post it note wisdom rediscovered

Whew!! What a productive morning of De-Susan-fying my office cubicle of the past 8 years worth of paper & clutter. I've found some interesting things. A note that my mom sent me in 1999. Fun pictures. Every pay stub since I started here in 1996 (once I started collecting them it was hard to stop). A box full of mystery keys. And lots and lots of paper that is going to recycling heaven. Still lots more to do, but I'm making progress.

I also found my stash of "post-it-note wisdom." What's that you ask?? Well, work can sometimes drive you crazy and there was a time in my life when I was particularly vulnerable and prone to work anxiety. So I got into the habit of writing down little bits of wisdom that I ran across onto post-it notes which I would tape to my computer monitor. Like little bread crumbs, they would help me find my way back to a place of sanity and spiritual wholeness when I went too far down the path of anxiety or got too caught up in office drama.

The only thing is, rarely did I write down where the words of wisdom came from! So now they're just a hodgepodge of anonymous quotations, except for the scriptural ones. Much of it I think is from Joan Chittister's Online Psalm Journal which I was following for a while. In any case, I thought I'd take advantage of this break in "De-Susan-ification" to share some of my collected wisdom with you, my fair readers. In no particular order:

"God is my strength & my shield. In God my heart trusts" - Psalm 28

"My soul, be at rest in God alone, from whom comes my hope" - Psalm 62

"the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit."

"My God, do not stay far off" - Psalm 38

"What we need is a sense of trust and praise for the obscure parts of our own lives"

"We have to learn to be open to the God of surprise, to the God who is beyond our own designs. We have to learn to let go"

"What we do will follow what we are .. humility is the truth about ourselves. Empty yourself of yourself and you will find God" - Mother Evangelista Gaffney

"If I can still feel the effort of it all - if I find myself wondering if I can go on one more day trying to be faithful, trying to be true; if I can still care; if I love at least five people in my life; if selflessness is my goal, then I'm spiritually alive"

"Help us to put aside false anxiety and to trust in your care for us. Grant us the grace to discern wisely, to act confidently, and to let go courageously"

"As the hind longs for the running waters, so my soul longs for you, O God. Athirst is my soul for God, the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God?" - Psalm 42

"God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress" - Psalm 46

"Help us to hear the voice of the Spirit in the midst of the tasks and stresses of our daily work."

"To face the elements of the day and keep on going takes a peculiar kind of courage"

"Peace protects me. Peace supports me. Peace is in me. Peace is mine. All is well."