We want the pleasant things – we don’t want the unpleasant.

We don’t want to give up one to gain the other. We want life – not death. We want laughter and joy, not weeping and mourning. Yet both are necessary components to life.

I believe it is only within our difficulties, troubles and losses where we discover more about life and ourselves.

Will I ever Experience Joy Again?

Posted by Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC

Learning to Live Again in a New World, by Marlene Anderson | focuswithmarlene.com

I asked a friend recently who attends a grief and loss support group, what one thing that people attending wanted – one thing they hoped for.

Her answer: to experience joy again.

For anyone who has lost a significant person in their life, that question is high on their list of doubts and uncertainties.

Will I ever be happy again? That person I lost had been an integral part of my life and my identity. When we were together, I felt whole and complete. It was where I found pleasure, joy and the most contentment and happiness.