Ah! Cooler Weather.

It has been very hot in recent months with the humidity being in the high double digits.  I remember telling someone in San Antonio when I first moved there that the heat felt like it was going to last forever.  She replied, “Yes, it does.  But one day it is just cooler and it keeps getting that way.”

Today is the day at it got cooler.  It was 58 degrees when I got up this morning.  It felt so good that we took our two puppies out for a walk around the neighborhood.  When we got home, I took my coffee out on the patio and savored the hot and cool at the same time. 

I realized that what I was experiencing was the magnificence of life.  Life gives us the varieties in order to keep us interested and engaged in what is going on.  If it were all the same, I know I would have this tendency to quickly fall into what I am going to call being “asleep.”  For a long time, I walked through life asleep – not really paying attention to what was going on or where I was going.

Consequently, because of that, I have huge gaps in my memory of what my life was like during those periods.  I can’t remember if I was happy, sad, or who my friends were or what I was interested in during that time.  How sad.

Not only do I want to pay attention to the weather, but to pay attention to my life; the ups and downs are here for a purpose and I want to experience all of it.  I invite you to join me.

What's Next?

In the book, The Greatest Secret in the World, by Og Mandino, the author writes out in the Scroll Marked IV, “I am nature’s greatest miracle.  I can accomplish far more than I already have.  I am on this earth for a purpose and that purpose is to grow a mountain and I strain my potential until it cries for mercy.”

In thinking about my life, I know that I have more to accomplish and that I have never, to my knowledge, strained my potential.  I wonder what my life would have been now, had I strained my potential a little earlier on?  I drifted through my 20’s figuring out what I was “purposed” to do.  Plus, during that time, because I had little education, I couldn’t do much in order to support myself.  I was more concerned about food, clothing and shelter than what did I want to do the rest of my life.

I can also remember not making some very good choices about my life.  In a lot of ways, my 20’s were a time of figuring out life and my role in it.  I didn’t know how to “do” life or how to make the most of what I had at the time.

On our recent trip, we visited Jefferson’s Monticello in Virginia, and I was amazed at how much he accomplished during his life, the languages he spoke, and that he designed and was instrumental in building the University of Virginia.  Talk about leaving a lasting legacy.

Now, I truly feel as though I am better equipped and prepared for more of what life is and how to “do” life on a greater, grander scale than ever before.  I know that I have more potential to strain and I think I would like to know how that feels.  I would also like more experiences in which I astonish myself.  Those times in my life are rare but memorable.  I want more of them.

Since all of us are nature’s greatest miracle, there is more for all of us to experience.  What will be your “lasting” legacy?

Vacation Time

We are planning and getting ready to travel to the East Coast for about ten days.  Since I have never been there, I am looking forward to the scenery and visiting new places and seeing friends and relatives along the way.

We have stocked up on several books on CD to listen to since we will be having some 10-hour days in the car.  True to form, I will probably sleep most of the trip. 

There is something about a moving car that is comfortable that puts me into slumber land within minutes.  The last trip we took, we got up very early and when I commented on the pre-dawn hour, my partner very cleverly informed me that it made no difference since I would be asleep within minutes anyway.

We usually take some intermediate roads rather than the turnpikes in order to get a feel for the countryside.  It is really fun when in driving through a new area because you never know what you will find.  

So, since I will be out of pocket for a period of time, enjoy your end of summer and get ready for the cooler weather.  Whatever your plans are, make the most of them.  Blessings on your journey.

Being Grateful

I am recovering from a protracted illness.  It knocked me off my feet for more days than I want to admit.  But it gave me a chance to reflect on my life and how grateful I am to be where I am and all that I am experiencing.

Recently, at a Sunday church service, we received a card that says, “Love Every Step.  The place where you are right now, God circled on a map for you.”  Hafiz is credited with the quote.

I didn’t pay much attention to it when I received it but since it has made me think about my life.  I have to admit that I have created a magnificent life.  What a relief to finally recognize it.  No more yearning, searching, and looking for something that needs to be added.  It’s done!

I am really grateful for all that I have, all that is still in the process of showing up and all that life is to make every day one to be truly grateful for in every aspect.

Notably, I am in a position now to take the classes I want (including but not limited to learning how to use a Singer Overlock Sewing Machine and taking German cooking lessons) that are fun, engaging and will stretch me into new and different avenues of being.  I can’t wait to meet the new people that this direction will take for me.  Certainly, I will be able to add to my wardrobe and extend my cooking capabilities.  How fun is all of that?

Decide how to make your life magnificent and step into it as quickly as you can.  It is so much more satisfying.

Creative Thinking

One of my teachers says, “The greatest power available to us as individuals is the power of our own minds, the power of our own thoughts.  In the creation of a personal life worth living, the action – the essential action – must be mental.  Remember, all thought is creative, even goofy thought.” 

It is easy to forget that life goes on based on what we are thinking.  When things don’t go right, in my estimation, I conveniently forget that I did the “goofy” thought or no thought at all. 

J. Kennedy Shultz goes on to say, “But if we can bring ourselves to the point where we think well enough of ourselves, believe enough I ourselves, and in life, and in God, so that we can stand face to face with the universe and know that all the good we seek is at hand, we will have the consciousness that easily fulfills our desires.  If we can announce that we are open, receptive, and entirely worthy of our good, if we can proclaim with growing faith that we expect our good, our good will come forth.  Because that is the consciousness that heals, blesses, and prospers all life.”

This thinking is the way God thinks.  This is the way God creates, demonstrates and manifests life.  And since you and I are a part of God, it stands to reason that we can elevate our thinking to that level and create our lives exactly as we were meant to be.  We need to know what it is that we want in life, because if we don’t, life creates for us the mundane, ordinary, and sometimes, a very mediocre life.  Who wants just that? 

Decide what you want, write it down, and tuck it away somewhere and watch how what it is that you want just shows up on the path of your life.  As a friend of mine told me this morning, “It is like what I want just comes flying through the air at me.  That didn’t happen until I figured out what my goals were.”  Yes, that’s how it happens.

Keeping It Positive

In various readings this last week, I have noticed that four authors tell me to “keep a positive attitude” no matter what is going on in my life.  Staying positive is more important than what I am reading no matter what the authors are implying.

Staying positive keeps us in the “highest” centers of our minds and hearts.  That is where the “miracles” of our lives happen.  Getting past the miracles, it is a place where, when I can remember to stay there long enough, life shows up with wondrous gifts and places them on the path of my life.  This is the place where you don’t have to ask for anything; what you need just shows up.

I have been experimenting with this mind set for several years.  What started me on the process was something I read that implied, “use the same mind that God uses in manifesting,”  Needless to say, that statement kept me thinking long and hard as to what state of mind God is in when It manifests the good for all people. 

It made me remember to “get into my “God” mind” when I was asking for whatever it was that I wanted to demonstrate in my life for the better.  And whenever I was thinking about that demonstration, to always think that is was present now, that I already had it, and how thrilled I was that it was already here.  Several times, I was ecstatic when the demonstration showed up. 

To shorten the process, staying in the “ecstatic” state of mind works wonders.  More advantages are feeling great most of the time, staying in a healthier state of mind and body, being able to sleep better, and, what I like best, is feeling upbeat and inspired. 

I encourage you to think about this process and chart how you are feeling for a certain period of time and see if this is something you can incorporate in your life.  I just wish I could have realized this process earlier in my life – what a difference it would have made.

Clashes in Memory

Having just returned from a trip to reunite with classmates that I graduated with in high school, I have to adjust to the culture shock that it created. 

While telling a friend about my experience, she said that when she went to her reunion, she was stunned as to why all of the parents showed up at her reunion and that the room was filled with “old” people.   Culture shock.  We all looked like our parents.  And some of us must have had some hard living experiences.

The town I grew up in is very small.  But what disappointed me more than anything else was that the townspeople didn’t support the businesses on main-street.  Most of the buildings were empty and some were falling down.  They tore down the elementary school, high school, library and several other buildings used for the city.  What?  They couldn’t figure out how to repurpose them?  Someone commented on the fact that the buildings were not built very well in the first place.  How can that be?  In England, we stayed in a building that was once a cow barn and they were able to figure out how to clean it up and repurpose it. 

We didn’t have cell phone service while there.  AT&T and Verizon are not compatible.  We had to drive 50 miles north to get to an Interstate Highway in order to use our phones. 

There is something about the famer mentality that I don’t understand.  While driving by the farms both going and coming home, you would see these expensive pieces of equipment sitting out in the “weather” or in the fields.  Most looked like they were rusting out.  No farmer worth his salt would be caught “painting” his farming equipment.  I remember my parents talking about the prosperity of a farm because the “out” buildings had been painted.  So, if the barn is freshly painted, then they must have had a good harvest.

That took me to the kind of money I make in my life in comparison to what my parents made in their lifetime.  All I can tell you is that I am so glad I got an education that would bring in the money to support the lifestyle I now have.  Thank goodness for some advance planning and saving.  Even though I am not enamored with Oklahoma, I was delighted to get home to my comfortable bed, my puppies and more familiar surroundings. 

It will take some time for me to process all that happened, the conversations I had with the people and the pictures I took to complete the memories I had growing up.  Mostly, the trip filled me with happiness and gave me a larger picture of who I am now.