Welcome to the Friday Recliner friends – a little something as always to get your weekend started on a relaxed note and a quiet place to rest a while.

I hope you’ll find something to inspire, something to admire or think on or create and something good to read.

A Good Word

Lets start with courage

It takes courage to say yes to rest and play in a culture where exhaustion is seen as a status symbol

Brene Brown

A Good Look

A patch of dirt and a square of sky – find and apply liberally

Photo by Willian Justen De Vasconcellos

A Good Idea

Take Your Own Sweet Time

by Abi Marks

“Abi, you’re going 70. It’s 55 here.”
⠀
“Really? It is? Well, I’m just going the same speed as everyone else…”
⠀
I slow right down under the glare of my passenger-driver and immediately, several cars pull out from behind me and zip past my window one after the other. It feels painful to be overtaken so quickly and by such a thick volume of speeding traffic. I remind myself that of course  speed limits are for safety, for my good, and in this highway frenzy, if one person wrecks, it will likely result in a pile up.

I’m suddenly  OK with others passing me by.
⠀
I don’t think of myself as a fast-paced person. I’m cautious. I’m slow. But even I can admit that at least in certain areas of my life, I’ve ignored or denied my own limitations. I’ve followed formulas and tried to keep up with people with completely different shaped capacities and priorities than me—and in different seasons of life. And just because other people are moving faster, doesn’t mean it’s necessarily good for them either. Hopefully we all see the signs on the roadside and slow to the speed that is meant for us.
⠀
We all have our own set of limitations.

Watch for the signs.

Listen to the voice of wisdom. 

Slow down for safety.

Slow down to protect those around you.

Slow down to go the distance.

.A Good Read

Trying out Slow Parenting

By Joanna Goddard

After work and on the weekends, I often take our boys on neighborhood adventures — to the playground, to the carousel, to the bookstore, to the deli to get popsicles. But even though these outings are fun, I’ve found that…

…en route, I’m constantly calling after them: “Hurry up, sweetie!” “Let’s go!” “Keep walking!” “Come on, honey, follow me!”

One recent evening, I even challenged myself not to tell them any instructions for the next minute. And it made me realize how often I did — 60 seconds was hard to get through! The funny thing is, usually we’re not even in a rush. As an adult, I move at a faster pace than they do, and I’m also not great, generally, at relaxing, even on my own time. So, when Anton stops to examine a bicycle pedal or spots an ant on the ground or Toby walks slowly and dreamily down the block, I instinctively tell them to c’mon and come along.

 – – –  Keep reading

More Than A Meal

from the New York Times.

Here several renowned writers recount some of there most memorable meals out.

A good long read so enjoy this one in parts over the weekend if you like

Here’s a snippet from “What is the Wait?”

How about: I went to the fancy mall 53 miles away, ostensibly, for a bar of fancy soap. I mean, it wasn’t about the soap as much as it was about needing an excuse to spend a Saturday morning any place other than my house. But an overpriced chunk of glycerin was as good a reason as any.

I dragged my friend Emily with me because looking at stuff I can’t afford alone makes me depressed. The mall parking lot was surprisingly packed for a non-last-minute-holiday-shopping day, and I cursed my poor planning as I was forced to park several miles away from the closest door.

I locked the car, and was nearly mowed down by a horde of people rushing toward the gleaming mall doors — just dozens and dozens of people clawing at and climbing over one another to get to the entrance first. I stopped a man as he threatened to knock the walker out of a woman’s hands and said, “Dude? What in the world is going on here today?” He looked at me as if I’d sprouted a second head, then dove to his left to avoid a pair of sprinting college kids. “We finally got a Cheesecake Factory!” he shouted. “And today is the grand opening!” – – – Keep reading

Till next week friends, have a beautiful weekend – rest up, do something you love xx

Remember you can browse through the  previous articles and posts linked to in The Friday Recliner right  HERE.