Divine Spirit, who’s voice I long to hear in the wind.

Tree of Soul

I know your breath gives life to all the world….please….hear my cry for strength and wisdom.

Help me walk in your beauty.

Make my eyes behold the red and purple skies you have painted to remind me you are still there.

Make my hands respect the things you have made, and my ears sharp enough to hear your voice.

Help me to be wise so that I may understand the ones you have sent to help me…your people.

Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.

Help me seek pure thoughts, so that I may always have the intention of helping others.

Lead me to compassion without fear always overwhelming me.

I seek strength, not to be greater than another, but to fight my greatest and most dangerous enemy….. Myself

I want to be fit to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes, so that when my life fades I may come to you without shame.

Emotional Investment

At our core we are all emotional beings. Virtually every decision, reaction and behavior comes, on some level, from an emotional need or desire. While we love to see ourselves as essentially logical, rational, pragmatic creatures, the truth is, often we’re not. For the most part, we are overwhelmingly emotional beings.

Let’s pretend for a moment that you have a finite amount of emotional currency to spend each week (just like the wages you earn from work) and that you need to invest those dollars wisely to ensure the best possible return. Of course, we could argue back and forth about the notion of having a finite amount of emotional dollars to spend each day or week, but I think we can safely say that our emotional bank account is not some bottomless pit. It can run out from time to time. And for many people it does – sometimes for months or years at a time. I think we all know people who have invested their emotional dollars poorly and have suffered the consequences of living on or below the emotional poverty line.

What happens with most emotional investments is this little issue called “life”. We make the investment, expect a return, and then watch as life changes the rules. A double blow if the investment fails to return. What we need to explore is balance, common sense, and a little less attachment (all your eggs in one basket). By simply remembering you are not a bottomless pit of energy, you will begin to question what (or who) you invest your emotions in and hopefully avoid the huge disappointments that happen when your expectations are dashed

From time to time, I run across some pretty amazing (simple) practices that I for one, can appreciate. Keeping my spiritual practices simple, consistent, and SHORT….has become my way of staying connected. I like what Dan has to say here (below) and how easy it is to experience a “moment” of what some try to achieve hourly, or even worse….expect YOU to do all the time! Pressure is the worst of all experiences. Take the pressure off…and have a moment.

“Take your keys, a piece of fruit, or any handy object, and go outside. Throw the object up into the air. Staying relaxed and easy, catch it. (Be sure to catch it.) Then come back inside, and continue reading this exercise.

Consider the moment the object was in the air. At that moment you weren’t thinking of what you’d have for dinner or what you did yesterday. You weren’t thinking of anything else, either. You may have been attending to thoughts before you threw it or after you caught it, but during the throw, you were pure attention, reaching out, waiting for the object’s descent. In that same moment your emotions were open, and your body was alert and vitalized–a moment of satori.” ~ Dan Millman from Body Mind Mastery

Got yours?

The belief that perfection can be achieved affects the lives of countless numbers of people. Many people are obsessed with achieving perfection to the point that it affects their physical and psychological well being. These individuals are commonly referred to as “perfectionists.” They seek the perfect mate, the perfect job, the perfect body, and they are often unhappy in their quest.

Even the most mundane task can become an ordeal since the task must be performed to an exacting standard. These people experience disappointment and dissatisfaction and are often unable to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. They believe that perfection is attainable; they experience falling short of the goal as failure. These individuals spend an inordinate amount of time trying to make certain that they will avoid making mistakes.

Perfection is meant to be an abstract ideal toward which we strive in an attempt to gain proficiency and to excel. It is a concept designed to spur us on to greater heights. The meaning of the word perfection is illustrated by the phrase “striving toward perfection.” Few people who adopt seeking perfection as a value (as opposed to achieving perfection) expect to achieve it. Seeking perfection merely connotes that process of moving closer to an abstract ideal.

The British have a saying that encourages people to show their skills while mocking the universal “fear of failure”:  Do your worst.

If you can’t tolerate your worst, at least once in a while…… how true to yourself can you be?

I would like to take a moment in writing  and reflecting – to recognize – to honor… those having passed from this world, those left to grieve… and those just entering as newborns. (Two of my dear friends mothers have died, and two of my friends have had babies.)

How odd, as I sit and contemplate the meaning of “being” in this world. The way in which birth and death has no bias. The way in which this elegant cycle continues as it has since the dawn of man. The grieving of loss, the celebration of new life. The paradox, and the prodigy all tangled up like silver necklaces in a box together.

I am a fortunate soul, I am loved and I love. Those who intrust me with their darkest hour are my saviors, as they bring me to my own realizations and lighten my load by giving me theirs. We seem to grieve everything so I’ve come to see. We even grieve our electricity being shut off by a storm! And oddly enough, there those who grieve childbirth as much as the loss of a loved one.

Powerful teacher is grief and I am a good student.

But the most immersive moments of our lives is when we grieve and feel alone, for only then will we emerge to find our hands being warmed by another. Only then can you behold the miracle of your own birth.

"Focus on the Apple"