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Looking for Love?

There’s a saying that prostitutes (often having hearts of gold) look for love in all the wrong places. That might be true, but if it’s true of the women who work in the “oldest profession in the world,” it’s also true of many others. Social Media has brought this to light big time. 

What’s coming into center stage is the importance of truly loving ourselves in the right way. Because if you look at some of the postings and photos, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of true self-love and a healthy dose of self-respect out there. Many people are unable to even look in a mirror and say these five words: “Hey you, I love you.” Why can’t they say this simple and lovely sentence to themselves? It’s obvious, isn’t it?  And it’s sad. It’s sad because it impacts most areas of life. Whereas, if it were the other way around, if when waking up every morning, looking in a mirror on the way to the bathroom, and saying and believing, “Hey you, I love you! Let’s get ready for an extraordinary day today.” Life would perk up and begin to be different from that day on. Of course, it would perhaps start slowly as most love affairs do, the momentum has to build, love has to take hold, and energy has to shift. Then one morning on the way to the bathroom, a feeling  creeps out of the blue, with a look in the mirror, there’s an overwhelming sense that something is indeed different, and the words “Hey you, I love you” are no longer painful when said; they no longer bring tears laced with sadness to the eyes. 

Happily and gratefully it doesn’t end there for we are ever unfolding just as the the Universe is. The collection of a unique set of tools for a journey that has many stops and goes has begun. The hum-drum of an ordinary existence has been replaced. We’re no longer looking for love in all the wrong places, just as the women with hearts of gold are. We have found our first and true love, and from there the Universe shows us how to love the world we live in.

  
Imagine that!

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the power by rhonda byrnes

There’s a lot to say about the CD The Power by Rhonda Byrnes. Listening to it can serve as a clearing out of unnecessary stuff we’ve accumulated in mind, body, emotions. Basically, it’s about being grateful, the power of our imaginations, and finding all the things to love about life.

It’s a joy listening to the stories and quotes, and as we continue to listen, we begin to sense the power in living a life of gratitude, and the fun we can have in using our imaginations and witnessing the results.

It’s raining in Cuenca. The rivers need it, the flowers and trees, too. Rain has a way of contributing to a tranquil day. So, I’m grateful for the rain. I love the rain. I imagine the rivers rapidly flowing once again. I listen to the rain.

How’s your day going?

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We choose our joys and sorrows before we experience them. – Kahlil Gibran

 

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ancient secret of the fountain of youth book 2

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It could be that some people might consider not buying ANCIENT SECRET OF THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH because of the title. Though once the book is opened, a treasure trove is revealed. Book 1 tells of how it all began. It’s a marvelous story, almost in the category of a delightful fairy tale. It’s a story that you’ll want to read before picking up Book 2 “A companion to the book by Peter Kelder.”

It’s written in Book 2 about Book 1: “. . . It is not essential for you to read it, but it is highly recommended that you do so. In Kelder’s book you’ll find inspiration and magic that can’t be duplicated here. Many people who read the book cherish the experience and return to reread it again and again.”

There are amazing stories of those adventurers who dared to wander into territory most people thought they could only dream about. And then there are the amazing five rites which are fairly simple to do and which have innumerable benefits. The only way to discover their power is to practice them yourself. It’s one of the few books I took along with me to Ecuador. That’s how much I like the book.

To give you a glimpse of what the five rites do, I’ll quote the inside cover:

“In this book, readers were introduced to the Tibetan Rites of Rejuvenation, a series of exercises developed over centuries in the monasteries of Tibet and credited by thousands for everything from increased energy to better memory, weight loss, and just looking and feeling younger. Almost as quickly as the books filtered across the globe, letters began to pour into Harbor Press requesting more information on these mysterious rites. Now more than ten years and two million books later, comes a comprehensive companion volume that addresses the unanswered questions of so many readers.”

It’s good to know what’s in the marketplace so that we can choose what works for us, right? Now, if I could find a normal yoga mat in Cuenca, I’d be on the floor practicing those Five Rites:-)

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Someone said, “Have a happy day.” I am; you, too?

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bumps on the road of life

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Cuenca’s Rio Tomebamba. It’s well-loved and a perfect setting for strolling.

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There are times in our lives when we need to find a way to bring us out of a bump on the road of life. Otherwise, staying too long with that bump can damage our entire day.

Those securely anchored bumps can play havoc with our thoughts, and when that happens, returning to a calm mind can be a full-time job. Uh-Oh!

When a bump on the road of life is strangled in its path without too much delay, we quickly regain our equanimity. A passage in a book, a chance conversation with a stranger, a wise teacher, even tapping into our own wise selves, can snap us out of a bumpy situation.

Ram Dass has written about one such bumpy issue. In lieu of another way, his way makes great sense, and can be used time and again. Because, let’s face it, in today’s world, bumps on the road of life happen, and a quick resolution so that we can get on with creating wonderful lives, is indeed an awesome thing to know.

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www.ramdass.org

“If somebody is a problem for you, it’s not that they should change, it’s that you need to change. If they’re a problem for themselves that’s their karma, if they’re causing you trouble that’s your problem on yourself. So, in other words when Christ is crucified, he says “forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing”, they’re not a problem for him, he’s trying to get them out of being a problem for themselves, because he’s clear. Your job is to clear yourself. In ideal situations you would clear yourself within the situation, but very often it’s too thick and you can’t do that. Now, what you do then is you pull back and you do the stuff you do in the morning or at night before you go to work, you do the stuff on weekends, you do the stuff that quiets you down and then each time you go into the situation to where you have to work, you lose it again. And then you go home and you see how you lost it, and you examine it, and then you go the next day and you lose it again, and you go home and you keep a little diary “how did I lose it today”, and you saw that, and then you go and you do it again, and after a while as you’re starting to lose it you don’t buy in so much. You start to watch the mechanics of what it is that makes you lose it all the time.
If I’m not appreciated, that’s your problem that you don’t appreciate me. Unless I need your love, then it’s my problem. So my needs are what are giving you the power over me. Those people’s power over you to take you out of your equanimity and love and consciousness has to do with your own attachments and clingings of mind. That’s your work on yourself, that’s where you need to meditate more, it’s where you need to reflect more, it’s where you need a deeper philosophical framework, it’s where you need to cultivate the witness more, it’s where you need to work on practicing opening your heart more in circumstances that aren’t optimum. This is your work. You were given a heavy curriculum, that’s it. There’s no blame, it’s not even wrong, it’s just what you’re given. You hear what I’m saying? It’s interesting. Can you all hear that one?”
-Ram Dass, Summer 1989
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Let’s make it a grand day in however way we can.

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by Jill Jackson and Sy Miller

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Once in the head, it seems to stay for hours . . . easy singing . . .

“Let there be peace on earth
and let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth,
the peace that was meant to be.
With God as our Father,
brothers all are we.
Let me walk with my brother in
perfect harmony.”

I’m wishing everyone a full-of-laughter kind of day.

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It’s just an experience

I’ve been in Ecuador for almost six months; so much has happened in that time, though . . . one incident set the pace for the next few months. Four days after arriving in Cuenca, Toshi, my very nice and very helpful son-in-law who came with me for five days, and I were at the Rotary Plaza. He was ahead of me; I was standing still, we were looking around, trying to decide where to have lunch. Suddenly, I was flat on my face. Oh, what a sight! I’ll spare the details. People thought I had tripped because gringoes here seem to be good at that . . . the sidewalks are decorated with fairly large holes (just the right size for the ball of a foot), or protrusions, and when looking up at the beautiful architecture, or at shops while walking, or in conversation and not noticing a 14″ high curb . . . a fall might be the order of the day.

So, there I was bleeding, holding a piece of my front tooth, and absolutely dumbfounded as to what had just happened. Do you remember Christopher Reeves as Superman? He’s wearing his big S outfit and ready for action, then in a flash, SWOOSH! he’s in the air, arms straight ahead. Me, too! -though, in a flash, SWOOSH! I was flat on the ground, arms straight in back of me.

“Were you pushed? Did you trip? Do you have altitude sickness?” – “No. No. And No.” Then “What happened?” – That was the question that gnawed at me. “What the heck happened?” – I asked myself as I sat on the curb, dazed.

Then Toshi and I took a waiting taxi to the apartment where I’d been living for three days in El Centro. When we arrived, we saw Jorge, my landlord, in front of his store. He looked at me, and soon Toshi and I were in his car going to Bolivar Clinic where the inside of my lip was stitched! It was an ouch! hour. Jorge slipped out of the Clinic once and returned with an English-speaking friend from Loja. After stitching was completed, we drove to the old Military hospital across from the Rio Tomebamba for X-rays. I spoke no Spanish; therefore, was not part of the conversation with the doctors. Shortly after we returned to my apartment, a few quarts of tapioca soup prepared by Jorge’s lovely wife, Susana, were brought to me. Since I could barely open my mouth, it was perfect. And, in case you’re wondering, tapioca soup is ever so comforting. Jorge’s son, Steven, who speaks English, said that Susana prepares tapioca soup whenever anyone is sick. A few days later, another few quarts of soup came my way.

And two days later Toshi left for the States with a promise to not tell family about my temporary new look. In the weeks to come, Steven accompanied me to doctor appointments – always saying, with a smile, “No worries.”

It was a time to heal and read, and while I was doing that, a sentence made me stop: “Treat everything that happens to you as an experience. Don’t judge it as good or bad. It’s just an experience.” Those words grabbed my attention, and made me snap out of thinking, “What the heck happened?” And to stop reliving, and wanting to figure out, that accident- so important because those thoughts take energy away from healing.

Then I began remembering the kindness and help that came my way after that “experience.” Before I arrived in Ecuador, I’d read that Ecuadorian people are friendly and helpful; experience tells me that that would be an understatement. They really do “go the extra mile” if that’s what’s needed. Jorge, Susana, Steven, and the Casa Britanica Cuenca staff, I thank you!

20140126-144710.jpg the neighborhood where I lived and learned and healed. Oh, yes!

It’s a gorgeous day in Cuenca. Where you are, too?

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“Eventually you will come to understand that love heals everything,and love is all there is.” – Gary Zukav

“Worrying will never change the outcome.” Gregg Braden

“Life is an adventure. Dare it.” – Soulseeds

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This message from anita moorjani . . . about healing . . .

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“Many who would like to heal themselves want to know how to go about things like “trusting in your own healing,” “letting go and allowing healing,” and “accessing your place of healing.” Are these platitudes of any use to the average person? People who want to heal their bodies need to know how to put such things into practice.

A: I don’t like to advocate a set methodology, instructions, or anything like that, because if I do, I’m only creating more dogma, and the whole point is to be free of that. I do suggest, however, not viewing illness or symptoms as “something to be gotten rid of,” like an enemy. This a fear based reaction. For me, the appearance of these symptoms is my body’s way of trying to heal me. I know that if I try to eliminate the illness with an adversarial attitude, I end up doing the opposite, antagonizing it and embedding myself deeper into the illness mind-set.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t go and see a doctor. I’m purely referring to how I view disease or physical manifestations of the body. The idea is not to obsess about it and have your days revolve around doing things for the sole purpose of getting rid of the illness. It’s actually far more productive to distract yourself and stay occupied with activities that stimulate you in a positive, creative way.

As far as I could, I’d try to free myself from needing my health to be a certain way in order to find happiness and just create joy in the moment, as though I were already healthy. Living in the present means not carrying any emotional baggage from one segment of time into the next. Every instant is unique and can’t be replicated. It’s our choice whether to carry our fears with us, keeping us stuck in illness.

You don’t have to be a spiritual guru or anything. Just make the most of every minute, living it to the fullest and doing things that make you happy, whether you have a month to live or 100 years.” ~ Anita Moorjani, Dying to Be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing