happiness
We All Thrive Differently
I love plants and enjoy sharing space with them. I several in my home and take very good care of them. I’m mindful to water them around the same time every week and I even talk to them. In many ways, I look at them as my friends.
I live in a home that doesn’t get much sunshine, so I have selected plants that require low light. While they never receive any direct sunlight, they are thriving like champs and are healthy and happy.
Plants are much like people in that sense. Some of us require a lot of people around us to be happy, the same way some plants need lots of sunshine. But some of us require lots of quiet, alone time, like some plants prefer the shade. We all recharge and thrive in different ways. Continue reading
Release Control And Live In Joy
Last month, an old friend reconnected with me on social media. She talked quite a lot about the old days, when we lived and went to school on an island in the Canary Islands. It was fun looking back and reminiscing, as well as sharing all the things we’ve done, and the weird and wonderful places we’ve lived in and traveled to in-between.
I was quite taken back when she made a comment about how controlling my father was back then. In the past, I would have defended him, but she had a valid point. Make no mistake, I adored my father, but as years progressed the controlling behavior actually worsened. Continue reading
Spiritual Growth In Being Wrongly Blamed
We all tend to be terribly upset when blamed for something we haven’t done, or said. I have also found myself in situations of being blamed unfairly. This made me wonder… if everything happens for a reason, as many spiritual teachings suggest, then what is the lesson here?
My conclusion is that, perhaps, we can help ourselves by acknowledging the lesson in the unpleasant situation, as well as forgiving those who knew no better, in order to let them off the hook. Seeing things in this perspective can shift us to a place where we feel we’ve learned from the experience, and that we don’t need to attract the same pattern again. Continue reading
Finding Serenity
What is spiritual serenity, and how does one get to such an enlightened place? I’ve put forth this question many times throughout my life, and I’ve also had it asked of me. People hear what I do for a living and they immediately assume I walk around chanting Buddhist chants, or waving sage throughout my sacred space 24 hours a day. If only!
I don’t have the answers any more than the next person does. There are some things I have learned and seen, as I am sure I have yet more to learn and see. It is an endless cycle of not knowing and then knowing, the same cycle we all go through. The same lessons. It is only in how we apply them that we become different. We grow differently and start to use parts of ourselves that perhaps someone else, who is growing ‘at their own pace’ may not be using yet. And that is okay. Continue reading
Life Is Like Cooking Bacon And Eggs
Life is like cooking bacon and eggs without a shirt on. Why is that? Well, let’s think about the process one goes through when cooking bacon and eggs.
After picking out the frying pans, next is to consider what version of eggs to cook. Scrambled, poached, fried (sunny side up, over easy), omelet, boiled? Do we add vegetables, or cheese? Which kind of cheese: American, Swiss, Pepperjack? Broccoli, onions, asparagus, carrots?
So many choices, so little time.
Having sifted through the refrigerator, checking out the ‘best before’ dates, and smelling and squeezing all the ingredients, we are now ready to cook the eggs. The first choices made, now it’s time to take action. What is the timing between starting the eggs and bacon: separate pans or combined? How crispy do we like our bacon? Continue reading
Do It Anyway
Recently, I posted on social media about my daughter’s graduation, when she was awarded a degree in Psychology with high honors from a well-known university. I was really proud of her, and wanted to share it with the world.
Many friends and family commented on the post, with congratulatory excitement and kind remarks. But later that day, I noticed there was also a hurtful comment on that same post from my mother.
In the post I had misspelled the words summa cum laude and my mother’s comment read, “Ask your daughter how to spell summa cum laude.” That was it. It seemed short and cold. My heart sank. Not only from the public embarrassment of her comment, but more so from the insinuation that I lack intelligence. Continue reading