Spirithaven
NUTS!
A Fun Way to End Negative Thinking
Negative thinking is so often a part of our minds that we rarely notice anything wrong with it. We just take it for granted that that's the way we are. We let negative tapes such as “I'm not smart enough,” or “I'll never pass this test,” perpetuate our negativity.
It is important to know that you can only have one thought
in your mind at a time.
We can choose whether that thought is positive or negative. The more times we turn a negative thought into a positive one, we form new thinking habits. We actually form new pathways in our brains.
So, how does NUTS work? Each time you hear your self-talk being a negative barrier, yell STOP! Picture a large red stop sign with big, black letters that spell STOP!
And then say
NUTS!
This stands for
Negative and Unpleasant Thought Stopping
Now, it's difficult to picture a Stop Sign in your mind and yell STOP at yourself without smiling. It is even more difficult to say NUTS! To yourself without smiling.
So remember this little trick and pass it on to your students. It works!
A BEAUTIFUL STORY OF LOVE AND GENEROSITY
There was an unusual high school football game played in Grapevine, Texas.
The game was between Grapevine Faith Academy and the Gainesville State School,
both in TX . Faith is a Christian school and Gainesville State School is located within a maximum security correction facility.
Gainesville State School has 14 players. They play every game on the road.
Their record was 0-8. They've only scored twice. Their 14 players are teenagers
who have been convicted of crimes ranging from drugs to assault to robbery.
Most had families who had disowned them. They wore outdated, used shoulder pads and helmets.
Faith Academy was 7-2. They had 70 players, 11 coaches, and the latest equipment.
Chris Hogan, the head coach at Faith Academy, knew the Gainesville team would
have no fans, and it would be no contest, so he thought,
"What if half of our fans and half of our cheerleaders, for one night only, cheered for the other team?"
He sent out an email to the faithful asking them to do just that. "Here's the message I want you to send," Hogan wrote.
"You're just as valuable as any other person on the planet."
Some folks were confused and thought he was nuts. One player said, "Coach, why are we doing this?"
Hogan said, "Imagine you don't have a home life, no one to love you, no one pulling for you.
Imagine that everyone pretty much had given up on you. Now, imagine what it would feel like and mean to you for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you."
The idea took root. On the night of the game, imagine the surprise of those 14 players when they took the field and there was a banner the cheerleaders had made for them to crash through.
The visitors' stands were full. The cheerleaders were leading cheers for them.
The fans were calling them by their names. Isaiah, the quarterback-middle linebacker said,
"I never in my life thought I would hear parents cheering to tackle and hit their kid.
Most of the time, when we come out, people are afraid of us. You can see it in their eyes, but these people are yelling for us. They knew our names."
Faith won the game, and after the game the teams gathered at the 50-yard line to pray.
That's when Isaiah, the teenage convict quarterback surprised everybody and asked if he could pray too.
He prayed, "Lord, I don't know what just happened so I don't know how or who to say thank you to, but I never knew there were so many people in the world who cared about us."
On the way back to the bus, under guard, each one of the players was handed a burger, fries, a coke, candy, a Bible, and an encouraging letter from the players from Faith Academy.
What an incredible act of Christian witness and kindness and goodness that was.
Proverbs 11:17 says, "Your own soul is nourished when you are kind."
Proverbs 3:27 says, "Do not withhold good when it is in your power to act."
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The Power of Mindfulness to Free Us from Fear
Jack Kornfield, PhD
Fear is a natural thing. It’s our organism’s way to try to protect itself, but as human beings, we can spin-out a great deal with it. Mark Twain said, “My life has been filled with terrible misfortunes most of which never happened.”
When somebody comes in and has anxiety and fear, first of all, I’m very sympathetic because it’s hard to hold, hard to carry, and the stronger it is, the more the separate sense of self grows.
In Buddhist psychology, the separate sense of self is sometimes called the body of fear because we feel separate and we have to protect ourselves in worry ... rather than sensing the field of being or presence that is actually well-being no matter what.
“Yes, this too is part of the tainted glory of humanity. This is part of life, my life and others. We all share in this.”I then teach people how to sit and acknowledge the fear as if to bow to it – pay respect – because it’s very powerful. How does it feel in the body? What are the stories that it tells? Are they true or not? What are the emotions that come with it?
Sometimes there’s grief with fear or there’s loss, or there are various kinds of pains that come, and we can tease those apart and realize that you can be present for them in a spacious way.
The image from Buddhist psychology is if you put a teaspoon of salt in a cup of water, it tastes very salty, but if you put the same spoon of salt in a lake, the water is pure and clear.
In the same way, you can make the heart more spacious and open and gracious so that fear and confusion are held in a spacious heart.
I’m using the word heart quite deliberately as well as the word mind because we talk about mental health, but it’s also the health of the heart.
To be present and to learn, to train oneself in mindfulness, or to offer it to others, you can only offer that if you’ve really found this capacity in yourself. It requires a wedding of love and awareness. I like to use the phrase loving awareness.
What we bring to the measure of fear – or confusion or sorrow – is this capacity of loving awareness to say, “Yes, this too is part of the tainted glory of humanity. This is part of life, my life and others. We all share in this.”
There’s a field of compassion, and we discover that we can be present with a kind of dignity for it. It doesn’t mean fear goes away, but rather that we befriend our fear and know that who we are is bigger than that.
Uncertainty is a description of reality, you’re always happier and healthier if you deal with the world and life the way that it is rather than some fantasy you have about it.
There’s the societal fantasy that if you have enough money in the bank, or if you have enough possessions, you’ll be happy – that’s a consumer fantasy. Another is that you’ll always have someone who’s going to love you in this perfect way, and even if they do love you...that’s today. You don’t know what’s going to happen next week or next year.
“We’re a river of change, and if we try to hold on, what we end up getting is rope burn.”Things change. We’re a river of change, and if we try to hold on, what we end up getting is rope burn. It’s a kind of recipe for suffering.
If instead, we accept the fact that everything changes and discover that we can float, that we can surf rather than try to stop the waves, then our life becomes more responsive. It becomes more of a dance and there’s a tremendous joy that comes in it.
There’s a certain grief and loss that must be honored and felt, but it’s not the end of this story, and it’s not who you really are. That’s a limited identity. You were that for a while. Now, you’re going to be something else and that’s the way life unfolds itself all the time.
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The myth of finding your purpose
Kris Carr
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Lately, I’ve been working on being softer towards myself. Kinder. Slower. Why? Because it just feels so darn good, but also because I’m feeling anxious. You might be feeling the same way. Anxiety is fairly common this time of year. There’s lots of pressure to party, socialize, buy and give the right stuff, pressure to map out the perfect 2013, and let’s not forget the nagging pressure to finally dump the junk in our collective trunks.
Countless wellness bloggers are writing about solutions for these very timely issues. And while I have my own tips and tricks, we’re not going to chew on those today. This isn’t a blog about strategies or resolutions. It’s about a bigger question that often leads to the ultimate anxiety: How to find your purpose.
Just thinking about “finding your purpose” exercises can literally make folks sweat and pace — especially this time of year when our toes are curled over the diving board of 2013. Like it or not, we’re at a precipice. We’re being called to leap into new beginnings and all that jazz. Perhaps you’re reflecting on the last 365 days and saying “Well, I sure got a lot done, but what’s it all for? What’s my higher calling? How do I stop spinning my wheels and get down to business? And to be even more blunt: What the hell am I supposed to be doing with my life?!”
I struggled with this too, until I finally found my purpose (spoiler alert: or so I thought) with Crazy Sexy Cancer and then Crazy Sexy everything else. At first I felt very strong and proud. My feathers were fluffed. I had finally arrived spiritually. For the rest of my days I wouldn’t have to worry about the burning “what’s my purpose?” question. I used to tell myself, “Well, that’s one good thing that came from cancer …” It seemed pretty clear: My purpose was to help people get healthier and to teach prevention. Pretty rad. A karmic home run.
But here’s the rub. When our purpose is external, we may never find it. If we tie our purpose or meaning to our vocation, goal or an activity, we’re more than likely setting ourselves up for suffering down the line.
Your purpose has nothing to do with what you do. There, I said it. Your purpose is about discovering and nurturing who you truly are, to know and love yourself at the deepest level and to guide yourself back home when you lose your way. That’s it. Everything else is your burning passion, your inspired mission, your job, your love-fueled hobby, etc. Those things are powerful and essential, but they’re not your purpose. Your purpose is much bigger than that.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot on a personal level lately. My deeper understanding of purpose feels right in my bones. It diffuses the ache of separateness I experience when my work isn’t appreciated or when my efforts are overlooked or criticized. Sometimes folks will treasure your work, sometimes they won’t. Sometimes you’ll get the gig, sometimes you won’t. You’ll be on the marquee and you’ll be passé. You’ll be thanked and you’ll be taken for granted. You’ll give and you’ll get nothing in return. You’ll be “Liked” and you’ll be unfriended. That’s life. But, so then what? You have no purpose or meaning? Absolutely, positively not. Can you see how tying your worth to that circus will only make you feel depleted, depressed and even resentful? Anchor your purpose within, sweet friend. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself drifting out at sea again and again.
What if your purpose is very different than what you’ve been taught to believe?
What if your purpose is to build an everlasting relationship with yourself? To fall deeply in love with precious you? This isn’t self-centered or selfish, it’s self-expansive. Interconnected. Conscious.
What if your purpose is to forgive yourself and others? And by doing so, to allow warm waves of compassion to wash over the entire planet (yourself included).
What if your purpose is to gently heal all self-injury? And by doing so, to become a mentor and role model for others to do the same.
What if your purpose is to release all shame and feelings of unworthiness? Guess what you’ll find behind those feelings? Vulnerability. Roll out the red carpet for the V word because vulnerability is where your true strength and glory resides.
Shall we talk about perfection? Yes, I think we must. What if your purpose is to teach yourself that there is no such thing as perfection and that your never ending pursuit of it is destroying your life and your relationships. Let it go.
What if your purpose is to speak kindly to yourself so that you elevate your energy and the world around you?
What if your purpose is to develop an everlasting faith in yourself? To remember your holiness and treat yourself accordingly. The deeper your faith gets, the stronger your connection to a higher power.
What if your purpose is to take impeccable care of yourself so that you have the energy and joy to serve others?
And lastly …
What if your purpose is to bear witness to your suffering? To acknowledge it and embrace it in order to move through it. “They” say that “suffering is optional.” I’m not so sure about that anymore. I used to think that was true. But that was before I had a deep and layered experience with suffering. Today, I think suffering is essential. The trick is to learn how to move out of suffering once you get the nugget and are ready to apply the lessons. Note: Residue of pain may remain (and that’s OK), but at some point you can fully release the suffering.
Seriously, what if finding your purpose is about finding and nurturing yourself? Not an external to-do or accomplishment, even if that to-do or accomplishment is the most important discovery of all time. Because if you are the one destined to find the most important ah-ha of all time, you will probably find it quicker and easier if you feel good, loved and happy. Start there. It’s that simple.
Now this doesn’t mean that I don’t love my job (or you) or that I’m going to quit in anyway. I cherish my work and all of my readers. And it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t start an orphanage or save animals or empower women or teach people how to file taxes. It means that you no longer need to connect your personal self-worth with a plaque on the wall.
Your self-worth has nothing to do with your craft or calling and everything to do with how you treat yourself.
I’ve met brilliant and effective activists who I have gallons of respect for but who are dirty messes inside. Mean messes. Bitter messes. Sad messes. And guess what? Their reach and impact reflects their attitude. Imagine what they could accomplish if they moved from loathing to love, if they knew that no matter how important their mission, their inner purpose matters even more. Folks are like plants, we all lean towards the light.
You are the light. Your inner purpose is to connect with that light. Everything else will follow in time.
Old Guy And A Bucket Of Shrimp
This is a true story, Hope you appreciate it and want to pass it along.
It happened every Friday evening, almost without fail, when the sun resembled a giant orange and was starting to dip into the blue ocean.
Old Ed came strolling along the beach to his favorite pier.. Clutched in his bony hand was a bucket of shrimp. Ed walks out to the end of the pier, where it seems he almost has the world to himself. The glow of the sun is a golden bronze now.
Everybody's gone, except for a few joggers on the beach. Standing out on the end of the pier, Ed is alone with his thoughts...and his bucket of shrimp.
Before long, however, he is no longer alone. Up in the sky a thousand white dots come screeching and squawking, winging their way toward that lanky frame standing there on the end of the pier.
Before long, dozens of seagulls have enveloped him, their wings fluttering and flapping wildly. Ed stands there tossing shrimp to the hungry birds. As he does, if you listen closely, you can hear him say with a smile, 'Thank you. Thank you.'
In a few short minutes the bucket is empty. But Ed doesn't leave.
He stands there lost in thought, as though transported to another time and place.
When he finally turns around and begins to walk back toward the beach, a few of the birds hop along the pier with him until he gets to the stairs, and then they, too, fly away. And old Ed quietly makes his way down to the end of the beach and on home.
If you were sitting there on the pier with your fishing line in the water, Ed might seem like 'a funny old duck,' as my dad used to say. Or, 'a guy who's a sandwich shy of a picnic,' as my kids might say. To onlookers, he's just another old codger, lost in his own weird world, feeding the seagulls with a bucket full of shrimp.
To the onlooker, rituals can look either very strange or very empty. They can seem altogether unimportant .... maybe even a lot of nonsense.
Old folks often do strange things,
at least in the eyes of Boomers and Busters.
Most of them would probably write Old Ed off, down there in Florida . That's too bad. They'd do well to know him better.
His full name: Eddie Rickenbacker. He was a famous hero back in World War II. On one of his flying missions across the Pacific, he and his seven-member crew went down. Miraculously, all of the men survived, crawled out of their plane, and climbed into a life raft.
Captain Rickenbacker and his crew floated for days on the rough waters of the Pacific. They fought the sun. They fought sharks. Most of all, they fought hunger. By the eighth day their rations ran out. No food. No water. They were hundreds of miles from land and no one knew where they were.
They needed a miracle. That afternoon they had a simple devotional service and prayed for a miracle. They tried to nap. Eddie leaned back and pulled his military cap over his nose. Time dragged. All he could hear was the slap of the waves against the raft..
Suddenly, Eddie felt something land on the top of his cap.
It was a seagull!
Old Ed would later describe how he sat perfectly still, planning his next move. With a flash of his hand and a squawk from the gull, he managed to grab it and wring its neck.. He tore the feathers off, and he and his starving crew made a meal - a very slight meal for eight men - of it. Then they used the intestines for bait.. With it, they caught fish, which gave them food and more bait......and the cycle continued. With that simple survival technique, they were able to endure the rigors of the sea until they were found and rescued (after 24 days at sea...).
Eddie Rickenbacker lived many years beyond that ordeal, but he never forgot the sacrifice of that first life-saving seagull.. And he never stopped saying, 'Thank you.' That's why almost every Friday night he would walk to the end of the pier with a bucket full of shrimp and a heart full of gratitude.
Reference: (Max Lucado, "In The Eye of the Storm",
pp..221, 225-226)
PS: Eddie started Eastern Airlines.
Thanks, Jim, for sharing this with us
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THINKING OF OTHERS
By Pema Chodrin
Sharing the heart is a simple practice that can be used at any time and in every situation. It enlarges our view and helps us remember our interconnection.
The essence of this practice is that when we encounter pain in our life we breathe into our heart with the recognition that others also feel this. It’s a way of acknowledging when we are closing down and of training to open up. When we encounter any pleasure or tenderness in our life, we cherish that and rejoice. Then we make the wish that others could also experience this delight or this relief.
In a nutshell, when life is pleasant, think of others. When life is a burden, think of others. If this is the only training we ever remember to do, it will benefit us tremendously and everyone else as well. It’s a way of bringing whatever we encounter onto the path of awakening bodhichitta.
RISK, WORRY AND FEAR
Seth's Blog
Risk is all around us. When we encounter potential points of failure, we're face to face with risk. And nothing courts risk more than art, the desire to do something for the first time--to make a difference.
Fear is a natural reaction to risk. While risk is real and external, fear exists only in our imagination. Fear is the workout we give ourselves imagining what will happen if things don't work out.
And worry? Worry is the hard work of actively (and mentally) working against the fear. Worry is our effort to imagine every possible way to avoid the outcome that is causing us fear, and failing that, to survive the thing that we fear if it comes to fruition.
If you've persuaded yourself that risk is sufficient cause for fear, and that fear is sufficient cause for worry, you're in for some long nights and soon you'll abandon your art out of exhaustion. On the other hand, you can choose to see the three as completely separate phenomena, and realize that it's possible to have risk (a good thing) without delibilitating fear or its best friend, obsessive worry.
Separate first, eliminate false causation, then go ahead and do your best work.
When I was a kid, my Mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my Mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed!
Yet all my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my Mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that ugly burned biscuit. He ate every bite of that thing...never made a face nor uttered a word about it!
When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my Mom apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I'll never forget what he said: "Honey, I love burned biscuits every now and then."
Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides - a little burned biscuit never hurt anyone!"
As I've grown older, I've thought about that many times. Life is full of imperfect things and imperfect people. I'm not the best at hardly anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone else. But what I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's faults - and choosing to celebrate each others differences - is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.
And that's my prayer for you today...that you will learn to take the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of your life and lay them at the feet of God. Because in the end, He's the only One who will be able to give you a relationship where a burnt biscuit isn't a deal-breaker!
We could extend this to any relationship. In fact, understanding is the base of any relationship, be it a husband-wife or parent-child or friendship!
"Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket - keep it in your own."
So, please pass me a biscuit, and yes, the burned one will do just fine.
And PLEASE pass this along to someone who has enriched your life.
Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
"Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil - it has no point."
SOLVING THE 84TH PROBLEM
It is said
that a farmer once came to see the Buddha, in order to seek
advice, to get help with his problems. The farmer had many problems and he told the Buddha, in great detail, all about how they made his life very difficult. He went on and on about the weather, his wife, his children, neighbors and more.
The Buddha replied simply: "I cannot help you get rid of those problems."
The man, now exasperated, asked the Buddha: "What kind of teacher are you? And if you are so enlightened, what can you help me get rid of?"
The Buddha replied: "I can help you get rid of your 84th problem."
"And what is my 84th problem?"
"Your 84th problem is that you assume your life will be better if you get rid of your other 83 problems."
“What do I need to accomplish so I feel my
life has accounted for some good?”
—Paula Payne Harden
Whatever our age, it is good to stop at some point along the
way and take note of where we are on our spiritual path.
We can sit quietly, still our minds, and ask ourselves some sincere
questions.
Am I where I want to be?
Am I doing what I want to do?
If you hesitate or say no to any of these questions, ask yourself:
What do I really want to do with my life?
Is there any way I can make this happen?
If that answer is no, ask:
Can I accept my present situation for now?
If you are young enough, ask:
How can I make this happen?
If you are not, ask:
How can I make today a day I am proud of?
Before I start my day today I am taking time to
pray I can make it a day well lived.
Negative emotions corrode our connection to our Source.
—Author unknown
Negative emotions such as shame, guilt, anger, and resentment drain
our energy. Negative emotions can block us from feeling joy and love,preventing God’s creative energy from flowing through us, resulting in depression.
Today is a perfect day to watch what we think and how we respond to our thoughts. We can be aware of any negative thoughts and stop them before they become stories in our minds.
Take some time to examine whether you are holding on to any resentments, and write them down. Putting the words on paper helps to shine a light on them and make them clear. We can’t deny what we see. The freedom that comes from being willing to examine and eliminate our negative emotions is a sure way to bring peace to our hearts.
It feels good to know that I am at choice today.
I can admit to any resentments I am holding
on to and become willing to let them go.
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THAT PEACEFUL, EASY FEELINGYou feel a deep sense of peace and internal balance——you are at harmony with yourself, with others, and with your larger environment. You experience increased buoyancy and vitality. Your senses are enlivened——every aspect of your perceptual experience seems richer, more textured. Surprisingly, you feel invigorated even when you would usually have felt tired and drained. Things that usually would have irked you don't 'get to you' as much. Your body feels regenerated——your mind clear. At least for a period of time, decisions become obvious as priorities clarify and inner conflict dissolves. Intuitive insight suddenly provides convenient solutions to problems that had previously consumed weeks of restless thought. Your creativity flows freely. You may experience a sense of greater connectedness with others and feelings of deep fulfillment."1 Conventional wisdom tells us that this experience is rare. But it doesn't have to be. More than 15 years of research at the Institute of HeartMath has shown the relationship between this state, commonly referred to as flow, and positive emotions. They call what happens to the human system during these states physiological coherence. And it's available, on demand, with HeartMath's basic coherence-building tool: the Quick Coherence®® technique. If you're new to the HeartMath System, here's how to get in the flow: Take a deep breath and imagine your breath coming in and going out through the area around your heart in the center of your chest. Continue this slow, deep breathing for about 20-30 seconds. Then recall a fun or positive time in your life: A favorite vacation spot; a special time with a loved one; a perfect run down the slopes. And attempt to re experience it. Hold this feeling for about 30 seconds or more and notice an emotional, mental and physical shift. That's it. Heart focus. Heart breathing. Heart feeling. Any time. Any place. Take care, Kim Allen
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Vitamin F...... I loved this and wanted to share it with you... Why do I have a variety of friends who are all so different in character? How can I get along with them all? I think that each one helps to bring out a "different" part of me. With one of them I am polite. With another, I joke. I sit down and talk about serious matters with one. With another I laugh a lot. I listen to one friend's problems. Then I listen to another one's advice for me.
My friends are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. When completed, they form a treasure box. A treasure of friends! They are my friends who understand me better than I understand myself. They're friends who support me through good days and bad.
We all pray together and for each other.
Some doctors tell us that friends are good for our health. Dr. Oz calls them Vitamin F (for Friends) and counts the benefits of friends as essential to our well being. Research shows that people in strong social circles have less risk of depression and terminal strokes.
If you enjoy Vitamin F constantly you can be up to 30 years younger than your real age. The warmth of friendship stops stress and even in your most intense moments, it decreases the chance of a cardiac arrest or stroke by 50%. I'm so happy that I have a stock of Vitamin F!
In summary, we should value our friends and keep in touch with them. We should try to see the funny side of things and laugh together and pray for each other in the tough moments
. Thank you for being one of my Vitamins!
Thanks, Joyce for sharing this with us!
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I can’t read this without crying
Too Busy for a Friend.....
One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers. That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual. On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most of the comments. No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on. Several years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature. The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin. As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. 'Were you Mark's math teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he said: 'Mark talked about you a lot.' After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon.. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher. 'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket 'They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.' Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him. 'Thank you so much for doing that,' Mark's mother said. 'As you can see, Mark treasured it.' All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home.' Chuck's wife said, 'Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.' 'I have mine too,' Marilyn said. 'It's in my diary' Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this with me at all times,' Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: 'I think we all saved our lists' That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again. The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be. So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late.
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"How do they learn it? They fall, and falling, they're given wings."
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"What comes from the heart, goes to the heart."
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The definition of a revolution: it destroys the perfect and enables the impossible.
The music business was perfect. Radio, record chains, Rolling Stone magazine, the senior prom, limited access to recording studios, the replaceable nature of the LP, the baby boomers... it all added up to a business that seemed perfect, one that could run for ever and ever.
The digital revolution destroyed this perfect business while enabling the seemingly impossible: easy access to the market by new musicians, a cosmic jukebox of just about every song ever recorded, music as a social connector...
If you are love with the perfect, prepare to see it swept away. If you are able to dream of the impossible, it just might happen.
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I have discovered a wonderful book that I want to share with you. I know you will love it!
The Seeds of Love: Growing Mindful Relationships, by Jerry Braza
"That which we nurture in ourselves is that which we become."
From the cover of the book: The Seeds of Love: Growing Mindful Relationships
Using the practice of mindfulness and the metaphor of the garden to represent our consciousness, The Seeds of Love: Growing Mindful Relationships offers the reader tools and insights for watering the positive seeds and transforming the seeds of suffering in ourselves and our relationships. Visit Jerry’s website and discover the art of becoming a “Master Gardener” of your consciousness. The Foreword is by Thich Nhat Hanh and it has been endorsed by Rick Hanson (the Buddha's Brain) and Tara Brach (Radical Acceptance) and others.
Jerry Braza
jfbraza@comcast.net
http://www.theseedsoflove.net/
503-391-1284 (USA)
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RECOMMENDED LINKS
This is just a beginning. Over the years I have read, seen and heard so many wonderful inspirational articles, books and videos and I want to share some of them with you.
Just as a starter, this is so great and funny and true! Click the underlined words.
This little video from Jerry and Esther Hicks is sure to make you laugh.
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A WONDERFUL, FABULOUS, OUTSTANDING ( need I say more) video on GRATITUDE
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The definition of a revolution: it destroys the perfect and enables the impossible.
The music business was perfect. Radio, record chains, Rolling Stone magazine, the senior prom, limited access to recording studios, the replaceable nature of the LP, the baby boomers... it all added up to a business that seemed perfect, one that could run for ever and ever.
The digital revolution destroyed this perfect business while enabling the seemingly impossible: easy access to the market by new musicians, a cosmic jukebox of just about every song ever recorded, music as a social connector...
If you are love with the perfect, prepare to see it swept away. If you are able to dream of the impossible, it just might happen.