Posts

Cycles

     Everything in life is part of a circle and flows in a an endless cycle. One aspect of life is the human being. It follows cycles within cycles. One cycle is the physical. We are born, we grow through our adolescent years into our adulthood. We grow old and will eventually pass away. Much like the seasons of the year we are always in one of them. Likewise, we have emotional cycles. We start out calm, then thoughts and emotions are energized by some triggering event. In an instant the cycle moves you into a state of laughter or pain. If allowed to be expressed and not trapped, emotion will eventually pass away just as our bodies in the physical cycle. Our breathing is yet another cycle that is essential. Without breath our bodies cannot be nourished with the oxygen for all of our cells to perform their cycles. It is interesting to meditate on some of the results of interfering with these cycles and not learning how to flow with them. For example, a person that does not...

Early Day

     I did not realize how early it was until I got halfway to work this morning. I normally get out of bed at around 2:30 a.m. This morning when I rolled over to glance at the clock, I thought it said 2:34. So naturally, I drug myself out of bed. The next thing that typically happens is Jack meets me at the bedroom door. This time I had to whisper his name to get his attention. Another clue that led me to questioning everything was when I was driving on the highway. I noticed that there was an unusual amount of traffic this morning. At 3:30 a.m. there is typically very little traffic. But for some reason I attributed this morning's traffic to the upper end of the distribution bell curve and drove on. The next piece of valid information was Charles Stanley was not preaching on the radio. I normally listen to his sermon on my drive; however, this morning it was an unfamiliar preacher. I thought that maybe Charles was off today or that maybe they changed programming since O...

Favorite Vacation

       My favorite vacation was our trip to Miraval. Miraval is a health and wellness retreat located just south of Tucson, Arizona. We spent a week there and attended several retreat activities three of which are my favorites. First and foremost was the equestrian group therapy. In this, we met several other people from all over the world. Some were fairly famous and successful while others were not as fortunate. While discussing life's events and how to cope we worked with horses to aid in developing our intention. Horses have a very keen instinct of feeling a person's intention. If the person is confused, the horse also becomes confused and is more likely to not cooperate. Likewise, if a person's intent is clear the horse will be calm and will generally follow the person's lead. This exercise helps one to work towards clarifying what is going on inside the mind and learning how to develop the intention of allowing and coping with its issues. It was a very informat...

Reading is good for you.

      Reading can help to improve your life with several benefits. The first benefit that you can develop through reading is to develop your vocabulary. Learning new words while in context can help to remember the new words. As your vocabulary grows you can read more complicated material. The next benefit from reading is you can develop better critical thinking skills. Paragraphs are typically constructed around one main idea supported by a number of details that help to explain the main idea more completely. This main idea is normally referred to as the topic. Knowing the structure of paragraphs provides a framework with which to improve critical thinking through clarity and organization. A third benefit of reading is to improve your concentration and focus. In order to follow a story or explanation you need to pay attention by focusing on the text and concentrating on what is being said. The more you practice this skill the stronger your focus and concentration will bec...

Fall

      Of all four of the seasons during the year Fall is the best one. Not only is the temperature starting to go down, but cooler winds pick up. It has been hot for a few months and the relief is a welcome event. Also, the leaves of most hardwood trees begin to change colors. They burst forward in a vast variety of hue, tone, and shade. Soon they will be falling from the trees indicating that winter is near. Driving out of the city and into the mountainous areas gives one a full display of the beauty. The Fall also means that the holiday season is upon us. Holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas will be celebrated soon. Fall is a magic time of the year that signifies the beginning of the process of letting go to allow birth of the new in the Spring to come. It is the best time of the year for letting go of the old and looking forward to the new.

Me and Jack

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  Jack taught me about love.      Many people have their pets whether they are cats, dogs, birds, or turtles. My pet is Jack, a black lab. Jack brings so much joy to my life. He demonstrates that love in many ways.  He greets me at the door when I return home from work by vigorously wagging his tail and leaning against me trying to wipe my scent on himself. He licks my beard like there is ice cream all over it. He looks me in the eye with a consistency one would consider as intruding but his is done out of admiration and pure love. You feel the love with his every stare. When he follows me through the house he gently licks each calf as it presents itself to him saying in a quiet way "I'm here with you." When I've had a rough day he is an expert in hugging. His hugs are so wonderful. Jack will come up to my chair and place his front paws on either side of my head and lean in with his head placing it next to mine. He then will gently pull me into him and time will...