SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND

Sitting in this, my quiet room, with one of my dogs for company from its window I can see the dying rays of the setting sun – you know the object I mean – the one that has been with us all day today and if the forecasters are to be believed that self-same object will be with us all day tomorrow. Although there is a house roof in the way of my seeing a proper sunset, it’s rays are still brightening the sky and shining on the leaves of one of the trees in my garden making those leaves the most beautiful golden red you can imagine. How we all love the sun, the brightness in brings into our lives, the joy we feel when we see it and even when it leaves us for the day, it is gorgeous even then.

I know you will probably be asking yourself ‘what has the sun got to do with quitting smoking?’ Well, I feel rather a lot. It rises every day and just because we can't see it every day doesn't mean it's not there. The fact that we don’t see it is not the sun’s fault it is there even if behind the clouds. We rise every day to a new day, what will be another short chapter in our lives and what do we do with our day. Well that obviously depends on our mood for one thing. Whether our mood be good or bad makes no difference to him or us because we still have to live for that day and hopefully many more. Can we bring as much joy into other people’s lives as the sun does? Well I think the answer to that is a resounding yes if we wish to. How? By being there for other people is one answer and another answer could be by helping other people. Like this site helps all of us, each and every single one, to be strong and to fight nic, the sun helps in that too by providing light – golden light – the light at the end of a long tunnel. We can focus our thoughts on bad things but it doesn’t change them so it is far, far better to focus on good things. This makes us happier and more content and enables us to pass on that good feeling to others. Walking round my garden and looking at the plants I can hardly believe that what I thought was dead is now starting to come to life and that is with the help of the sun and rain. So you see, even rain has its good points. The grass is growing and no matter how much we cut it, it still carries on and grows. I liken that to smoking – I may succumb to temptation by having a cigarette which you could liken to cutting the grass – down but not out - I have the chance to grow again by turning my back the next time I am tempted to smoke and doing something else completely like, say, cutting the grass. Have you ever noticed that the grass grows back greener and thicker after each and every cut, well so can we after falling – we just grow a little differently to grass in that we come back stronger and more determined to quit the smokes forever and a day. This time of year is bedding plant time (know one of our number has been planting out today so I hope the back isn’t too sore Pete) and when you look at the little stubby things that we call plants you wonder how they survive but survive they do and they grow big and strong with such beautiful flowers. Even the leaves of these plants are one of the wonders of nature. Sometimes, the smallest of the small gives the best display, given the chance at life.

I have blue slate and marble pebbles in my back garden and whilst they do not grow obviously, the plants that they surround do and it is wonderful to see the greenery and the flowers of these plants against the blue slate background and the white marble pebbles. Not all of my shrubs flower, I have a few evergreens but even they with their magnificent green leaves look startling wonderful against the contrast colours of the slate and/or pebbles. I have a beautiful maple tree which is currently just opening its stunning leaves. There are more leaves than I can count and the various different shades of green tinged with yellow and reddish brown have to be seen to be believed. Yet just 4 weeks ago both these trees looked dead with their bare branches but not so, now incredibly after some rain and sun, they are an absolute joy to behold. To the right of this wonderful maple or acer tree if you prefer is a flowering blossom tree which has dark red foliage and even though the blossom didn’t last long due to the wind, the leaves are stunning and the contrast of the two trees cannot be described by words alone hence the pic.

We all live in hope that our plants survive the autumn and winter months and 99% of them do. They ask for nothing more than the occasional bit of ‘t.l.c.’ which we give willingly because they repay us with the most wondrous sights are eyes are lucky enough to behold.

The blog title refers to the fact that if we seek so shall we find – things to delight us, things to prove that life is most definitely worth living and things to prove that where there is life there is hope for us all. Our motto should be fear nothing because we are strong and together we are strong enough to conquer anything and everything even quitting smoking. Seek and ye shall find the courage to carry on fighting nic, seek and ye shall find the strength to stay strong and finally seek and ye shall find that a smoke free existence is possible and absolutely wonderful and worth everything that you have had to do to achieve it!

If you’ve stumbled and fallen, take heed of our plants; shrubs and trees because every year they come back no matter what the weather throws at them. We can all come back, stronger, wiser and more positive that together we will face whatever nic can throw at us but we will either throw it straight back or deflect it or face it head on and laugh in his face because together we can do this, together we will do this no matter how long it takes. We are all in this together and together we will be victorious have no fear on that count at all!.

Will close now and hope that you’ve all had a wonderful day doing whatever you did and look forward to tomorrow because another glorious day is forecast and I don’t want no mention of rain as I’ve spent most of today cleaning that flipping car again ready for another show in the open air.

Now, like Mr. Sun, I am tired because I’ve had more fresh air today than I’ve had all week and although I’ve enjoyed every minute (well most of them), the fresh air has definitely made me more tired than usual so I’m off for a nice long soak to ease my poor muscles some of which I had forgotten existed until all the polishing of a certain object was finished and then perhaps an hour of TV and then land of nod for me. Night night and sweet dreams for each and every single one of you.

SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND the peace that living smoke free brings together with all the joys that this peace holds for each and every single one of us.

Take care and hopefully catch you all at some point tomorrow.

Kath.

Remember where you put your because by all accounts you will most certainly need them tomorrow.