Mindfulness...

A friend sent this to me. She said she found it in her inbox, in an email from me, something that I saw on a poster in a doctor's office. Wow, did it jar me. I think I needed to be reminded about how to make the most of my life and the moments that I am given RIGHT NOW. How to seize the situation, be present, aware, live life to the fullest, and soak up as much as I am capable of.

"Whoever is present, are the right people.
Whenever it begins, is the right time.
Whatever happens, is the only thing that could have happened.
When it's over, it's over."

Thank you, for the reminder.

confidence...

I don't actually think you get more confident as you get older...

... it's just wishful thinking

and breathing...

After spending some good quality time with friends, going for a run (a beautiful way of setting my equilibrium), reading and recharging, and playing, I am feel much more grounded. I think by being present - making sure that the I am present for each experience that I am involved in, gives me such a healthy perspective. It stops my monkey mind from taking off to the future (which has not happened and does not exist yet) or dwelling in the past; holding on to something which no longer is. Being now gives me a chance to let go. I don't have to be anything than what I am right now. What I feel. What I want. The rest just unfolds, the same way my breath pours from my body. Naturally. Instinctively. One at a time... as deeply or as shallow as I choose to take it.

Space

There's no space for me
When you burst into the room
Eclipsing my self with your tempest and fire.

There's no space for me
Amidst your dreams and passions and tears;
Your grandiose gestures;
Your eloquence and intelligence.

I feel small in your presence
Unsure and timid.
Lost and tentative.

The noise is deafening, at times.
And my world starts to tunnel
Strangling my energy;
Suffocating the breathing room that I have left.

I know this is my challenge -
that the universe brings us what we need to learn from;
what we need to grow from;
opportunities to regain our footing
and tear down the old walls that formed in our psyches.

But this one is hard for me.
Finding my voice....
that seems so hollow and broken;
carried away on the wind that rushes forth from you
pummeling my diaphragm
until I can do no more than croak.

Muted, I blink, and retreat. To lick my wounds.
To recover some of my spirit. Some of my joy.
I'm losing my joy.

There will be another time
and another place for me
to assert myself.
To create an emotional sanctuary for my own being -
A place that can exist comfortably in your presence and in your essence.
Easily. Honestly.

But it's not tonight. And I shut the door
with a welcome sigh at the silence.

-- lml Feb 11, 2008

no problem...

This is what enlightenment is all about - a deep understanding that there is no problem. Then, with no problem to solve, what will you do? Immediately you start living. You will eat, you will sleep, you will love, you will work, you will have a chit-chat, you will sing, you will dance - what else is there to do?

~ Osho

words to inspire me before heading out on a road trip...

"If you just look at all that already exists in your life, all that you already have: unlimited air to breathe, ample lighting to see, music to hear, books to read, stars to dream by, trees to gaze at, floors to dance on, friends to cavort with, enemies to befriend, strangers to meet, woods to walk through, beaches to comb, rocks to scale, rains to cleanse you, rivers to float you, animals to comfort you; you do have to admit, there's more of it than you could ever, ever, ever spend.

But try anyway."

~ Mike Dooley