Buffeted, Buffered, Bolstered

Buffeted by challenges. Buffered by faith. Bolstered by gratitude. If I keep building the buffers of faith and gratitude in my daily life, I can weather the buffeting that comes. I believe this. I have experienced it.

I wrote this in a post on my previous blog “Habitual Gratitude” in 2017.

Daily habits and practice are the best ways I know to bolster faith and gratitude. The way my mind works, it would quickly push both of these healthy and healing thoughts out and replace them with incessant negative ones.

And so I bolster. Strengthen. Fortify. Renew. Boost.

Quiet morning meditation. Journaling, pen to paper, several times a week. Tuning into my breath. A pause at my desk at work. A smile turned inward. A smile shared outward. Letting go. This blog. Spoken word pursuits. Rivertown Grateful Gatherings. Letting go some more. Reading other’s gratitudes. Sharing my own. Offering support to others. Listening, really listening. An open mind and heart.

There is plenty that can steal my peace and clarity, plenty to push me off course. The good news is that I don’t rob myself so much anymore. And with practices like the ones in the preceding paragraph, I am buffered and bolstered. I feel centered and steady.

What practices buffer and bolster you when life buffets? How do you get centered and steady?