I was traveling recently.....

People can be so nice! Recently, I was traveling and had to negotiate some airports. Because walking long distances can be challenging for me, I use the wheelchair assistance airlines offer. Sometimes the people helping you are distracted and you can feel like you’re just a suitcase being moved as rapidly as possible from one point to another.

And then you can get a gentleman like I had at the Seattle airport. From the second he approached me with the chair, I could see this was a man who enjoyed his job. He was friendly, went out of his way to help me, chatted and joked with me and Rhonda as we wound our way through the airport. He knew the TSA officers and other staff and everyone greeted him with a smile as he did them.

The last few times I flew, I had automatic precheck which means I didn’t have to go through the regular TSA line, remove my shoes, take my iPad out of its case, etc... This time I didn’t get it and had to go through the whole process. While sitting in the wheelchair, I took my shoes off and he leaned down and whispered, “Are you 75 or older?” “No, I said.” The TSA agent looked at me from across the aisle, pointed her finger at me and said, “Today, you are 75!” That meant I didn’t need to remove my shoes - but, I already had!

My wheelchair assistant actually started putting my shoes back on for me! Wow - what service. I called out to Rhonda and asked her to help me. I said there is no way he should be helping me put my shoes back on!

My helper told me he’s 58 years old, immigrated from the Philippines 28 years ago, and has been married for 22 years.

The custom for tipping wheelchair assistants is $5.00 for good service and $10 for outstanding service. Guess what tip this man got? It just goes to show that enjoying your work, being kind, going out of your way to provide service to your customers can reap great rewards.

The same day at a different airport when we deplaned, a young man grabbed the chair, whisked me up the hallway where a young lady took over and took me to another area, walked away and said someone would be back in a few minutes and then disappeared.

Rhonda looked at me and I looked at her. She grabbed the wheelchair and took me to the luggage area where we left the chair. She was nice but not as nice as the man in Seattle. She got a $5.00 tip! The young man and young woman got nothing.

The older I get, the more I like my routines

Whenever I travel, it means letting go of my daily routines. Sure, I can still do many of the things I do at home, but not in the same way. This is good because it means I get to reassess my choices. Sometimes this means I have let some things go. Other times, I have been inspired to intensify some practices.

Letting go of daily routines is one of the benefits of travel. It helps to loosen up some of the grooves we’ve built in our brain and this allows some new ones to form. The other joy of travel is coming home and truly appreciating your everyday existence. There’s nothing like that moment of the first morning after I get home when I sit down for my morning practices and my entire body and soul says, “Ahhhhhh......”

Sometimes I think I’m getting more like our corgis. Dogs love routines. Teach them a routine and they will do it forever - unless you teach them a new one. They don’t like it the first few times you tell them you want them to do this instead of that! I fear I’m getting more that way myself. Don’t change my routines too much or I might whimper. I’m working on that, though, by changing things around for myself so when someone else does it, I’m not intractable.

Still, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I love my routines. And I think as long as they are positive ones, why not?

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Another sad morning.....

Sometimes I remember my dreams and other times, I don’t. Yesterday, I awoke feeling sad and I did remember the dream. I had been asked to speak at a retreat for a spiritual organization. When it was my turn to give my presentation, no one was interested in listening to me. They were checking their phones, talking to one another, and ignoring me. I did my best anyway and followed through. No wonder I was sad when I woke up!

There are, of course, various levels of meanings to the dream, not the least of which is asking “Am I listening to my inner voice and guidance? Do I pay attention to myself?”  The other is that I was going to be spending the day with a family member who consistently asks me the same questions over and over again (“You mean you don’t any meat, not even fish or chicken?”) which goes a long way to making me feel pretty invisible!

The other reason I think I woke up sad is because I still feel our country has been hijacked by a small coalition of people who would destroy our beautiful diversity of people, ideas, and accomplishments if they could and who continue to make inroads in that direction.

Just like in the dream, though, I will continue to do what I came to do and hope my contribution makes a difference no matter how small it might be.

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Doing what I know I should do....

The other day, a few people I know were having a discussion about doing the things we know we should do. Whether the issue is one of physical movement or diet or other lifestyle changes, each of us admitted there are those things we know we should do and we don’t do them. And, of course, there are things we know it would be better for us not to do and we continue to do them! Quite frustrating.

Are these subconscious forces at work? Childhood programming? The “don’t tell me what to do” mindset? How can adults who are accomplished in some areas of life, be such failures in other areas? I wish I could say we found the answer.

In thinking about it further, here’s what I came up with for myself. First, be in the state of willingness to do or not to do whatever it is. Second, come up with a plan for incorporating whatever it is into my life, a plan that is workable and doesn’t stretch me so far that I won’t do it. Third, be committed to the plan and find some way to hold myself accountable - an accountability partner can work wonders. Fourth, be as patient with myself as I am with others. Fifth, be forgiving of myself and remember all the times I have succeeded. If I have succeeded at anything in the past, I can succeed at this too.

If you have other ideas you’d care to share, please add them in the comments for all of us to consider.

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And so it begins....

After record numbers of women and minorities have been elected to public office, the criticism begins. Some of these women have posted photos of themselves as groups and friends, supporting one another in what they have accomplished, and showing how they will work together to move agendas forward.

Instead of praising this -  because truthfully this is how a progressive agenda can move forward - the pundits are already criticizing them. Of course, it’s a lot more fun to report on women attacking one another, keeping the myth of the “cat fight” alive. This simply isn’t true. Women get far more done than we’re given credit for and we get it done by working collaboratively.

The New York Times reported how newly-elected congresswoman Deb Harland ran into a male Republican congressman in the elevator. He told her, “I’m sure we’ll be at each others’ throats eventually.” Surprised by the comment she said, “I don’t think so.”

I’m hopeful that the tone in Congress is changing, the stalemates will end, and the country can begin to move forward once again instead of being stuck in the 1950’s.

41/365

Enter the state of not knowing

Not knowing is similar to giving up the need to be right. Quite a few years ago, I consciously worked on letting go of the need to be right. This isn’t an easy thing to do, especially in today’s world where people seem so polarized and intent on being right and in control - these two go together!

In a world that prizes intellectual accomplishments, it can be even more difficult to allow ourselves to bask in the feeling of not knowing. What if I don’t know everything? What if what I think I know isn’t what’s true? Allowing myself to be in this state of not knowing is one of great vulnerability. It’s also one of tremendous freedom.

What a relief to not be a know-it-all. What a relief to be able to truthfully say, “I don’t know.” How wonderful to be able to let a consciousness higher than mine be in charge and handle things. This is how it is anyway. All I need to do is see it for the truth it is. There’s such sweetness in resigning as General Manager of the Universe.

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“Ride in the direction the horse is going.”

Miranda Macpherson in her new book The Way of Grace quotes Lao Tzu as saying this: “Ride in the direction the horse is going.” I chuckled to myself when I read this because I realized how often I try to go in a different direction than the one the horse is going. How much stress and anxiety does this cause?

I have this visual of myself astride a horse, sitting backwards instead of looking in the direction the horse is going. How discombobulating is this? Yet, so many of us live our lives this way. We try so hard to control what’s happening in our lives and in the world, telling ourselves things should be different than they are.

When we turn around and ride in the same direction the horse is going - what relief. We might not like what’s going on, we might not like the direction in which we’re heading, but at least we’re in sync with the horse and stand a much better chance of getting where we’re going with grace and ease.

Today, I’m going to observe myself and see how often I’m going in the same direction as my horse. This could be a lot of fun and enlightening!

38/365

Saturday Night Live sketch made a lot of sense

Saturday Night Live (SNL) had an interesting and humorous idea that actually works. I've always said the way to make peace with people is to look for things you can agree on and move from there. The sketch began by pointing to the obvious: our country is divided on many of the big issues facing us. How can we begin to heal this divide?

By focusing on the little things we can agree on! Maybe we can't agree on how to handle things like immigration, the budget, and social issues. We can agree on some of the little things that we all find annoying. Remember, this is a comedy show.

The song they sang mentioned things like wet jeans, bees that follow us around, soft apples, and others. The chorus is, "Let's stop looking at what makes us different and start seeing how we're the same, like how we all hate the sound the chip readers make," referring to the sound credit card machines make when you need to remove your credit card.

This might not solve the issues we're facing as a nation; it might not suddenly make us agree on how to handle our border issues. But maybe if we could start talking about where we agree, we'll be able to move a little closer together and wouldn't that be nice!

36/365

I sat in the dark

As you know from prior blogs, I get up very early and spend the first few hours of every day doing spiritual reading, studies, writing, drawing, meditating, etc. It is my treasured alone time. The rest of the household, including the corgis, are still asleep. I stay quiet. This morning when I turned on the light in my study, the place I spend my alone time, the light wouldn’t work. The light bulb in the lamp was burned out. It is the only source of light in that room. I lit a candle and just sat in the dark.

Yes, I could have found another light bulb, but not without making noise and waking others. I decided to just enjoy the darkness. As much as we talk about the light, there’s something very nourishing about the darkness. There’s fewer distractions and it forces you to pay attention to what’s right in front of you rather than being pulled in other directions.

There are dark forces at work in our world and always have been. We shouldn’t let that make us fear darkness in whatever way we encounter it. Whether through the darkness of night or the darkness of someone’s skin tone, it’s important to remember darkness can offer as much clarity and solace as light can. It’s all a matter of where we put our attention and how receptive to each we are.

35/365

Are we fatigued?

Yesterday, a friend and I were talking about how we felt tired, sad, and uninspired. Being the sort of people who take responsibility for our lives, both of us were asking what’s going on that we felt this way. We realized the best word to describe how we’re feeling is the word fatigued.

Even though there were some great results from the mid-term elections and we’re both happy about those, we also saw that right away the next batch of challenging issues popped up! Can’t we get a break from this negative energy that seems to be sweeping the country? Apparently not.

I realize some of my spiritual friends are already mentally criticizing me, asking what’s wrong with me. If I were truly spiritual, they might be saying, I would be above that sort of energy, I would be focused on positive outcomes, I would know blah, blah, blah. And on it goes.

So, I’m not as enlightened as they are. I might have part of me in what’s called the fourth and fifth dimensions, but I’m still part of the third dimension where I live my life, relate to other people, and try my best to serve, learn, and grow. What I’m learning right now is how important it is to take good care of myself and others around me. We need to feel safe and supported. We need to take time away from the energetic stream and find ways to feel happy. Meditation is important, of course, but so is enjoying music, art, colors, sound, nature, and all the other good things in this world.

It’s important to be the Hanged One in the tarot deck. Let go and let God while looking beneath the surface of life and knowing all is well even when things look like a royal mess. I’ll do my work today, but I’m also going to play some and enjoy myself. I hope my friend and others like us do the same!

34/365

The Seed to Success is in Your Imagination

There's so much wisdom in what I'm posting here that I felt strongly it needs to  be shared with you! This was written by Max Steingart in 2002. I don't know him, but he is a business coach who works with people doing multilevel marketing. Although this is worded for a business setting, what it says applies to anything we're trying to accomplish in our lives.

"Visualize all the things that you want in life.
Then make your mental blue print, and begin to build.
Your imagination can show you how to turn your possibilities into reality.
You must make every thought, every fact, that comes into your mind pay you a profit.
Make those mental images work and produce for you.
Think of things not as they are, but as you want them to be.
Don't just dream, be creative.
The will to succeed springs from the knowledge that you can succeed.
You make your own opportunities
Your destiny isn't a matter of chance,
It's a matter of the choices you'll make in the coming year.
Success isn't something you wait for,
   it's something you must pursue in the months ahead.
Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities to be successful.
Seize common occasions and turn them into great ones.
Opportunities sometimes come disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat.
Start where you are.
You're at this moment standing right in the middle of opportunity.
If you act on your dreams
You can live them in the New Year.
You have a lot to look forward to.

Success requires a willingness to act.
If you want to be successful, you can start at anytime.
But you must start.
Don't make the mistake of not doing anything because you can only do a little.
Do what you can do.
It will always be your attitude at the beginning of any difficult task which, more than anything else,
   will affect its successful outcome.
To be aware of what you want and not go after it,
   to spend years wondering if something could have materialized
   and never knowing if it could have been is a tragic waste of your life.
The worst thing you can do is not to try.
To reach a port you must set sail.
You must sail, not lie at anchor.
You must sail off in the direction of your dreams, not drift.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."

32/365

Fingers, toes, and eyes crossed!

I'm hoping and praying for the greater good today while realizing my vision of the greater good might not match that of others! Such interesting times. I won't be following the news today because it will only be a lot of speculation about results that won't be in until tomorrow and, in some places, not for weeks!

Instead, after a routine visit to the dentist, I will write my book reviews for the week and my Wednesday Inspiration that goes out to my New Spirit Journal subscriber list tomorrow. Creativity soothes.



PS: And I wrote this without using the "P word once!


31/365

How’s the time change going for you?

I know it’s been only one day, but I am acutely aware of our turning back the clocks yesterday morning. The corgis won’t let me forget. Their little timers are still on Daylight Savings Time. Their systems tell them it’s time to go outside, to eat, to play...they aren’t aware of our clocks. Usually, it takes a few days for them to reset and then they’re fine.

The same is true for my internal timer. Much as I tried to sleep in yesterday, my internal timer said, “No, it’s time to get up.” So, I did. It made yesterday one of the longest days in my life. Time is such a funny thing and is so arbitrary. Mother Nature just does her thing with the sun, moon, day, night, rain, snow. We’re the ones who are always trying to catch up.

Wouldn’t it be nice to let go of our clocks once in awhile? Truthfully, I do this sometimes. As long as I don’t have a schedule that involves other people, it’s fun to ignore the clock and see how my day flows. Sometimes, my choices are the same. Other times, they’re very different.

Uh-oh. Someone with fur just gave me a nudge, saying it’s time for their breakfast. Off I go - the corgis are in charge - at least for the moment. I will regain sovereignty at some point, I am sure.

30/365

These elections shouldn't be nail-biters - but they are

For those of us who see the mid-term elections this year as a vote for the soul of this country, it's especially discouraging to hear people say they aren't going to vote because they don't like either party. They feel we need a new third party. Maybe they are correct, but now isn't the time to pull the covers over your head and say you're going to wait to act until there is a new party to choose from or to vote for someone from the Green Party or whatever group is trying to be a third party right now.

It's frustrating because those folks don't stand a chance of winning. A vote for one of these, or not voting at all, is a vote to keep the status quo. If you're happy with the status quo, this makes sense. If you're not, it makes no sense at all.

It's like standing in front of a buffet when you and your friends are really hungry but refusing to eat because you don't like anything you see. Because your choice affects others, not only won't you eat, but neither will your friends.

Maybe these non-voters or waste-voters don't know gays, blacks, Latinos, Asians, anyone with skin that isn't white, Jewish people, transgender people, people who have pre-existing health conditions, people who need affordable health care, women who can get pregnant, or people who will be alive thirty and forty years from now when climate change will be in full force (children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren).

These, and many more, are the people who are being affected by the policies being put into place or being erased. If you aren't one of them, good for you. If you have friends or relatives who do fit any of these categories, your decision not to vote or to cast your vote  for a third party candidate that can't win, your decision not to eat from the buffet, means none of them get to eat, either.

29/365

We need more uplifting stories: here’s one

Let me share this with you. There was a woman who had some difficulties in her life, difficulties that could be helped by her being able to take a trip. She couldn’t afford the trip and was resigned to this reality. Her boss heard about the issue and offered to advance the woman’s salary so she could go handle the emergency.

Everyone who has heard this story has felt their heart open with gratitude to this boss. When there are so many negative stories being told these days, isn’t it wonderful to know that there are good ones like this happening?

We have to remember that all is not lost. There are many wonderful souls on the planet right now, souls who are doing positive and uplifting things like this boss did. Let’s encourage and share more stories like this one and fewer of the ones that focus on meanness and cruelty. People are basically good and sometimes it’s the challenging times that highlights this.

No, you can't see it.

As I was strolling down Amazon Lane one day, I saw a book about keeping a daily drawing journal as a means of tracking one's life. I don't draw. I kept being attracted to the book and finally got the Kindle version.

You'd think I have enough on my plate what with writing a daily blog, a weekly Wednesday Inspiration, putting out a new publication weekly, leading a twice monthly Ananda meditation/study group, working with my mentoring clients, writing some new books, starting a new senior support group in Monroe, crocheting and keeping up with some television shows our household enjoys. Why on earth add one more thing. I honestly don't know.

A few days ago, I pulled out a blank journal and some pencils and began to record my day. Not all of it, mind you, just some significant things that happened. My drawing journal is nothing like the woman's who wrote the book. I guess she's really popular on Instagram: Samantha Dion Baker. She's also very talented.

We'll see where this goes. Right now, I'm enjoying expressing myself in a non-verbal manner. Maybe someday I'll get brave enough to share some of the pages. Right now, however, you can't see it. It's for my eyes only. You might want to give it a try, especially if you're a person who works with words a lot like I do. There's something about switching the brain into drawing mode that I'm enjoying. We'll see how it goes.

26/365