Tag: peace

Anger and Aggravation Are My New Best Friends

Anger and Aggravation Are My New Best Friends

There is something quite beautiful about feeling the need to punch a hole in the wall. Or in returning the favor when another driver flips me off on the way to work.

Anger and aggravation are wonderful blessings. Because they are two emotions which tell me how well I am handling the world when the world isn’t living up to my expectations of it. If my best response in the moment is the desire to put my fist through a 1/2-inch of drywall, I am no longer in control of my emotions. My emotions are in control of me.

The world can provide us with unlimited opportunities to become angry and aggravated. If we let it. But negative and hostile reactions tell me I need to stop and analyze why I Continue reading “Anger and Aggravation Are My New Best Friends” →

Bonsai Thinking

Bonsai Thinking

I admit my ignorance when it comes to understanding the “art” of the bonsai tree. In fact, I’m not sure I ever saw much artistry in it. What’s the big deal about trimming little trees with a pair of little scissors anyway?

Once again, I was probably missing the point.

And I was.

Last week I unexpectedly found myself reading a magazine article about bonsai trees. As I read and looked at the photos, I challenged myself to open my mind and look beyond my preconceived notions to see if I could gain a better understanding of these cute little trees. I had always dismissed them as nothing more than, well, cute little trees. As I Continue reading “Bonsai Thinking” →

Your Elbows Have A Lot To Teach You About Peace And Happiness

I have found your peace and happiness. It’s located where you’ve probably never considered looking.

It’s found between your shoulders and your wrists.

That’s right. Your elbows.

Think for just a moment about your elbows. Your elbows play a rather important role in your ability to do many things in your life. For example, elbows make it possible for you to feed yourself. Just for fun, the next time you’re eating something, place your fork in your hand and extend your arm straight. Now try placing the fork into your mouth.

See what I mean?

Without elbows, your functionality and independence are greatly compromised. Spend a few minutes going through your day without Continue reading “Your Elbows Have A Lot To Teach You About Peace And Happiness” →

Alcohol, Red Meat, and the Clarity of Purpose

Alcohol, cookies, and red meat.

And we can’t forget about the swearing.

At various points in my life I’ve given each of them up for the 40 days of Lent. I was brought up believing Lent was about giving up stuff I liked to make the God I was taught to fear happy. Eventually I saw into the significance of what spiritual discipline was all about, but I never saw the correlation between my diet and vocabulary and my spiritual salvation. But that’s just me.

As a spiritual meanderer, I’ve often struggled with some of life’s bigger questions. None bigger than trying to figure out what God wants me to do Continue reading “Alcohol, Red Meat, and the Clarity of Purpose” →

Lessons Learned from the $1,011.05 Cup of Coffee

Lessons Learned from the $1,011.05 Cup of Coffee

“Large iced coffee, decaf, black, extra ice please.”

“That will be $1,011.05. Please drive up.”

The morning drive-thru dialog between me and the faceless through-the-speaker voice of the server at Dunkin’ Donuts. It’s the morning ritual, the accidental habit with a $2.77 cost per day. Fiscally insignificant on a daily basis. But when you repeat a fiscally insignificant transaction 365 days a year the dollars do add up.

$1,011.05 in this case.

This isn’t a post about frugality. It’s about becoming aware of how significant the seemingly insignificant actually is. And with our awareness comes our opportunity to make subtle, relatively Continue reading “Lessons Learned from the $1,011.05 Cup of Coffee” →

Giving Thanks For The Things That Piss Me Off

Thank you, you idiot driver, for driving too slow in the high-speed lane and making me late. Thank you, you inconsiderate grocery shopper, for dumping 20 items on the conveyor belt of the 12-items-or-less express register aisle.

Thank you. For pissing me off.

I’ve come to appreciate such moments, the moments when I am in emotional overdrive with everyone and everything getting under my skin. Why? Because I’ve learned my reaction to the world in front of me says so much about the world inside of me. When my responses are laced with rage and anger and my thoughts and words become confrontational and judgmental, it tells me that real problem here is more about me than with the ones who have managed to push my buttons.

I tell my kids life usually never goes as planned and when it doesn’t what you do next is the important thing. Sometimes I need to take my own advice. Life so often is a test, those moments when life Continue reading “Giving Thanks For The Things That Piss Me Off” →

Somehow I Know This Makes God Smile

I’ll admit I’m not that good at praying. Unless you consider asking for things proper prayer etiquette.

For most of my life, praying was the equivalent of sitting on Santa’s lap and providing Him with a list of things I wanted. Some of my more advanced praying techniques included a negotiation of sorts with me telling God what I would do in exchange for me receiving what I was asking for.

Either way, the burden was on God to deliver.

These days, yes, I still want things. But I want something more meaningful than a new bike or the perfect career opportunity. It’s all about Continue reading “Somehow I Know This Makes God Smile” →

Go Feng Shui Yourself

Rearranging the “furniture” in your mind.

I have a love/hate relationship with painting. I love looking at the myriad of individual paint sample cards. I love the feeling each shade evokes. I love the possibilities. I love how the room will look and feel when the project is completed. Unfortunately, the paint doesn’t get on the walls by itself. That would be the hate part.

Standing in Home Depot’s paint department in front of 100’s of little color samples that offers millions of possible color combinations can be a wee bit overwhelming. For me, perhaps the most difficult part about repainting a room is deciding exactly how I want the room to feel. Cozy? Whimsical? Peaceful? Tranquil? Fun? Color can make any four walls feel exactly how you want them to feel.

We all spend a great deal of time coloring the environment we live in. From the colors in the rooms we dwell in, the furniture in those spaces, the music we listen to, the books we read, the car we drive, the clothes we wear, the friends we keep, we surround Continue reading “Go Feng Shui Yourself” →

Counterpunching Adversity

“The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering.”

— Ben Okri

The human spirit is amazingly resilient, so long as we remember that we are all stronger than we often give ourselves credit for being.

Some days the world just seems like it is out to get you. One test after another, challenging and pushing you. These tests are designed to measure your faith in many things, including yourself and your ability to deal with life’s unwelcomed jabs and uppercuts that can put you on the ropes.

At some point in life we’ve all had to overcome, to endure, to transform…relying upon hidden sources of inspiration and strength that we never even knew we had. Those hidden sources remain within, always available to help us move forward and past that which threatened to bring us down.

At times of adversity and uncertainty, embrace the source of strength which lies within you. Yes, you really are stronger than you think you are.

It’s a great day to be you!

One Common Heartbeat

“God will put a wind at our back and a rising road ahead if we work together as one.”

— Desmond Tutu

It’s amazing what happens when we work together. The synergies created by the whole quite often exceed the sum of the individuals.  Even more so when the work is based in compassion and love.

We’ve all witnessed the results when we collectively come together to aid and comfort those in times of darkness. The unity of the cause creates exponential energies. You can feel the presence of spirit which acts as a divine wind at our back.

Continue reading “One Common Heartbeat” →