The time between Dawn and Dusk is the Day of our life
How do we spend that day , and How do we feel about us
at the End of it.. ? Hopefully we can look back.. in Pride

On the Pagan Path we are expected to be a cut above
the average,but does this mean we are Superman ?

We May be the Goddess on Earth
But even A Goddess can have a bad hair day

Just ask the Greeks hehehehe.. :)

As some days it  Storms  :)

So some Practical things for living in a very real
and sometimes frustrating world

We all have things about ourselves we are not Proud of ,
these are the things where we need to improve the self
to where when the Sunset time comes
We can look back on our life and BE Proud of it 

Is this an Easy task..? No, it can be very hard to do

Why ?

Because we are human ,we have bad hair days
We lose our temper and our patience
We have days when even those we love best
irritate us most and we lash out in Anger and frustration
We are Human .. We are not Saints 

Does this mean its unavoidable..?

NO

It means its part of the Human condition , that without
deliberate Self control ,under ALL conditions
these things can happen

Ever Notice how its easy to deal with the day to day
stresses and strains, when we feel good..?

But let us have a bad day, when we hurt,  or too tired
or frustrated with anything ( and Goddess forbid do all of the above at once..! )
And the same things that yesterday
were nothing , today have us lashing out at others
Like a wounded Wolf whose been cornered

Its said " Never get too tired, too hungry or too lonely "
Any two of the three we can handle .. it's when all three happen
that there is A BIG PROBLEM in your life

Now I know there are those who feel that we are somehow
supposed to be Saintly  critters who never lose our cool
that we should learn to be stoic in the face of adversity
 

And to a point .. yes.. but to the level of just letting the world
do whatever it wants,  while we just take it
and slowly go bonkers..  ?
I don't think so............  :)

This is not the way of the Spiritual Warrior
it's more kin to a Doormat

 To quote a very good friend of mine who once said to me
when I complained to him of all the users in my life, in my youth

" If your gonna be a doormat
at least get up and shake the dirt off once in while  ! "
( thanks Tennessee )

So .. what's to do about it ?

The three Rs and no not
Reading, Righting and Ritmatic :)

Reduce .... Retire ...  Re think ...

Reduce

Identify and Reduce or Eliminate Stressors

This is a challenge , as very often
we don't even know what's making us ansty 
We just know that we are

Identifying what makes you stressed is a matter of constant
Self Observation Knowing the Self enough to note when there's
a change in Mood or temperament  and note what came before it

Like a major stressor in modern life Noise , any noise
TV too loud, Kids making a fuss , the neighbors radio and so on

You think you are ignoring it , but are you ?
You hear it  and are effected by it . Its Chi or energy
is all around you , you cant help but be effected in some way
The Feng Shui all around us does effect us

People
Especially Family

You tell yourself, these are your loved ones
they cant be the reason Im stressed ! .. Wanna bet..!

They are one of the major reasons. Why ? Because we care about them more..
strangers don't bother us nearly as much

The list of annoyances goes on and on,down to the physical
if we hurt , we are a 100 times more likely to lose our cool,
than if we feel well

So how to Reduce all that to a manageable level ?

Noise is an easy one, mask it, with your own, pick sounds that soothe and calm
and play them to block out the noise that irritates

Turn down the TV , Teach the kids to make less noise
and Tell your neighbor to keep his noise in his own yard

Loved ones, take a break from them and their issues
If children , get them outa your hair for a few moments a day at least
Adults, if its your house, show em the door if they are bugging you.
If it's their house, go home , your relationship with them will be better for it

Co workers, Bosses ...? Keep them in the perspective they belong
you work with them,  it's a temporary state of affairs,  not your life

Pain .. Id It's source and eliminate or reduce it as much as possible
and Id in yourself those times when it's the reason you just
Became the Wicked Witch of the West

You can think of a million others,
once you Id what makes you pop 

Retire

When to say Asta ,Later dudes, and get the hell outa Dodge
Even if its just to the next room . There is nothing wrong with a timely withdrawal,
when you see the situation can not be helped
 by your actions, and your just asking for it, walk away ,
go do something else somewhere else, if at all possible

If not retreat in the mind
to where you no longer notice the irritant.. not mask or ignore
literally DO NOT see  it , the  Eight Fold Gate  of the Mind as is said
in the Orient. They have become masters at this, living in each others hip pockets
as they have for 100s of years,  without
Killing each other off to the point of extinction 

This is also the one where if need be, you flat out give up on the situation , you quit the job, you toss the mate,
you hang up the phone,  you give the responsibility for the task to another.. and so on... there comes a time
when this is the only sensible answer to an issue

" Know when to hold em and Know when to fold em "
as a popular song of my youth said :)

There is no shame in this, if you KNOW for certain
you are not the best person for the task ,
why are you trying to do it ?

This is an exercise in pain and frustration
Can't give it over you say..? Then you need to figure out a way
so you can let go , because

If you have given all and there's nothing left to give and you try to do more
 all you learn and accomplish is resentment,
of the very people your trying to help

 " If you sacrifice yourself to others
you end up hating those for whom you have sacrificed "

If there is No good purpose to be served,
why beat yourself up, trying to do something
just for the sake of doing something ... ?

There comes a point when persistence becomes not only
pointless, but counterproductive

" If at first you don't succeed try try again.
Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it "  :)
 

RE think

This ones the best stress buster of all

Did the Clerk at the store really mean to say the rude thing he said
or was he just voicing his thoughts , without thinking about how rude he sounded..?
And would taking him to task for it really help ?

Are the Kids really Evil little brats  who are trying to make you wish
you never had them ? Or are the just being normal kids
and it's YOU who are having the bad day ?

Is your mate really that irritating  ? 
Or do you just think so because YOU feel bad about yourself..?

Now the Clerk could be a rude SOB who needs a good kick in the pants ,
the kids might need some mega discipline as they are being obnoxious ,
and the Mate may be as irritating as they seem

But First

Reality Check
Before you open a can of Woo pass and go to town with it

If you find ,  it's you, let it go
If it's them .. deal with it .. but try not to be angry about it
( I know HARD ONE believe me I know  Queen of RAGE here )

And ask yourself this, in a 100 years will it matter ?
You would be surprised how much this one can bring something
down to size, to where we can get a handle on it again

All of the Above require that we stop,
think and reflect just a little
before we do an action

Do we do this? No, most of the time, we are so caught up in the rush of day to day life
and the stress that we just react and keep reacting , most often in frustration and pain

And cause more in the process,against those whom we lash out at

Time .. time and practice over and over to break the habits of a life time,
habits we learned as children

That if i Yell loud enough the problem will resolve itself,
Don't think so..?  Watch a Baby and see where we learned to handle
problems this way

We carry this over into Adult hood almost to a man

Does this mean we are a bunch of screaming savages,
who have no control of ourselves ?

No :)

It means what I said to begin with,we are human
and humans are complex creatures

So complex that we have to figure out what to do
in any given situation . Even how to handle the stress
of day to day life

I hope this little missive gives you a leg up
to a calmer World , and a life you can look back on

And Smile for most of it :)

For all the Smileys ... etc

Who is no more but give them due anyway