PEOPLE COME INTO YOUR LIFE FOR A REASON

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person. When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it, it is real. But only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

Thank you for being a part of my life,
whether you were a reason, a season or a lifetime.

A Flight in the Sun

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty." ~ Maya Angelou

NEW BEGINNINGS
A FLIGHT IN THE SUN

That first bright step into the sunshine of life
begins with the opening of the family cocoon.
The caterpillar becomes a butterfly
spreading her wings into the world.

What she is today is but a tiny mirror.
of the transformation that is yet to come.
For with time, love, humor and warmth
She is an ever changing masterpiece.

Whether as wife, mother, career woman or all,
she will find her center of peace.
A place that is hers and hers alone,
the essence of what she is and will be.

Using the instincts that each of us have
to find the good in each other.
to be a caring friend, lover, helper and playmate,
to listen and share, to laugh and to cry.

With loving support of family and friends,
she takes flight down an unknown road towards her future,
like the rising of the sun in the east.
Each day filled with new beginnings.

Finding excitement and challenge at each new turn.
Her flight through life filled with many happy adventures
and memories to put in her book of life,
as the sun moves along that steady path across the sky.

When the sun at last begins to set in the west
and her flight nears its end, she can look back along her path
and know that she has been everything she can be
and has done her very best.

~ Poem by Linda Dietz

Happiness Defined

When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t understand life.

The Seven Wonders of the World

A group of students were asked to list what they thought were the present "Seven Wonders of the World." Though there were some disagreements, the following received the most votes: 

1) Egypt's Great Pyramids 
2) Taj Mahal 
3) Grand Canyon 
4) Panama Canal 
5) Empire State Building 
6) St. Peter's Basilica 
7) China's Great Wall 

While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student had not finished her paper yet. So she asked the student if she was having trouble with her list. The girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many." The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have and maybe we can help." The girl hesitated, and then read:  

"I think the 'Seven Wonders of the World' are:   

1) To See... 
2) To Hear... 
3) To Touch... 
4) To Taste...

5) To Feel... 
6) To Laugh... 
And
7) To Love." 

The room was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. The things we overlook as simple and ordinary and that we take for granted are truly wonderous! 
A gentle reminder: 
The most precious things in life cannot be bought or built by man.

The Master's Hand

 (Adapted from a Zen story)

Dr. Mala Sinha 

Ramanand was fed up of his wife’s stinginess. No matter how much money he gave her, she always served him only, watery dal (lentils), boiled potatoes and stale chapattis. When he complained she gave the same answer every time; that things were expensive and they could not afford anything more.

Disgusted he went to his guru and complained about his wife.  The master asked him to bring the wife to him. 

The next day when the wife stood in front of the master, he raised his clenched fist to her face.  She was surprised and said, "What are you doing?"  The master asked, "Suppose my fist was always like this, what would you call it?"  The woman replied, "A deformity."

The master then opened his palm flat in front of her face and asked, "Suppose it was always like this. What then?"  She answered, "Another kind of deformity."

The master smiled and said, "If you understand this much, you are a good wife.  Now go with your husband."

The man did not come back to the master again.

Manifesting my dreams into reality....

"Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behaviors. Keep your behaviors positive because your behaviors become your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny. " ~ Gandhi

"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness." ~ Dalai Lama

"Make a gift of your life and lift all mankind by being kind, considerate, forgiving, and compassionate at all times, in all places, and under all conditions, with everyone as well as yourself. This is the greatest gift anyone can give." ~ David R. Hawkins

"There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way." ~ Buddha

"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." ~ Wayne Dyer

"The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them. " ~ Thomas Merton

"Just like a sunbeam can't separate itself from the sun, and a wave can't separate itself from the ocean, we can't separate ourselves from one another. We are all part of a vast sea of love, one indivisible divine mind. " ~ Marianne Williamson

"As we cultivate peace and happiness in ourselves, we also nourish peace and happiness in those we love. " ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

"Though you may travel the world to find the beautiful, you must have it within you or you will find it not. " ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Become...YOU!

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.” – Lao Tzu

  

Moving On

I am moving on
reaching toward my hopes and dreams
It has taken me far too long
to reach this place, it seems

My fears may try to hold me back
To try and block my way
But with courage and faith in my heart
I will get there come what may

The road will be a long one,
And it may be rocky, too
But when I reach this place in time,
My dreams could all shine through

I am coming nearer to my goals
And my excitement grows
The plans I have made will soon be real
Along with the destiny I chose

Though I have been tossed and turned in life's storms
I will surely see a brighter dawn
I'm no longer held back by my fears
I'm finally....Moving On

by Alan Murray

Life Affirmations

"During my life journey on this planet I shall start each day with these affirmations…"

I am capable. I am worthwhile. I am beautiful. I am lovable. I shall accept both my strengths and my weaknesses for they are me. I shall never again believe the "lie" that if I make a mistake, I am a mistake.

My mistakes are the learning tools that I shall encounter on my life journey. When I learn from my mistakes, I give them meaning. When I give my mistakes meaning, I can begin to forgive myself, I can begin to heal.

I shall not use my mistakes as excuses to give up on me - my mistakes are not me.

I shall seek the wisdom to nurture my heart, mind, body, and soul so that I may feel more centered

• providing an energy reserve that allows me to climb the mountains in my own life
• providing an energy reserve that allows me to love and support others who are climbing a different mountain
• providing an energy reserve that allows time for friends, play, and celebration of life.

I shall allow myself to feel capable - so that I may seek excellence.

I shall allow myself to feel sadness - so that joy may return.

I shall allow myself to feel joy - so that I may be revitalized.

I shall allow myself to feel afraid - so that I may find courage.

I shall allow myself to feel alone - so that I may know me.

I shall allow myself to feel beautiful - so that I may feel free.

I shall allow myself to feel lovable - so that the loving may seek me.

I shall allow myself to feel pain - so that I may heal.

I shall allow myself to feel worthy - so that I may fulfill my purpose.

When I am centered, I see the perfection in the world, myself and others.

When I find the world to be imperfect, I will take responsibility for painting it that way.

I will look into the heart of a rose, or the eyes of a newborn baby and again know perfection.

I take responsibility for creating my own life story through the choices I have made; to blame others is to give away my personal power. Who will I allow to write the next chapter of my life?

I shall seek the courage to believe in a God or Higher Power who will laugh with me in the sunlight or cry with me in the darkness.

I shall make a small difference on this planet through the work I do - when I leave I will have done my share.

I shall live, love, laugh, and learn on my journey.

The Thief Left it Behind

  

The thief left it behind:
the moon
at my window. 

~Ryokan



Commentary by Ivan M. Granger
Ryokan had a reputation for gentleness that was sometimes carried to comical extremes. A famous story about him relates that one day when Ryokan returned to his hut he discovered a robber who had broken in and was in the process of stealing the impoverished monk's few possessions. In the thief's haste to leave, he left behind a cushion. Ryokan grabbed the cushion and ran after the thief to give it to him.

This event prompted Ryokan to compose this haiku, one of his best known poems.
 
The moon is a common metaphor, especially among the Zen poets, to represent enlightened awareness. In this haiku Ryokan is laughing at the absurdity of the theft. "The thief left it behind," he foolishly couldn't recognize the one great treasure the poor monk possessed -- "the moon," enlightenment -- and, instead, took an armload of worthless junk. (To point out what a petty haul it was, Ryokan even ran after the thief with the missed cushion.) Any sort of theft of Ryokan's possessions was a pointless act because, of course, who can take the moon from his window? Ryokan is amused and invites us to join in his laughter.

Letting Go

Two monks were returning to the monastery in the evening.
 It had rained and there were puddles of water on the road sides. 
At one place a beautiful young woman was standing unable to walk across because of a puddle of water. 
The elder of the two monks went up to her, lifted her in his arms, and left her on the other side of the road. 
 He then continued his way to the monastery.
In the evening the younger monk came to the elder monk and said, 
"Sir, as monks, we cannot touch a woman ?"
The elder monk answered, "Yes, brother".
Then the younger monk asks again, 
" But then Sir, how is that you lifted that woman on the roadside ?"
The elder monk smiled at him and told him 
" I left her on the other side of the road, but you are still carrying her. " 

The Season of Wisdom

 

"I like spring, but it is too young. I like summer, but it is too proud. So I like best of all autumn, because its tone is mellower, its colors are richer, and it is tinged with a little sorrow. Its golden richness speaks not of the innocence of spring, nor the power of summer, but of the mellowness and kindly wisdom of approaching age. It knows the limitations of life and its content."
-  Lin Yutang

 

Wisdom to live by...

Om Mani Padme Hum

By the power and the truth of this practice,
may all beings have happiness, and the causes of happiness.
May all be free from sorrow, and the causes of sorrow.
May all never be separated from the sacred happiness
which is sorrowless.
And may all live in equanimity,
without too much attachment and too much aversion,
And live believing in the equality of all that lives.

May all beings be filled with joy and peace.
May all beings everywhere,
The strong and the weak,
The great and the small,
The mean and the powerful,
The short and the long,
the subtle and the gross:
May all beings everywhere,
Seen and unseen,
Dwelling far off or nearby,
Being or waiting to become:
May all be filled with lasting joy.

Let no one deceive another
Let no one anywhere despise another,
Let no one out of anger or resentment Wish suffering on anyone at all.
Just as a mother with her own life
Protects her child, her only child, from harm,
So within yourself let grow
A boundless love for all creatures.

Let your love flow outward through the universe,
To its height, its depth, its broad extent,
A limitless love, without hatred or enmity.
Then as you stand or walk,
Sit or lie down,
As long as you are awake,
Strive for this with a one-pointed mind;
Your life will bring heaven to earth.

~Sutta Nipata