Thursday;

And the sun shines bright across the foothills.

Oddly enough, I was thinking about you.
Thinking about your children,
your family,
and then I wondered,
who are you thinking about?

Have you called those far away?
Have you reconnected with those
whose distance is emotional, and not physical?

I know, but as I said, I was thinking.

Thursday, and the weekend is due for some.
For others, the week has just begun, and yet,
neither changes the season.

In love,
as in life,
sometimes,
we have to reach past our own borders.

Reach past the pain and
dissapointment(s)that we harbor,
and reach into a new perspective.

Me, on this Thursday,
I'm thinking of you.

And you, who are you thinking about!

Free your heart,
and be blessed.....

Last night, while the stars were dancing in the sky

The moon and I were talking about you.

Not that he told what he saw, for he can see us always,
but, he was kind enough to tell me how he wiped the hair from your brow,
and how you purred in that way that you do, when you can fell love is near you.

The moon and I, we talk alot.

Mostly we talk about him,
but every so often,
we'll talk about the ones that we know together.

Those that we each can see need a hug,
and we pray about the sun.

Odd that,
but the moon and the sun don't always get along.

But last night,
we mostly just talked about you!

What if you changed your thinking:

Have you ever been excited about something new you've learned or a new and exciting direction you wanted to move in your life into, but for some reason, that seems to be happening less and less as you get older? Well then, you just may be getting slightly jaded.

For most of us, as we get older, it gets tougher to find new things to get excited about, primarily because we've had our hopes and dreams dashed to pieces so many times in the past. Unfortunately, we then fall into the trap of shutting ourselves off to new things simply because this perceived never ending hope dashing, is just too painful.

Oddly enough, I'm hearing a version of this now
as we get ever closer to electing a new National Leader:

"We've heard it all before."
"All of these politicians are just lying crooks

who won't really end up doing anything."

Of course, if you buy in to the "Law of Attraction", then you'll agree that we
create a self fulfilling prophecy with all of these comments, thoughts
and feelings do have a way of ending up getting us the leadership we deserve!

How sad.

So, what is the secret to staying positive, upbeat, approachable, mentally and
emotionally fresh throughout life?

Here are a few ideas:

Always be about learning something new.

Understand that your interpretation of a situation is based on your
Perceptions, therefore, always question your perceptions!
Why do I believe the way I do and where did these perceptions come from?

Learn to never criticize anything unless you completely understand what is going on and have developed an alternate solution. Do you have some thoughts about the price of gas and what to do about it? Are they based on economic reality? Is there something you can do personally and locally to make a difference with your ideas?

Approach every situation you find yourself in with the attitude that
there is something you can learn, and/or there is someone you can help with your knowledge. Always, and but that, I mean always, expect the best and most complete graciousness from where you are and who you're with right now.

Make a daily list of everything you are grateful for.

In this way, the positive your thinking about,
can affect the thoughts that you’ll be having as the day progresses.

Life, like the thoughts of those around us,
can be influenced by the positive energy, within us!

So, be Positive.

What face do you present to the world?

How do others know you?

Do they see the same person you know yourself to be?
Do they see your fears, your hopes and dreams, your successes, your pain, all you’ve learned, all you haven’t?

Or do they see a mask that you’ve put in front of your face to hide that which is deep inside you, so that you can “be” somebody else instead?

These are some of the pressing questions that confront us as we seek to live more authentically. Considering them takes time. Going more deeply, how do you see yourself? Are you aware of the difference between the real person you are on the inside and the person you show to the world?

Do you know you wear this mask?
Do you even know who the “real you” is?

Heavy questions. If you haven’t turned aside by now with the discomfort it may evoke in you, congratulations.
Discomfort is one of the strings that holds the mask on.
What to do now? Two steps can move you toward a more genuine life:


Understand. It usually helps to have a mental picture of what’s going on inside you. From that, you can develop a first-hand experiential picture (see below). Think of two circles, one inside the other. The small circle in the center is the genuine, free, honest, heart-centered you. The much larger, outer circle is made up of all your life lessons, fears, pain, discomfort, opinions and judgments -- about yourself and about life. Because the inner circle (you) is hidden inside the outer one, the “face you present to the world” is made up of stuff that isn’t even you. It’s your mask. It’s how others see you. It may even be the person you think is the real you. On to part 2.

Inquire. The way to set the real you free is to dismantle the mask, the “false face” you are presenting to the world. The way you do that is to start to get to know yourself very well, possibly for the first time. It doesn’t matter so much right now how the mask got there, but it came from all the “lessons” you were taught about how life is, and from the fears you took on as a result of those lessons. Your mask protects you from your fears (but denies you authentic living). Perhaps on your own, and more likely with outside help (a coach, maybe) you can learn to observe your own thoughts, behaviors, feelings, and body responses -- all clues to pieces of your mask. Here is where the value of experiential lessons comes in: when you can see and feel your own reality in new ways (despite the admitted discomfort it causes), you’ll easily be able to take action in new ways, ways that help you let go of the parts of you that just “aren’t you,” exposing that genuine self to the world.

It turns out that, even if you are unconscious of wearing a mask, it still drains a huge amount of your energy. Not being your genuine self drains you in the way of frustration, resentment and dissatisfaction with life.

Once you let go of the mask, truly accept the real you underneath, and allow yourself to live from the depth of your own heart and truth, life gets easier and easier. Instead of fighting with life, you merge with its natural rhythm and flow.


A River Runs Through It [Life lessons offered by rivers]

A river seems to have many faces. It may be a raging torrent in the springtime. It may overflow its banks after a heavy rain. It may be an early-summer mirror, lazily reflecting deep-blue sky and puffy clouds. It may dry up with the summer’s heat, exposing its bed to the world. Yet no matter what face it presents, a river isn’t covering up for something, hiding from part of itself. In every day of its life, a river is just working (genuinely) with “what is.” Perhaps it is this authenticity in rivers that evokes such peace in us, and offers us that connection in life that we long for so deeply inside. Perhaps the river is there to help us believe in that same power in ourselves.