Take a deep breath

One way to break up any kind of tension is good deep breathing. ~~Byron Nelson

When the breath wanders the mind also is unsteady.  But when the breath is calmed the mind too will be still, and the yogi achieves long life.  Therefore, one should learn to control the breath.  ~Svatmarama, Hatha Yoga Pradipika

 

All right, everyone.  Take a deep breath.  Fill your belly with air.  (Really concentrate on filling your abdomen.)  Hold it.  Now slowly breath out through your nose and empty the air out of you.  Repeat 4 more times. 

Feel better?

Yoga deep breathing.  It helps calm me, and I can feel my blood pressure dropping with each breath.  Part of the reason is that I have to concentrate on filling my abdomen with air instead of just my lungs.  So, it kind of empties your mind at the same time as giving your brain a big boost of oxygen.  Try it.  Repeat as necessary.

We all love our kids.  Or most of us do.  Most of the time.  We want what is best for them and may not agree on the ways to give them the best.  Take some more deep breathes.  It's good to have a conversation.  Not so good to have an all out brawl.  It's best to keep an open mind.  You may not agree with what is going on, but you need to listen with an open mind.  You'll get your turn to talk.  It'll be better for everyone if you talk in a calm voice.  These are words of wisdom that I need to point at myself.   You might also need to remind yourself. 

Breathe.  Good.  Repeat.

Valentine's day is next week.  Yesterday in story hour I got to sing a fun book called The Ballad of Valentine by Alison Jackson.  Good thing there weren't any American Idol judges in attendance or I'd have to quit my day job.  Or not.  Sung to the tune of Oh My Darlin' Clementine, it tells the story of one man's attempt to get a message to his darling Valentine.  Things keep going awry, and his messages don't seem to be getting to their intended recipient.  All ends happily ever after, but it takes a bit of effort from everyone. 

Love takes effort.  If you think it shouldn't, you've read too many Harlequins.  Sometimes it takes no effort, and other times it takes a lot.  If it's worth it, it's worth working towards.  Right? 

I'm not a romantic.  I'm just not.  I can't really pretend to be either.  Those syrupy Hallmark cards just aren't it for me.  If you're going to buy me a card, it better be funny.  If you make me a card, put all the sentiment you want into it; and I will appreciate it all the more because I know you didn't just "eeny, meeny, miney, mo" it.  That's why I like to make my valentine cards.  (Also, I'm cheap.)  We also made valentines in story hour.  It's always fun to see the various ages and stages of kids and their various ways of making them.  From lots of thought into the words used by the 10-year-old down to lots of thought into forming the letters for a 4-year-old, it's nice to see the kids making a concerted effort in showing someone that they're thinking of them with love.   

If the deep breathing doesn't calm you, get out some paper and a pen and make a valentine.  How much thought and energy you spend on that is how much thought and energy you aren't spending on something that is a stressor in your life.  Don't have anyone to send a valentine to?  Send one to your library.  We'd love to have some love letters to hang on our walls.

Letters are expectation packaged in an envelope. ~~Shana Alexander

Letters are among the most significant memorial a person can leave behind them. ~~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe