Calling a truce

Over our Christmas holiday there was an unusual tension amongst our adult family members. Little things that normally don't bother any of us escalated into people walking off the basketball court, or shutting down and not talking. After the 2nd day of this building tension, my sister Bridget, tapping into her wisdom, called a truce. It worked. We all just started over, talked, played and it was as if nothing had happened. Joy filled the holiday, we moved forward and that was that. As I reflect on her great insight, I thought about the alternatives of what may have occurred had she not called a truce.
First, had we escalated the tension to a higher degree we may have driven members of our family to just go home early and miss Christmas. We could have continued to spin/weave a story "he said she said", blaming one another or worse cause a long term estrangement from one other. However, none of this happened because Bridget called a truce. We were able to enjoy and appreciate the meaning of Christmas.
I know another family who are also dealing with tension that is escalating. The stories spinning into she does this, why does she do this, she shouldn't do this and on and on. It is clear that this family needs to call a truce.
On a larger scale, the world needs a truce. We have escalated thousands of years of religious differences into war instead of embracing the richness of the religious gifts; love thy neighbour, forgive, and do unto others. I am fretful to mention do unto others, as what I am seeing in the world today is that we don't care enough for ourselves and hence doing unto others is not applicable when we are not even good to ourselves.
Today I call a truce for myself and my community so that we can be together and see that a new day has dawned, life is passing to quickly to hold on to negativity and that in a truce, long term peace is possible.

Sated

My father often says following a meal and in his own practice of healthy moderation, "I'm sated." This expression resonates with me recently, well at least for these first few days of our new year. I am sated and content. This may not seem like a milestone to some, however, over my lifetime I struggle with wanting more, wanting to be the best sales representative, wanting to be able to do it all. Over the past year I have gone back to a prayerful daily practice and this practice enables me to put things into perspective and to find acceptance of what is. While I have achieved many things, my greatest accomplishment for myself today is to say I'm sated. There is enough in my world. This feeling of contentment has also led to peace and presence. Yesterday I attended my friend's 40th birthday party. I had time to be present to many of our mutual friends and not worrying of rushing to another event but just being there and present. The fruit of this sated feeling is a gift that for today shall sustain me.