What We Need Is Here

“Geese appear high over us,

pass, and the sky closes.  Abandon,

as in love or sleep, holds

them to their way, clear

in the ancient faith: what we need

is here.  And we pray, not

for new earth or heaven, but to be

quiet in heart, and in eye,

clear.  What we need is here.”

~ Wendell Berry, American Poet

A weight loss plan that makes sense

I know. I'm not crazy about weight loss programs either. Most are schemes to get you to buy some product. This one is different. Dr. Christiane Northrup is a physician, author, lecturer and a wise and thoughtful person. Take a look at her simple tips and see what you think: Six-Week Weight Loss Program that addresses the emotional aspects of eating.

I am responsible for my life

I am completely responsible for what I have created in my life. What I have created, I can un-create. What I like, I can produce more of.  ~ Sheryl Ellis, Life Coach

Build the Life You Want

I propose a radical, yet ancient notion: To build the life you want--complete with inner satisfaction, personal meaning and rewards--create the work you love.  By this I mean invent a way to earn an income doing what you do best, while serving others, becoming authentic, fulfilling the highest standards of your vocation.  This is spiritual work.  It's life's assignment.  And most of us are well-equipped to do it. ~ Marsha Sinetar, "To Build the Life You Want, Create the Work You Love"

Life's Ordeals

Beauty usually requires some imperfection, transgression, or lacuna. The whole of your being, the good and the bad, is the stuff out of which your beauty makes an appearance.  ~ Thomas Moore, The Dark Night of the Soul: A Guide to Finding Your Way Through Life's Ordeals

I'm Interested Only in the Present

"I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival; because life is the moment we’re living now." ~ Paul Coelho, The Alchemist

The Ability to Stand What We Know

"To be strong does not mean to sprout muscles and flex.  It means meeting one's own numinosity (a supernatural presence; one's divinity) without fleeing, actively living with the wild nature in one's own way.  It means to be able to learn, to be able to stand what we know.  It means to stand and live." ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women Who Run with the Wolves

Who are the happiest, richest people you know?

 "Who are the happiest, richest people you know?  Aren’t they the people who are living out their visions, regardless of obstacles and challenges? Aren't they the ones who are dreaming even bigger dreams and contributing their talents and resources to the world? These are the people who are living joyful, enthusiastic lives, regardless of their possessions or lack of possessions. These people possess something more precious than material goods. They possess a spark of God that radiates in all they do." ~ Rabbi Shoni Labowitz from her book, Miraculous Living.

The Border Beyond Which Everything Loses Meaning

"It takes so little, so infinitely little, for a person to cross the border beyond which everything loses meaning: love, convictions, faith, history. Human life -- and herein lies its secret -- takes place in the immediate proximity of that border, even in direct contact with it; it is not miles away, but a fraction of an inch." ~ Milan Kundera, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

Don't Waste Your Time Hating Failure

"Though fairy tales end after ten pages, our lives do not. We are multi-volume sets. In our lives, even though one episode amounts to a crash and burn, there is always another episode awaiting us and then another. There are always more opportunities to get it right, to fashion our lives in the ways we deserve to have them. Don't waste your time hating a failure. Failure is a greater teacher than success." 
— Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Author/Psychotherapist

A Miniature Rocky Balboa

Most of the time we never think about the fragility of life.  We think we are invincible.

My newborn grandson Austin is making small but thrilling improvements.  He reminds me of both how fragile life is and how durable.  He’s a miniature Rocky Balboa, running up the steps of his own training field, ready to throw his tiny hands in the air.

He is facing several serious battles.  But no child has more love pouring over them.  His parents are examples of what parents should be in these situations.  Attentive.  Courageous.  Fervent in their faith.  Determined in their care.  Abundant in their love.

I am so proud of both of them.

It is easy when things go wrong to want to blame.  To feel as though life is against us.  To toss a look of disdain upward and ask what happened to all of that power God has.  To assume the devil is up to something and we are under some form of spiritual assault.

But the truth is, life is just a mystery most of the time.  It’s impossible to figure all of the good and bad things out.  And really, to be honest, it’s unnecessary.

The ancient Rabbis used to say, “Sometimes you have to rake through many ashes before you find an ember.”

That’s a worthwhile task in life.  There are embers to be found in the ashes of our hurts and sorrows and disappointments.  And from them warmth, comfort, light.

Ashes come to all of us.  And all of us come to ashes.  Searching for and finding those embers of okayness with life and with its mysteries is a significant part of understanding our humanness and our humanity.

It takes a little bit of Rocky in us to do it well.

When Life Becomes a Volcano

What do you do in those times when life turns into some kind of volcano and erupts in an explosion of staggering experiences that send the debris of your stability across the landscape of your days?  You see the pieces of your normal existence floating down around you and suddenly you’re standing in a footing that is melting and cracking apart.

My second grandchild was born two days ago.  A beautiful baby boy.  But upon his arrival a series of critical medical complications appeared.  Doctors stepped in to work the magic of the astonishing resources now available to them.  Our baby Austin got here full term and in perfect weight only to begin a heroic battle of survival.   

Newborns seem so fragile to us, tiny and defenseless, wiggling and writhing in their attempt to acclimate themselves to their new existence.  Babies in early distress obviously seem even more vulnerable and we bigger humans gather around them to do our best from a distance to protect and heal them.

But every baby is born with invisible armament that works amazingly well.  And when it is supported with medical genius, dedicated physician skill, fiercely loving parents and other family with arms and hearts extended, the chances of winning the battle of survival, though not guaranteed, are nevertheless increased.

So far only delicate signs of progress are appearing.  But they are enough to offer comfort and the possibility that Austin might very well get beyond all of the obstacles inside his small frame.

In the meantime, those of us who love him dearly, struggle to find our own footing in what feels like hot slippery lava beneath us.

What Life is Like

Life is rather like a tin of sardines -- we're all looking for the key. - Alan Bennett, Award-winning English playwright and screenwriter

Love Is What We Are Born With

"Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts. Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is the meaning of life. Meaning does not lie in things. Meaning lies in us." 
— Marianne Williamson, Author/Lecturer, Founder of The Peace Alliance

Making a Fist

For the first time, on the road north of Tampico,
I felt the life sliding out of me,
a drum in the desert, harder and harder to hear.
I was seven, I lay in the car
watching palm trees swirl a sickening pattern past the glass.
My stomach was a melon split wide inside my skin.

"How do you know if you are going to die?"
I begged my mother. 
We had been traveling for days.
With strange confidence she answered,
"When you can no longer make a fist."

Years later I smile to think of that journey,
the borders we must cross separately,
stamped with our unanswerable woes.
I who did not die, who am still living,
still lying in the backseat behind all my questions,
clenching and opening one small hand.

(c) Naomi Nye

Open Your Life Today

Something opens our wings.

Something makes boredom and hurt disappear.

Someone fills the cup in front of us.

We taste only sacredness.

~ Rumi, Persian Poet

What is that “something” that can do these things?

 

Making a difficult decision about your job, a relationship, a financial matter, your health, or some other personal issue.  That can do it. 

Being aware of small wonders—how easily children forgive, the rewarding companionship of a dog or cat, winter’s barren beauty, the amazing healing in laughter, the nurturing forces in a an affectionate touch. These can too.

Who is the “someone” the poet writes about?  A lover.  A parent.  A child.  A best friend.  A spiritual presence.  A musician.  An actor.  An author. A teacher.  A mentor. 

Open your life today to all the good influences around you.  Something, someone, waits to kiss you with grace, to embrace you in the glory that empowers and transforms.

Destiny Can Be Directed

One discovers that destiny can be directed, that one does not have to remain in bondage to the first wax imprint made in childhood. One need not be branded by the first pattern. Once the deforming mirror is smashed, there is a possibility of wholeness; there is a possibility of joy.-- Anais Nin

Our Sense of Self--Good or Sour

"There is a period of life when we swallow a knowledge of ourselves and it becomes either good or sour inside."
—Pearl Bailey, Singer/Actress