Identity Enhancers Hinder Wisdom

Nothing wrong with having things, positions, titles, education, cars, houses, fashion label clothes, properties, wealth, a belief, etc.  The problem comes with "Identifying Yourself with These."

You are not your job, family name, title, car, house, clothes, your religious beliefs, wealth, position, ivy league college you attended, etc... These are "Identity Enhancers,"

When you know this you can drop all pretence of superiority or inferiority to anyone. You can stop pressuring yourself to live up to a false sense of self, you can have inner peace and uncover your purpose here. You are not here to elevate the five senses to become your identity, you are here to make the world a better place for yourself and others with your unique gifts and talents. Talents that help the world, not selfishly magnify you.

One day we all come to this realization, the earlier you recognise this in life, the longer you will live life in abundant peace with yourself and others.  The trouble comes when you deal with others that do not have this same knowledge, this is the time you practice patient presence. 

Thankful to have seen this early on in life by my life circumstances and fell in love with all people knowing no one is above me or below me. We are one.

Saving a Beloved Tree!

Sweetheart is having to take down dead trees around the house.  We love trees and don't want to take these down but now there's the possibility of these falling on the house, and we can't have that!  Besides always wanting a large natural gazebo in the yard so I can have a comfortable seat by a real outside fire year round, I wanted a sculpture in the yard.  In my travels I watched a tree that was damaged by wind and ice break off 3/4 of the way down its length. The next trip by I saw a sculpture being created out of the stump and thought what an ideal idea!

There is a tree in our front yard that husband loved that has to come down now.  He does not like taking it down it was one of his favorite trees.  I told him about the one I saw being made into art work and he was happy.  At the wood carving festival we looked and looked and spoke with each artist. When we found one we really liked, I asked him if he would come to our house and carve in this tree if I gave him food and board while he worked?  He said, "Yes! Especially if you will offer lodging!"

So we have found our artist and I told him we are clearing land and would be ready for him in a year or so, he said, “good because I am booked out quite a few months.”

(He figures he would need two weeks.)

No problem!  Sweetheart and I would love to have him and his family here for such a wonderful occasion!  Now we are getting pictures together of the animals and positions we want them on this old tree. Designing what we want, is our specialty, we love to design.  This will be a gift to each other for our lifetime.  Yes I will be kissing wood, again I know…I love beautiful wood carvings!

Kissing Wood!

Watching my new addiction Wood Carvers on Netflix, I was motivated to see these artists perform live.  I found a demonstration in Ridgeway, PA. I booked a room and made plans.  We waited as the weeks went by and I was more excited each week as we did the countdown to the weekend.

We both worked the night and day before we left and were tired.  I offered to drive out there as I am better driving in the night than my counterpart.  He did not sleep much the night before because he was working too.  We were a little testy to one another for the first 5 hours but then realized we both were running low on sleep and this was the cause. 

We arrived 7 hours later and just took a chance, I stopped by the hotel first to see if we could get in the room at 10:30 am instead of check in time 2pm that afternoon.  Yes! The room was not rented out the night before and we were allowed in early.  We freshened up and headed over for a great day, I was so excited I could hardly wait to get there.

Ridgeway was only 10 miles away and the parking was non-existent.  Being from NY we know how expensive tickets can be so we were leary to park anywhere.  After a while, we saw locals parking by a stream with mounds of rocks (it looked like there was construction going on here) and figured..why not? If we get ticketed we will just "treat every event as if we had chosen it" and pay the  fine as if it was the price of parking for the event.  NYC charges us every time we park anywhere for any event and this sleepy little town could use the money...

The wood carving demonstration was so amazing to watch, we both loved watching the artists create a sculpture in one hour.  The weather was cool but not hot, simply perfect. When we left I thought I will buy a simple souvenir for $25 or so and be content.  Truth be known I have wanted a wood carving totem pole like sculpture in my yard for decades!  I saw the demonstration and you know how art speaks to you and you have to have it?  That bear and beaver spoke to me loudly, I bought both for another gift for our fortieth since we are fixing up our yard this year in celebration of our anniversary. This will look beautiful in our yard.  The bear rode home in our back seat and his friend the beaver rode in the trunk. The artist Josh Dagg gave me another tabletop piece he did as a thank you gift for buying his sculptures, a crane.  Thankful for finally having another dream come true. Life is like that if you live long enough and are patient, dreams will come true.

Yes, I was kissing them on the way home.  Animals make me happy and I have to kiss them even if they are not real.  I was kissing wood.

What A Gal!

Susan B Anthony Museum in Rochester, NY is one of my favorites.  When I think of how she travelled by herself across the entire country on a buckwagon to give speeches for "Votes for Women," it is awe-inspiring to me. Her entire family were abolitionists and helped with the underground railroad passengers.  Frederick Douglas and she had tea and would talk for hours about  changes this country needed and how to accomplish these together.

The women's movement was spearheaded by many intelligent, educated, and yes, wealthy women of the day.  When Ms. Anthony approached the  University of Rochester to allow women to attend, the college gave her this proposal: If she could come up with half of the $100,000.00 needed to add a room to the college campus, the college would allow it.  Women could attend but had to be in a separate classroom. The money was raised from all profits from the movement, lectures, papers sold, books, and wealthy donors amounted to $42,000.00 but she was short $8,000.00.

With the deadline approaching SBA cashed in her life insurance policy for the final $2000.  She was completely committed to promoting women being educated, having their own income, (separate from their husbands money) and their right to vote.

This home in Rochester would become the headquarters for the women's movement.  Mary SuBA sister, stayed at this house with their ailing mother until her death.  She worked as a principal for the school nearby.  Mary handled all the family finances to keep the cause and SBA on the lecture tour to spread the word for the "right to vote for women."  Every year Mary paid her taxes she would write on her check to the government, "Taxation Without Representation."

Susan along with 14 suffragettes voted in the Federal election, Rochester, NY in 1872. Two weeks later she was arrested. The Judge came to the trial with the final verdict already typed out and in his pocket. The jury was instructed to find her guilty and she was not allowed to speak on her behalf before the verdict was read.  In the closing statement finally SBA was allowed to speak and she made her point although the verdict stood. The court fined her $100 which she never paid.  What a gal!

What a life well lived, thankful for SBA because of her she began a forward thinking and positive movement that lives on today. What conversations she must have had with FD and other progressive thinkers of the time. What a gal!

No Man Completes Me, But I Need This Man

Being a women's libber from way back, I love men.  I do not claim to be a feminist because hatred of men and feminism has been too closely related now. I hate no one anymore.

As a child I grew up in an atmosphere of a strong man and a strong woman.  Nonetheless they were at odds with each other daily. Their example is why I decided, "marriage was never the plan for me and children were out of the question."  Yet I have both now.

There is no doubt in my mind that no man needs a woman or children to be completely content and feel loved in his life and no woman needs a man or children to be completely content and feel loved in her life.  No one completes me or you, no one.

Then I met my Sweetheart and I see "I" needed "this man."

If this needs further explanation for you to understand then I cannot explain it. You have to live it, you have to find it, you have to want it, and you have to make a lifetime commitment to him/her to understand this statement.

I wish this kind of "peace on earth" to all men and women.  Today I'm thankful my husband did not take the original "No" I gave him to his marriage proposal, he kept coming back. He kept being my friend. No sex to complicate the feelings between us, just a friend. We have traveled a hard road overcoming past hurts and dysfunctional family expectations but we are here, after all these years, we are here.

He is my best friend now.

Do not get me started on the wonderful, amazing, children he and I have, because of them we have found such love in the world together with them, "my heart runneth over." But this is our story, you do not need a man, a woman, or children to feel this loved.  There are many great people in the world and if you are awake enough you will find your family of kindness and respect among them. Do not let society, religion, culture, or family dictate what will fulfil you and make you happy, you decide. You are enough. I love you.

You Only Live This LIfe Once

Many believe there are multiple lives, I do not.  The one in heaven is an unknown to all of us.  Except for everyone seeing their dead relatives on the other side waving them in, there is not much talk about life on the other side.  What do they do?

Well I am not going to give much thought about that, I'm busy figuring this one out first.  I do know if there is a thing you want to do and it is within your financial means to do it, even once, you should do it.  Save if you have to but do it, just once.

Today I had a picnic with a dear friend. We sat by the Hudson River and looked across to see our own "Silver Streak" pass by again. We both have sat by this river for many, many, years, she, twice as many as me, she has lived here most of her adult life. Today as she sat there telling me facts about the river I never knew, she stopped to look at the train going to NYC again.

She said that she and a friend had promised each other they would ride that train to NYC before they died ... but he died a few years ago and now she was never going. 

I thought I have ridden that train so many times to the city and it has brought me much joy. Riding by train is my favorite mode of transportation. I could not let this simple wish go...

I asked her if she would accept a belated birthday gift from me? 
She said, "What do you mean?"
I said, "We are going to ride that train next month together."
"What if I'm not feeling well that day?"
"Then we will go the next day."
"Really? That is expensive, that is too much, are you sure?"
"It is not too expensive, it is a simple ride to the city to put a check by that bucket list item."
"You only live once, you might as well live."
She said, "I agree, ok. That would be wonderful."

A simple dream. I like simple things too, we (she and I) are of the Third Franciscan Order, she told me so! We are simple people.

Thankful I can do a simple thing with a friend to make her smile. Life is too short not to have fun.

Relax Let Life Live You...

Writing this blog is really a practice in writing for me.  The blog was to get me into the daily discipline of putting aside time to write so I could write my first book.  At times there are misspellings and grammatical errors, some I notice, some are pointed out to me by my much more educated family members.  And still I write...

To fix every error is not my focus, my focus is to get the blog out every day, to push my mind to come up with another topic that interests me.  If in the process of teaching myself to produce writing instead of talking about writing I make some errors...so be it.

My focus is to write a book and get opinions out there and expose myself for better or worse.  To write from the heart is the best way to write, so I have read and been taught by online authors. 

Not sure what this life has in store for me but I know I feel compelled to write this book and I will write it to see what the next adventure will be.  Let life live you, it does anyway...some of my mentors teach this...I have tried my way so many times to control my life and others, and it is exhausting!  Anxiety and never ending thinking, planning, doing to keep it all together...

Life has to be more serene than this...  Thankful to have some really good people in my life, my closest are into self-exploration and living the dream.  Today I am writing  a list of my family and friends that make me smile every time I think of them. 


 

Yep He's Vacuuming Box Elder Bugs off the House

A year ago or so I wrote about a fun acquaintance that lived in the woods. One day I went out to her house to visit and she was standing on a ladder vacuuming her house.  Another day I went out and she was vacuuming her trees near the house. It was a hoot to see! 

She told me she could not get these darn Box Elder Bugs to go away, they were everywhere. So every day she got up before 8 am and vacuumed.  Well I laughed and laughed at her for doing this but did admit it was a clever idea.  She did this for weeks. Her neighbors must have thought she was nuts.

Years go by. This year Box Elder Beetles are coming in the house for the first time in 30 years of living here.  Once inside they die, we sweep them up and toss them out.  Strange there is so many of them. This morning we get up and the Beetles are all over our front door and seem to be taking up residence in the siding.  Hundreds of the darn things!

I go down the driveway to mail a letter ad when I come back my husband is on a ladder with a vacuum.  He is vacuuming the entire door and siding underneath. Yep he's vacuuming the bugs just like she did. He said, "I thought that was a pretty good idea so why not? It works!'

Now who is laughing at who?

 

I'm Not Sure But This May Be One of the Best Days of My Life

Reading so many books, listening to so many teachings by such as Byron Katie, Eckhart Tolle, Anthony Robbins in the 70s, Rita Davenport before that, and lately Meredith Miller, Gary Vaynerchuk, Mel Robbins, Lisa Nichols, Pema Chodron, Thich Nhat Hanh, the list is endless and in every teaching there is a resolution to inner anger taught and how to rid of it.  I do applaud them all, I found one on my own as a child and now as an adult see others know it and teach it.  There really is nothing new under the sun and we all can try to take credit for our "newly"discovered road to the mountaintop of wisdom but that is our ego speaking not reality.

Reality is, humans process emotions the same, anger can be shot outward to bully others or inward to depress yourself, depending on your childhood teacher.  Road rage is suppressed anger towards someone or a situation you have not dealt with. This is the bigger rage, a car making a wrong move in your direction is in fact a little thing... But the secret is to get rid of the anger. How?

So today I realize there is a person that I am angry with because I speak about something I am studying thinking it will be a conversation, and get a response that is completely off the mark.  To explain there is no need, this person cannot understand. 

I did an exercise I am all too familiar with, I wrote out all my anger towards this person.  There are years and years of unexpressed anger that I did not realize I had.  In the process I can hear, Byron Katie voice: "Defence is the first act of war.  If you believe your thoughts you will be wrong 100% of the time.  Victims are the angriest people on earth."  Whenever I get angry, I go first to the thought, "Where am I making myself a victim because I cannot control the outcome?"  I will not be a victim personality, that is a dead sea of thoughts.  Then I see Eckhart Tolle's face and hear his funny little chuckle smiling at me, saying, "Where's the problem? In you or in the other person?" I smile.

Pema Chodron chimes in encouraging me to get the anger out, let it pass through me without judging myself, holding it in is only to suppress it, this can make us sick.  And by the time I finish with my fourth page of expressing my anger I begin to laugh out loud at myself.  Really laugh and release the anger because I know this is wasted energy I don't' need to ever focus on again.

Thankful to have good habits and good thoughts to wash over me and get me free again. This may be one of the best days of my life. Other people get excited over a vacation, a new car, and I like these, but what really gets me excited is witnessing my mind snap out of negativity and back into alignment with the universe. Yeah, that really floats my boat.  Then my Sweetheart comes in and thanks me for a gift I gave him 18 years ago and tells me how much he appreciates it.  I have all I need right now.

  

Nothing Like a Sweetheart of You Own

I have met a few young ladies over the years that I have stayed in touch with...a few.  This one, I have watched her marry after 5 years living with her boyfriend. Then I watched them move to another state, obtain better employment, buy a house and settle. She took up running a couple of miles every day and expressed how much running had improved her health, she loves to run.  I use to run before I had babies and it was fun. She has visited her sister quite a few times and was always snuggling her nieces and nephews as each new baby arrived. Posting a picture of her holding each one again throughout birthdays, holidays, and family gatherings. 

It was evident she would be a sweet mother someday.  Well she has had a baby and he is adorable.  Watching each stage of this couple's life has been so fun.  I remember these days when we first got  together, married, decided to move, get a house, have that first baby, some of the best days of our life.  Whenever I imagine being in her shoes I feel the happiness she must be feeling.  Her sweet husband and her always smiling.  She always speaks well of him and all the things he does for her. 

Even after all these years, the hard times and good times, I would marry my guy again.  We would do things differently, much kinder, but we would do it again.   

Thankful for my honey...





 

Ohhhhh, Now I Get It!

Studying the Liberated Life by Eckhart Tolle, I have many times fought the idea of being fully present to accept my 'NOW.'  What if where I am is not where I want to be?  If I accept the now, does this mean I stop achieving anything? Does this mean my dreams will not come true? Does this mean I am fated to live a life now that I don't want?

Finally I get it! No it does not mean any of these things. 

Being fully present now in every part of my life is to accept this is where I am because of my choices, be they good or bad, and the only way to be inspired to move toward my goals to change my life for better, is to accept where I am now and be grateful for all I have, so new, creative ideas, innovative ideas, can be shared with me from the universe of thought that resides in each of us by birth.

Great ships come into dock easier on calm waters.  We/I tend to get so caught up in thinking and judging everyone and myself, that we/I can't get new information in to cause positive change. I have studied this so many hours and finally a light went on yesterday.  I get it, look out I'm sailing into smooth waters and a peaceful mind thought by thought.

Cleaning up every angry thought may take a while, after all it took years to give them harbor in my mind, and the ropes are thick and sometimes hard to remove.  That's ok, I have time and kindness to gently remove these ropes that bound my thoughts.  Violence never works for me, I've experienced enough of this in my head.  Thank you Eckhart and books.

Haters Who Wish Violence on Others

One does not have to look far in any article to see "haters" that wish death to another, is actually the type of thinking the world does not need more of.  Even if a hater doesn't see any good in another person’s life, this very viewpoint is evident of that person’s violent solution to those that disagree with him/her and therefore should be a red flag to the rest of us who want peace.  

Going through life thinking everyone has a right to their viewpoint is the American way however once hatred is expressed, with a view to violence, we all need to be careful of that person for any valid solutions to any situation. These people are dangerous to the youth of America. We see these people in their chosen careers of teachers, politicians, entertainers, ministers, supervisory position of any kind that influence to control people’s thinking and lives, and it is dangerous for the youth listening. Kindness, compromise, agree to disagree is much more productive for all.

Turn off TV, read books of people you admire and think for yourself.  This planet has many more positive role models if you seek them out. Seek them, study them but always decide for yourself what is kind and true.

To understand that a group of people need to be protected when in complete submission to a cruel dictator is quite different from individual disagreements in a free country.  When we have so much to be thankful for, hatred needs to be put to rest.  Governments world wide including the USA have made many mistakes that impact individual lives negatively.  Still I believe in the individual to rise up and claim their freedom through peaceful thoughts and peaceful actions.

You have a kind nature, it will emerge if you seek truth in peace.

Table Feelers

Now I must say when I first was married I was overly clean but as each child appeared I had less and less time to overly clean.  In time I learned the first child, bless his heart had my clean fetish and the third, not so much.  If anyone has ever waited tables you know that the cloth to wipe down tables quickly is not always as clean as you would hope. The public doesn't know this, you seat customers without much fuss, they are hungry, they want food.

But I do not forget the wipe cloth when I go out to eat at a restaurant that does not change tablecloths. I make a point not to touch the table if I don't need to.  I do not even like to put my flatware on the uncovered table, I ask for another napkin for this.

When I go out to lunch with anyone I watch them in amazement if they start touching the table as they talk.  Some people feel the table, I mean the entire table if we sit long enough, as if to massage it. Others make points and just use fingertips to point here and there. Either way I think "They are one brave soul! I would never!"

Which brings me to how much I have grown. In my younger days I would feel the need to warn every "table feeler" or the "table pointer" to be careful of the germs because of the undetermined dirty cloth that cleaned it.  Now I sit in awe and silently watch, minding my own business, careful I do not feel or touch the table.  (Unless it is an immediate family member, I still need growth here.)

Two reasons it is ok by me now: 1) clean freaks like Mitty Roosevelt have no natural immunity to handle casual illnesses, so maybe some casual germs are good, and 2) Vanessa Van Edwards, a behavior investigator, did research on the most watched Ted Talks. It turns out the more a speaker uses the movement of their hands during talk the more engaged the audience.  So what do I know?

Thankful to be a "non-table toucher" and have learned to mind my own business. In the past this would have driven me crazy!

When Anger Dissipates There is Room for Peace to Enter"

As a teenager I talked with my father a lot when he was home. Things that upset me in our house would make me quite sure I was right, my anger was justified, and the anger was real but the reason for the anger was at times skewed.  Things I could not understand as a teen Dad would tell me., "That's your perspective and you cannot know life from an adult perspective, it is not that black and white all the time."

Kindness versus selfishness is always clear but shades of gray in any relationship can confuse us.

I did not know what he meant at the time, there were things that were not good at home but he was not going to change anything. I look back now and see he did not know he had options.  That is the greatest lesson I learned from that conversation.

We do have options if we allow our mind to go there, to change what life we settled for to another life more peaceful.  The only way to change is not be afraid of losing what we have but seeking to have more, a better life.  We can have more but it takes courage, willingness to let go of everything you know in exchange for an adventure you never knew existed "out in the world."

Speaking with a friend yesterday about the life we have lived, the only one we can know, I commented "Life for us has not been a carousel horse ride but a Kraken roller coaster."  Scary as hell at times but at the end of the ride we arrived wiser at the station of departure, ready to go again.

My life has been rough at times, but my God what a thrill.  The roller coaster ride is one we all will take if we did not learn at home how to navigate the challenges with calm confidence that "All will be well and all is well."  Steady, stay the course you can handle whatever comes you way.  To remain calm and actually tell yourself, "No matter what happens I will act as if I had chose it to be so"  makes life more bearable when tough times come and more enjoyable when the storm passes.

Life is a wonderful adventure. People are wonderful in the world when you see all of them through the eyes of peace. Outer peace comes from inner peace, acceptance of yourself as good, complete, imperfect in actions but perfectly acceptable, we take rose colored glasses off and open the mind and heart to accept everyone else. If we evaluate every circumstance by "What is the kindest action to take for everyone concerned?"...the confusion of decision disappears.

We don't have to like the choices others make but we can accept we are all here doing the best we can, all of us based on what our own perspective is, we can choose to be patient and kind.  Thankful I had the courage to seek my life outside of the familiar. It has made all the difference the world to me, that is my perspective now.

Thankful for my life and our family.  So thankful, anger is disappearing, peace has room to enter now.

When Staying Present Goes HayWire!

Daily practice of meditation has it benefits when I'm suddenly facing a thought that makes me feel like I'm going out of my mind!  I think as I age I have made peace with many things I know I cannot control. Now the younger generation comes along and they like me, when I was young, are appalled at what is happening inthe world!

Years go by and I see where I can help and that I not only cannot save the world, but it is not my job to save the world.  We have a community of humans world wide and each will do their part.  In this way we collectively save the world.  Change takes time, decades, hundreds of years, but change will come, there is no stopping it.

But...sometimes I am faced with a fearful set of thoughts that I thought I was over and writing my book has done this.  The memories of certain events in my life that I have overcome, are being 'relived.' Maybe because I have time now, I remember details that are scaring the presence out of me!  Suddenly such knots in my stomach and a headache may begin, I quickly go within.

The practice of awareness and reminding myself to be loving and kind to me brings me back into alignment of my inner peace.  I might think we all have things that hurt so much we don't want to go there in thought again, to go there in our mind is to bring a color movie to life?  Do any of us get out of life here bruise free?  I do not want to assume I know the answer for everyone.

Writing this book will change in direction and expression because of my experience remembering. Onward, I set out to write this one first and in so doing I am opening another part of me that I had forgotten.  My dear Sweetheart is watching me go through this and thinks it is good. 

Today I am so eternally thankful to Pema Chodron, Eckhart Tolle, and Byron Katie teaching how to grab the controls of my thoughts back.  No wonder I felt crazy before I found this work, I was. My true nature is kind, patient, and peaceful.  Training my mind to go back there has paid off again.

   

What? We Don't Need Health Care Insurance?

There is another radical MD who dare write a book about not needing health care insurance instead each person taking responsibility for one's own health through correct fuel for the body and exercise.

Egads! What a quack to suggest a thing! You know I love innovative ideas that promote healthy lifestyles and unity among us all.

Hospitals, doctors, medicines are to be used in emergencies and surgeries only?

What no maintenance meds? You mean I need to learn to eat right to fuel my nervous system, meditate to calm stressful thoughts, and exercise to strengthen my body? What?  I need to focus on my own life and the care of it instead of a quick fix with a pharmaceutical for every pain and fatigue I have?  You can read his book for further info but be forewarned when you google him, he is a quack!

So is Dr. Daniel Amen but I went to his clinic and got great natural supplements with a back up plan that would include a pharmaceutical, I did not need the drug after following the plan.

Medicines can be good when there is a dire need, after the diet and exercise discipline have been addressed by the individual.  But we don't want anyone to tell us this. We want to eat whatever we want whenever we want, feel good while it is going down the hatch or not eat at all to be thin.  Exercise? "Nope, don't have time." We are so busy doing what we have to do to get a paycheck that we really don't want to move at all if we don't have to.  In reality this "I'd rather do what I feel like doing even it is bad for my body mentality," is screaming for someone outside of me to take care of me. Drugs will help. But no one can take care of you totally, you have to do this. You take responsibility for your life, health, and body.

This author I speak of is a quack if you google him, Dr. Peter Glidden. He wrote:
The MD Emperor Has No Clothes: Everybody is Sick and I Know Why

He tells of the Flexner Report and this is where the medical university was bought to prescribe drugs in 1910-1920. You can google that to see what it entails. Basically introducing pharmaceuticals as the only viable remedy, excluding alternative methods that did not require medicine such as chiropractic, natural supplements, addressing diet of the patients. If you look at the two investors in this study, the Carnegies and Rockefellers you see they had a personal financial gain by this as they were heavily invested in pharmaceutical companies.

You see the more I read about people who come from big corporations, the more I see these people bet on the general public to do the wrong things, and they profit from it.  Unfortunately these wrong things are superficial and short lived but there is a lot of money to be made on small minded people and their addictions that lead to a sickly life and early death, sometimes a painful death. And the general public takes the bait!

Think about it, what addictions do you and I have that we seek remedy through a quick fix?

Do we need to be constantly entertained?  Pull out that iphone and now we are not bored. No space between the thoughts for a new and great idea to form, our mind is cluttered with ads, what someone else is saying about things that really don't concern us at all. These things can keep us stressed.

Are we bored? Let's eat something yummy, take a drug, drink alcohol, party, so we can zone out on that natural feeling that could catapult us into trying something new. What? Think for myself?  Are we fatigued?  Let's take a drug to make us sleep and then coffee or diet coke to wake us up.  Our entire daily routine is run around what we have to do and eat or drink to get us moving instead of choosing a healthier alternative. Exercise, yoga, walk in the woods, meditation, read a relaxing book.

The other side of 50 will wake you up if you did not see the importance of eating right, exercising, meditating, keeping excess weight off, finding inner peace through controlling your mind, and not being dependent on pharmaceuticals or other people to make you feel good everyday before this age, you will get a wake up call.

Will I answer it or let the heavy patterns of self neglect be my norm for the last 30 years as I slide into death?  I am choosing to  address my own patterns of physical neglect, I'm focusing in a positive way on daily exercise and actually eating more than once a day. 

The action that has benefited me the most over the last 60 years of my life is avoiding pharmaceuticals, seeking natural alternative healing, and taking control of my mind to be thankful and positive. These two actions has opened more opportunities to me because I thought for myself and found innovative ways to accomplish many things. Now my mind after 50, is teaching me to take care of this ageing body. I know none of us can prevent dying, but we can  make it less painful through taking care of our body.

We can give ourselves better health care by eating correctly, regularly, and daily exercise, no smoking, alcohol, drugs, regardless...this is the least we can do for our health.

My sister-in-laws do a work out everyday and one of them is in her 70s! They are a great example to me personally, thankful to have these ladies in my life. "Now I gotst to get going...." 😅

Imagine Your Life With Honest Politicians...

Imagine your life if every morning you awake, from the first day you were born you were told you were beautiful, smart, and better than everyone else.  If every day you were on a schedule to eat, pray, exercise, and taught by your mom and dad as well as tutors in your home several languages, science, poetry, the great literary works of all time, games, sports, and such.

Your parents did not curse, drink alcohol, commit adultery, or live in need of anything, you were rich.  As young men you were taught by your father's example to be the head of the household and to absolutely adore your wife and children.  Your mother was educated, pious, and adored her husband with no admission her children were anything less than perfect. Sounds great doesn't it?

That was Theodore Roosevelt Jr.'s life, and this foundation motivated him to run for office.

He as he grew older, he became disillusioned with NY politicians lining their pockets for personal gain at the expense of the people paying taxes.  So he decided he must do something.   

When the Roosevelts from Oyster Bay, NY, TR, came into politics, he scared the corrupt politicians.  He would not take money to make decisions against what he knew was right for the people of  NYC.  His father taught him that the word professional was synonymous with corruption.  TR went into politics to be a public servant of the people not a "professional politician." (We call these "career politicians" today.)

He wanted to put a stop to the corrupt dealings of the politicians of NYC.  He and a Harvard classmate found that " elected judges" were being bought by private money and lobbyists to allow laws to be passed to collect exorbitant fees from the people, to line the personal politician and businessmen pockets.  Sounds familiar today doesn't it?

We need new politicians today, new blood, more politicians more like TR. (Without his nose in the air attitude like TR)  A major turnover is needed in every town, county, state, and federal agency.  New American blood, to become politicians that are not corrupt, who make decisions based on what is best for the people and the environment of the USA, not personal gain.

You know I think this is what is happening in America and the world now. New people are coming forward and making plans to run for office, it is exciting. This change is not overdue but right on time.

Yes, we can and do vote, but we can make a real impact by becoming peaceful inside. When we control our thoughts and look for the best in others, then we can begin to see a clear answer and action to take to remedy any situation.  Great ideas come over a calmer mind than an angry one.

The wisdom of the world old sages written thousands of years ago teaches us the same truths new authors are discovering and writing in their own words today.

Thankful to see the same solid kind truths with stand through time.

Imagine your life...

This country will not be a permanently good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a reasonably good place for all of us to live in.

Author: Theodore Roosevelt







 

Fire Outside

The clearing of the dead trees, continues and today we worked to clean up the tree that fell over the outside fire pit.  We raked and put the extra limbs and leaves in the compost pile at the edge of the woods.  Stacked neatly nearby are the kindle and leaves to have a fire tonight.  So excited.

We go out to dinner with plans to have a cup of coffee by the fire.  On the way home Sweetheart, "What happened it was 55 degrees this morning, 45 degrees this afternoon, and 27 degrees tonight? I'm thinking it looks like a cup of coffee inside by our fireplace is more like it."

So we build a fire in the fireplace and Sweetheart grabs his guitar to serenade me awhile before we go to bed.  Thankful to have my honey and a quiet place in the country.

And The Anniversary Presents Keep Coming!

This year we talked of the many things we could do to celebrate our fortieth year of marriage.  A trip to Hawaii, Alaska, France, maybe, a party down south for our family to attend for a weekend, possibly, things we have been meaning to do for years, clear the dead trees, make a really huge outdoor natural gazebo with fire pit to enjoy year round, build the front porch we always wanted, a garage?  Buy each other a ruby ring for the 40th year?

So Sweetheart said, "Whatever you want we'll do."

The children are far away having their own adventures and we still like our country home.  So I decided I'd really like to get the land cleared and the year round fire pit gazebo built so we can sit outside in the snow and cook on the fire.  Sweetheart said, "We should go somewhere even if only for a week, maybe see the California sequoias we always meant to see when we lived out West but did not?"

Sweetheart loves farm work, he grew up on a farm. He bought a new chainsaw 3.6 hp and the trees are coming down every day.  We walk the driveway, sit out back and he has a cup of his homemade coffee and I have a Isagenix protein shake, yummy!  The woods are so peaceful and the mountains always capture my attention.  He cuts up the downed trees and we put them to the side, sweep and walk. Walk and talk, a little bit every day we will have a lot done in the next 3 weeks.

Life is simple, free, easy, this is an anniversary that keeps on giving all year long.  I like it !
Thankful to have each other...thinking of renovating a three seater outhouse nearby...

And so it is...

Today was an unexpected holiday, I was not needed to work. I began the day with meditation, exercise, and a beautiful gift of a phone call from a dear friend.  We talked for hours and it was good to see we are on the same path, to love this life we have been given, and to love the life we are living with the kind people who are in it.

Yesterday I had another phone call from another dear friend and we talked for hours about books we are reading and philosophy. This friend too is thankful and having fun figuring it out as we go, letting go of anxiety and fretful thoughts, enjoying life as it comes.

Nice to have friends that get on with living with a thankful attitude. And so it is a good life.

 

Do I Love The Wisdom of Older Married Women? Why Yes I Do!

Forty years plus and truly in touch with self, aware of the trials and tribulations of living a lifetime with anyone without feeling trapped or abused, is my kind of person.  I keep saying my second book is going to be on successful long term relationship techniques.

It begins with you. You do not have to be fully educated in every area of your life but you need to know your set points.

This woman who I have known over thirty years, and I have lightly stayed in touch over the years.  Now both of us on the other side of raising children have more time. We went to lunch today after I found a Christmas card from her where we both say, "Let's do lunch."  I text, she responded, we went.  We had a grand time, we laughed, we admired one another's stories of survival of marriage and realized there are basics true to all successful husband and wife unions.

Neither of us have ever sacrificed our integrity through it all.  We both are good ladies with a strong backbone who don't run from a complicated situation easily when someone we chose to love is involved.

Yes I can see a collaboration coming for the next book. I have quite a few women at my disposal with a wealth of wisdom of how to maintain a life time relationship and I know you do not have to be compatible.  Did we think of divorce? Yes we did.  Why did we stay?  Everyone has their reasons, you'll have to read the book to find out.  Women don't just stay for the children or the financial security because this is not the case in "successful long term relationships."

These golden years are beginning to come into focus why they are golden. It's a time to reflect on the really wonderful moments, children, incidents, and friends that make life worth living.  It's remembering and laughing now about things that at the time were not laughable.

Strong constitution women, there for the long race, make it so.

Thankful to reconnect with this woman who I always admired for her outspoken opinions and straight talk, never put on any airs. My kind of person.

Nietzsche has one perspective I agree with but there's more to it.

"Living in The Present Moment is Probably Impossible"

I'm sure the title alone of this article helped to get this author published since all teachers of the mind teach, "You must stay in the present moment to be free of worry."

The author of the article believes it is impossible for an adult to do this because our mind is made of up of memories of the past stitched together with plans for the future and this is what our species does every day, how we evolve. He has a point given his limited study.

My understanding of the present moment is to relieve stress.  Lao Tzu taught, "If you want to be depressed, get a past, if you want o be anxious, get a future."  Now I don't quote him because I follow blindly, I use the quote that illustrates my own thinking of this statement.  You can read it, what do you think?  Is it true for you?

The present moment teaching must be evaluated in its context. It is in relation to relieving stressful living every moment.  It does not mean we don't make plans for the future or learn from our mistakes/challenges to do better in the future.  This is why I study every day again and again for years until I see the teaching clearer.  When I find a reason to not go further because the teachings do not serve me anymore, I step away.

This is why I left all religious affiliations behind.  I do and have and can learn from all of the peaceful religious principles that join us all in kindness and unity, these are eternal. But I step away from any group that judges or divide us because of personal difference of opinions to the point of hatred. Hatred leads to violent thoughts and can lead to violent actions if reason and logic do not prevent it.

Living in the present moment takes practice and living in the present moment will be a technique I return to for the rest of my life until I truly live with inner peace 24/7 no matter what happens in my life.  Others have achieved it, it must be available for us all.

Tip: 😉I'm pretty sure it has to do with getting rid of hostile anger or hatred. There is a good anger that has its place but it does not include hatred and violence.

Thankful to have clarity about this, it makes the present moment not only probable but enjoyable.






     

 

I Absolutely Believe the Foundation of Our Being is Good

Growing up I heard religion teach we are wretches that need a savior. I heard adults say,"The basic nature of man is bad." As an innocent child I knew I was not bad. So decades go by and church teachings, communities, societies are constantly judging people from a negative perspective. This causes great confusion inside us, teaches us not to trust yourself or others. .

As a mother I see the innocence of childhood, the simple curiosity of a sweet face exploring a caterpillar the very first time. I saw the mischievous but innocent things a child does and I saw my own reaction.

I decided from watching our children that children are innocent. All of any child's actions spring from a good, clear, conscious, and an idea to protect itself from whatever seemed uncomfortable may seem bad when it is not, it is an instinct of survival. That basic goodness is in us still.

Now as an adult I know we are all born with good heart but we may have a confused mind because of the negative experiences or judgments we have received from family or society. We can get back to that goodness if we seek to change our negative thoughts. Byron Katie and Eckhart Tolle have been a great help to me.

Thankful to know we are can change and we are enough.

The Problem is No One Told Us This!"

My studies of the sages of this world has revealed some things I was never taught.  And I bet many of the people reading this were not taught either.  By now we all have knowledge that what we think we become and if you want different results next year we have to change our actions today.  This begins with our thoughts.

This world is results oriented.  We grow up thinking in a world that values diplomas, accomplishments, beauty, how much money we make, how much do we own, the size of our house, boat, plane, audience, how many of these do we have?  The truth is we are all here doing the best we can with whatever we were born into. And so we endeavor to do the things expected of us to be praised and accepted. to be heard and hopefully to be loved unconditionally forever by someone else so we will not be lonely.

Then society, religion, family, culture, tells us to be the best you have to get on a wave length of  one way of thinking, perfection.  Now we can get lost.

So modern "thought leaders" tell us to think positives 24/7.  To not let a negative come out of our mouth or to not speak a negative or we will attract bad things to our self, we did it, we caused it. The reality is:

"Negative things happen in life, we did not attract it, negative things happen, we cannot control everything.  To believe you attract everything good and bad to you is to cause you to be ashamed and guilty when things go wrong.  Once anger, self-righteousness, shame or guilt sets in, you self-condemn others or yourself . Now you are stuck in cyclic, non-productive behaviors that will not move you past circumstances.  Eventually you believe death is the only way. Death to a person, death to an ideology, death to a culture, and eventually death to you as a last result.

You see no one told us, "We can find the answers to every question we ask if we get still inside. No one told us bad things will happen in life that we did not attract but we can weather the storm with peaceful mind."

The answers are inside but we have lost our "stillness." Bad things happen we have no control over.  It is easier to change our perspective than the past.  Good things happen to people who rise above every bad thing in their life. People who learn from mistakes and bad circumstances beyond our control and move on. When kindness and concern for people comes first, then less problems will come to you personally.

Thankful to know the answer is in perspective of the mind, my mind, no one else change my mind or  do this for me or you. We are powerful if only we know.

Emotion and Attention Creates Reality

Forget the Bible, forget cultural expectations, forget society norms, forget obligations, forget position in life, forget your religious teachings from any country in the world you are from, forget it all for a few minutes and look deep within yourself...

What do you want?

Notice that the things that haunt you, your past, your judgments about yourself and others create your outlook in this life.  These also create your actions that become your personality.  Do you cause others to respect you?  Do you cause others to applaud your actions?  Do you take responsibility for your decisions and the consequences of them?

What you put your attention on and what you get emotional about creates your reality.  You can change it if you find yourself caught up in too much frustration, too much negativity from others coming back at you for something you did.

A compass for your actions is simple. Does your action build others up and bring light to a problem? Or does your action cause further division and hate?

Which life is easier to live?  You choose every day. Life can be one of peaceful existence and cause positive change or it can be full of war and destruction within you.

Peace in the world begins with peace within me.  There is no other way to it.  The sages of old and the sages of today that we admire all teach this, I tried it and that is how I know it is true.

Thankful to find a peace within that was born out of my own mental pain, so extreme I had to find a way out.  Now I can write and share what worked for me, and maybe, just maybe it will be a shortcut for you.  Namaste.

Raccoon Saloon and Asparagus Soup

There is a favorite restaurant we stumbled upon years ago while visiting modular home builders in PA. We were shopping, looking to have a modular home custom made. On the way home we found a quaint town and as many towns of old I've seen all over this country you can usually find a saloon looking tavern, pub, or restaurant. In Marlboro, NY we found such a building. 

Much to our surprise the food was delicious 30 years ago and has continued to be delicious ever since.  The incidental but also wonderful reason I go there is to look out the window on the waterfall, natural rock formations, and the Hudson River in the distance.  Heavenly stop for lunch or dinner.

The veggie burger and quiche are my favorite and the condiments are made in house.  There is a daily featured homemade soup as you might expect from a fine restaurant, and yesterday it was Cream of Asparagus, yum!  I called my Sweetheart and told him I dined at the Raccoon Saloon and he said,"Good for you. How was it?"

I told him really good as always and he said, "I have to go there with you soon."

Me: "We have got to make asparagus soup, I had some today and we would enjoy it for sure. "

I come home late from work and Sweetheart has asparagus in the frig. I hugged him and told him,"You take good care of me and I am not tired of it at all! Thank you!"

I come home from work this morning and he has a pot of Cream of Asparagus soup ready on the stove and says, "Hungry? Have some soup." 

I scoop the soup in a mug, and he says"Wait!" He puts three tips of cooked asparagus on the top for decoration."

As my mother-in-law used to say, "Ain't love grand?"

Yes it is, thankful. :)

Wonder if there was  a brothel upstairs? Jus' wunderin'...

Creating Space So You Can Think Peaceful

Eckhart Tolle constantly teaches about space. In a room look around and we see things, but how often do we look at the space in the room? I don't think about it usually but I'm beginning to.  Thoughts have space before the next sentence is formed and in this space there is a pause of thinking.  Meditation takes me to this space and for me it takes practice but I get there.

ET believes that underneath all this thinking we access our true self, peaceful and kind.  I tend to want to believe this. I guess I want to believe all people are peaceful and kind underneath outward hateful actions, and if any of us were not so confused about wrong or right we would always do the kind thing. I believe in humans to be better every generation. I believe the world is getting more peaceful, I do not feed my mind with more fearful clutter from movies, TV, any media outlet.  I want to believe more people are seeking and finding that space, sitting there to get calm, to find stillness within. I know I am actively, daily, seeking to rid my own mind of fear.

Reading an article today about a person who writes: she got up with "tangled" thoughts and could not find a way to calm her thoughts with her mind, so she went to her heart and rested there with all her fear. In this resting, she found solace.  I'm no stranger to this feeling but I want to move beyond the place of "resting," waiting for the fear to subside only to face the fear again another day. I want to cleanse my mind to be free, not to have to wrestle my mind to the mat over and over, waiting for this to pass.

I actually believe this can be done with the correct mind space, but it takes going deeper, deeper, within to root out fear, egotistical thoughts, and the belief I know better than another. If passing emotions are not me, who is the real me? Can I stay focused on that peaceful person and be still? Yes.

There has to be "unlearning" for me to do this, to bring unity and peace within.  So I study these sages of our times and I apply what works for me and I accept what works for others as their path.  In the end we will all be at the top of the mountain. In space, in time...so I look closer inside. Thankful to be aware of the work I need to do and willing to continue doing it for the rest of my life. (I'm getting closer everyday.)



 

Thank God I don't Believe in Interpreting Dreams!

Tossing, turning, I woke up with a question to my husband, "Do you think I need to write Melania a personal apology or s apologizing in person enough?" I woke up with a start! I do not want to disrespect the First Lady of the US!

Yesterday I received yet another book on Eleanor Roosevelt titles No Ordinary Time.  I began reading about Missy that lived in the WHite House with FDR and was virtually his WH wife as ER was traveling most of the time.  The staff reported that when she spoke or ordered anything they answered her as quickly as if she was Mrs. FDR.

I also saw an advertisement with Melania driving a car in passing when I was online last night, I did not read the article.

So in my dream I am riding with Melania, I'm in the back seat, She is driving one of those Mercedes SUV, you know the one that costs $224,000.00 and she is trying to look out the side mirror but her hair is stuck all over it and she is having trouble seeing. So I reach around her shoulder and let the window down, begin to take the hair off the mirror and some of her hair extensions come off in my hand!

Melania is horrified and stopped the car, runs into a nearby hair shop in NYC, comes out with a new wig that Justin Bieber had helped her pick out. Now with JB close behind, he is waving his hand up in the air at whoever is looking at him and Melania tells me to get further in the second back seat while she gives the "Beebs" a front seat. JB starts chanting, in perfect pitch voice I might add, "Melania is my new BFF. Melania is my new BFF..."

I apologized to Melania as I moved further back in the SUV.

Later her husband is sitting in a meeting where I am present and says nothing to me.  I assume he heard I was just trying to help and brushed it off and maybe told Melania to do the same? I don't know...

Do you think I should also write Melania an apology? I'm still perplexed!

Thankful I don't interpret dreams. :)

Most People You See Today Will Be Gone in 80 Years

Eckhart brought up a good point, that is that most people we see on the street today will be gone in a few decades, not that we will be here to see them go, but the fact that life is fleeting so if:

Ever you were going to sing, start today.

Ever you were going to start a business, start today.

Ever you were going to write that book, start today.

Ever you were going to make that leap to live that dream, start today.

Ever you were going to do that thing, start today.

Ever you were going to try again, start today.

Ever going to let go of a bad past, start today.

Ever you were going to forgive someone, start today.

Ever going to forgive yourself, start today.

Ever going to be in love, start today to believe that although life can be hard we can find a way.

We will not be here forever, none of us.   

Slow down, take a break, love your children, love your pets, love the planet, love your fellow man/woman. Take time to play, take time to chillax.  Let go of stressful thoughts and live.
Thankful to be learning how to be more positive in everything I do and say. First step, awareness.

We are not there for long.  Thankful for generations before me, that made it possible for me to be here in this life, now. A chance to live is a wonderful gift.

 

Eckhart Tolle "Live" At The Beacon Theater

ET rocked the house as usual.  Sweetheart went with me on our date night.  Nice to see "the man" with my binoculars, I bought seats in the nosebleed section.  Whenever I go to see a speaker of any kind I'm happy to be in hearing distance, I have no need to be up in an orchestra section.

The Beacon Theater was beautiful. Small venue about 2800 seats, cozy.  The crowd was respectful as you would expect from his students.

The message he will speak is not advertised because he does not prepare it, he goes with the flow, whatever is on his mind is what he shares.  He teaches that when you are in the present moment this connection with universal consciousness will inspire you to speak, inspire you to move. There is a peace about living in the stillness that speaks.

Sweetheart and I talked about his teachings last night and this morning. I took notes last night as he taught. I have a small journal that I bought a while ago especially for ET, teaching points that resonate with me.  One fact he teaches is about knowing the difference between stating a fact and adding a judgment to it, two very different things.

Often I find it hard to explain a situation to another, the hard facts of it, without getting interrupted by a well-meaning person that tries to tell me it's not that bad, it's not true.  In reality I'm not expressing a judgment, I'm trying to tell the situation and a viewpoint to get a different point across.

Eckhart Tolle said, "Because he was not born with a beautiful body, he did not have the challenge of overcoming being in love with himself like so many people."

I have heard him express in other talks that he did not have a particularly attractive face and hair and in the past blamed this along with his shy personality for not getting female attention. This is a fact. The world does have a visual analysis of what is acceptable beauty and everyone can see for themself what it is.  It is not a judgment that others are worthless, it is not a judgement that the person has no right to live and speak, it is just a fact. I follow what he is saying, I think most men get it.  Men seem to operate out of a 5 senses focus more than females. Females want to look into another's person's reason for everything said and done.

I want to be more balanced, more peaceful. I think being a little less emotional, a little more surface logic, dealing with what we see, not what we think we know would make life easier to survive.

I guess it really comes down to listening more, talking less and minding my own business. Yeah, I'm aware, now I can work on it. Thankful to have a husband that humors my every adventure for my own clarity of thought and always comes with me as my date. Always thankful for the internet and teachers like ET.  Great night!  Another check off the bucket list...