Bee-havior

Today in honor of Halloween, a traditional day of candy, razor apples, costumes and friendly debauchery, I have a scary story for you. It’s not so scary that you will have nightmares, but scary in that someone actually behaves in such a way.

As I have mentioned in a couple of posts, I live in a townhouse in a building where all the neighbors have to pay homeowner dues for general upkeep of the building and anything that is deemed the responsibility of everyone; i.e. plumbing issues, termites, exterior painting etc.

One homeowner in particular wants the building to be surveyed for bees. The building doesn’t have bees, but she insists that it does because a couple of weeks ago, a bee was in her unit. Anyway, people in this building have a tendency to rant and rave when they don’t get their way and resort to bizarre behavior, instead of voting on issues diplomatically.

The homeowner in question sent a vicious email to everyone, threatening to leave the front and hallway doors open so everyone could see that we do have bees. She has done this for five days and still no bees have arrived.

On the sixth day, she went postal (she really does work at the post office) and she began to put dead bees in front of everyone’s door. No one has said anything to her, but we all know that it is her, although we can’t accuse her. She is the only one who leaves at 5:00 am, before anyone else. In the evening the hallways are clear. Today she taped an envelope of bees to everyone’s door.

It’s not like she’s a child or anything, she is a woman in her fifties. I wonder what else she is planning to do before she gives up? Maybe she will be dressed as a Queen Bee today? Someone suggested that we put a jar of honey on her door because when life gives you bees, you have to make honey as I mentioned in an earlier post.

How do you handle stress when you just can’t control your emotions? Just like kids have to learn that they can’t always get their way, so do some adults. I think she is starting to get under everyone’s skin. Do you think the other homeowners should confront her or let her rant run its course?

Share your thoughts and maybe we can put her out of her bees-sery. If you ask me, I think she should make a bee line to the nearest psych ward.

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Synergy Of Truth

What is your defining moment of truth? The moment where you are totally connected to your inner most being? The moment when you are who you really are? No falseness. No make-up. No facade. No exterior walls. Just foundation and a little wiring.

A moment of truth is when you express your deepest feelings to someone you love. During that split second of time, you are totally free, spinning in an open space between thought and emotion; reality and fallacy; internity and eternity. There is a sacredness in that unlocked moment when nothing else can enter your sphere of honesty -- the synergy of truth.

This truth is a potent truth that frightens some and enlightens others. It is joyful, uplifting and awe-inspiring.

Sometimes society molds us into something that we are not. It makes us perform in ways that may compromise our standards, integrity and reputation. Because we don’t understand the power and reality of truth. We hide from it, run away and will do everything not to face it. We are afraid of it; afraid that it will hurt us, decimate us or even kill us.

Everyday that we ingest society’s ways, we lose a little truth. Everyday we succumb to be accepted by a society that doesn’t have high standards in the first place, we lose truth. The more truth we lose, the more we become puppets, controlled by what society dictates.

In order to protect ourselves, we poster, exaggerate, and start a spiral of lying until one day we get tired and give up on living, losing our faith in what is good -- our reality of truth; those magical moments when we are connected to all of life.

Everyone is forced to be honest at some point in their lives. Whether it is confessing your heart out to your priest or having a tête-à-tête with God. You are cutting away the layers of skin that have amassed over the years of dishonesty. You are being real. We should never be forced to be candid, it should happen naturally.

In bullfighting, the moment of truth comes when the matador sends the bull back to his maker. The animal knows it is coming and the matador drags out the process to the very last minute. Like truth, we know it is coming and we drag it out until we have no choice but to surrender to it.

We must fight to keep our truth. Fight to be free. Fight to be who we are. We live for our truth and our truth lets us die in peace. The truth will indeed set you free.

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Be The Captain

"I tell you
that as long as
I can conceive something
better than myself,
I cannot be easy
unless I am striving
to bring it
in to existence
or clearing the way for it."

~George Bernard Shaw

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Self-Completion

"When we're incomplete, we're always searching for somebody to complete us. When, after a few years or a few months of a relationship, we find that we're still unfulfilled, we blame our partners and take up with somebody more promising. This can go on and on (series polygamy) until we admit that while a partner can add sweet dimensions to our lives, each of us, are responsible for our own fulfillment. Nobody else can provide it for us, and to believe otherwise is to delude ourselves dangerously and to program for eventual failure every relationship we enter."

~Tom Robbins

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Make Honey

Have you ever been around a person who complains? Just about everything that comes out of their mouth is a complaint. They chew your ears ‘til they are raw and they make you want to strangle them to attain your sanity once more. They can’t see the forest for the trees.

Through their eyes, the sky is always falling, the grass is brown, the flowers are dead and the parade is rained out. They seem to be bent on doom. Initially that’s why people got Caller I.D.? So they could see who is calling before they answer the phone and to see who they had to avoid.

I had a friend who complained all the time. She wanted to be in a relationship; a new job; a new car; a new life. She wanted everything she didn’t have. She could have had all she wanted or at least strive to get all she wanted if she had just put her words into action.

One day she was leaving a convenience store and she was attacked by bees. A homeless man came to her rescue. He shooed the bees away with his jacket. She thanked him. He told her that she should never run from bees because that agitates them and makes them more aggressive.

“When people are aggressive, they are angry and when they are angry, they complain,” he added. It was like he was sent to tell her that.

“That’s why I smile when I ask for money. I’m giving something to get something,” he continued.

All of a sudden it became clear to her what she had been doing. She gave him a dollar bill and thanked him again. He asked if she had ever lost everything? He then went on to tell her that he was once an accountant working at a top firm. He was blinded by greed and skimmed funds from the company, causing the company to go under.

He was fired. His wife left him and took the kids. He lost his house and spent time in jail. He was living in a shelter. She talked with him for over an hour. By opening her heart, she took the attention off of herself. She never complained to me again.

The first moral of the story: When you complain, God will give you a reason not to complain. Part of Soul’s experience is to create a welcome mat to other Souls. It’s like running a baton race. Once your stretch is done, you hand it to your teammate so they can complete their part.

The second moral: When life gives you bees, make honey.

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Sequoia Logic

There is something perfect about nature. A perfection humans can’t attain. A perfection so elegant in its nobility and crystal clear precision. A perfection deep rooted in balance, harmony and grace. A perfection that I saw with my own unfiltered eyes.

When I went to the Sequoia National Forest about 10 years ago, I wasn’t really expecting much. I thought it was no more than a tourist trap with overzealous tree lovers and tree huggers snapping pictures for their photo albums. Boy was I wrong.

The Sequoia National Forest is an amazing communion -- of man and nature. It makes you really feel like an ant standing next to these wooden leviathans. Sort of the equation of God and us. The Sequoia tree is a spiritual ‘Post-it’ that God is bigger than us -- really big.

Just standing next to the 300 foot tree with it’s 35 foot diameter, 4 foot thick bark, 50 foot branches more than 100 feet off the ground was amazing. Sequoia trees have the biggest width of any tree and even grow at elevations of 6,500 feet. After they grow up, they grow out and get the same middle-age spread as people. They live to be 3,000 years old.

The Giant Sequoia trees are the fastest growing trees in the world and the largest living things on earth. The largest living things on earth. Doesn’t that blow your mind? And what a presence they have. You really do feel like you are in the presence of a master who speaks directly to you.

If the Sequoia trees could speak, they could tell stories to rival the best gossip stories today. They would reveal history, scandal, wisdom and seeds of life. They have seen it all. They could tell us what we need to know. They could show us where to go. They are guides in the dark. Companions of light. They withstand the ravages of ego and doubt. Their inner strength manifests outwardly.

I want to be a Sequoia tree. I am a Sequoia tree. Although God is bigger than us, it is not so big that it can’t embody us. We can still feel the largess of this embodiment because we are an extension of it. Yes, we are each Sequoia trees in one massive human forest.

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Talk To The Hand

Today because of time constraints, people just don’t have time to communicate like they used to do. We don’t write letters anymore; we email. We don’t call any more; we text message. We don’t talk any more; we instant message. We don’t even use emotions anymore; we use emoticons.

In our urgency to get our messages across, we have invented clever if not expedient methods to be seen and not heard.

Following is a short list of emoticons from Readers Digest. Just another way that proves some of us have too much time on our hands. Remember idle hands are the emoticons playground.

:-Q Smoker

0:-) Angel

Q:-) Graduate

-:o Baby

C=:-) Chef

d:-) Baseball Player

:-{) Mustached

5:-) Elvis Presley

:-.) Cindy Crawford

*<:0) Clown

:B Bucktoothed

=):-)= Uncle Sam

<:-( Dunce

:-[ Vampire

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In Living Color

When we are born, we never know what kind of parents we will have and how they will impact our lives. We all assume that we will get good parents who will make us better people and stabilize our emotional environment.

Sometimes it doesn’t end up the way we had hoped. Some of us wind up being short circuited and don’t make it out of childhood alive and scars that gather in our Souls are there forever. Me, I was lucky. I had a good childhood that I am still living today.

A major influence was my mother. She is not satisfied with the status quo. She steps to the beat of a different drummer -- and that drummer has played the beat of her heart all of her life.

Let me give you a thumbnail sketch. She is one of the only people I know who actually likes jury duty. She loves being called eccentric, reads tarot cards, does numerology, astrology, genealogy and believes in past lives.

She has traced her family roots all the way back to the tree. And she loves loves loves to talk and talk and talk. In fact, if she called you, you could put her on speaker phone, leave for hours, go about your business without her being the wiser.

She went back to school at age 60 and got a degree in psychology. She taught herself to use a computer at 65 and now is addicted to emailing, blogging, Sudoku, Mahjong and eBay. She has become a seasoned bidder too.

She doesn’t bid on obscure items like Jesus on toast, Jesus on a tortilla or Jesus on sheet metal. She bids on art supplies and colorful blazers.

She watches the eBay countdown clock like a hawk and squawks when she doesn’t win the bid. When she does win the bid, she is as giddy as a teenager and wears her new, ahem, used blazer like a badge of honor. Though she says she is not mechanical, she has programmed her cell phone, her VCR/DVD player, and even set up her broadband.

She has given birth to six terrific kids, (especially me, the modest one), wore many hats including chauffeur, counselor, coach, teacher, cook, chief and bottle washer.

Like a mother bird, she used to masticate our food before she put it into our mouth (gross), played all kinds of imaginary games with us, read Dr. Seuss books to us everyday until we thought everyone spoke nonsensical. I was shocked when I went to school and found other children didn’t speak in rhymes.

She survived a heart attack, she quit smoking, quit drinking and has become a magnificent abstract artist that would put Picasso to shame.

She is a Renaissance woman who has unflinchingly gone from decade to decade, changing with the wind of time. Oh yeah and another thing? She prefers being called Turquozz (turquoise) because her aura is blue --- I told you she was different.

She is a novel being written everyday as she lives, with a plot twisting and turning, heading for experiences she’ll never see coming and finding endurance and strength through the spectacular labyrinth of life.

“I don’t want to die with the music still in me,” she squeals. “I want to experience everything that God has put before me and put nothing before God,” she adds.

Today is her birthday. She is in the high double digits. I would tell you, but she will read this. Let’s put it this way, she’s older than Methuselah and a couple of years younger than God. I must admit, she looks great for her age, not a day over the hill.

Though she is one of my biggest fans, she still doesn’t thoroughly understand why writing doesn’t pay that well and why I don’t have “A real job.”

She doesn’t realize that it is better to cultivate your dreams rather than let them lay dormant in your Soul and wonder what it would have been like to pursue them. However, she does think I’m a genius and I don’t have the heart to tell her otherwise.

She wants a mannequin for her birthday -- don’t ask? I think she’s moving into that phase where we don’t question. After searching high and low for a real mannequin, I found one as I have photographed above.

One of her proudest achievements is living -- and what an achievement it is to be blessed on earth for any long period. She is a living history book, a relic, a real antique -- a priceless work of art. She doesn’t imitate art, she is living art. Art in living color.

Happy Birthday Turquozz! You’re not getting older, the world is just getting younger.

"There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age."

~Sophia Loren

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Slumbering Souls

Although I am a voracious learner, ( always had a book under my arm and read my mother’s entire collection of self-help books by the time I was 10), I always found school a bit insipid and rife with teachers who didn’t really want to be there.

I have also been fortunate to have stimulating teachers that turned the interest level in my brain up, but for the most part many fellow students fell asleep during class. It was a ritual. They would go to the back of the classroom, yawn and drop off for the entire class. Have you ever noticed that when you yawn, your brain seems to stall?

I wondered what those slumbering Souls were dreaming? Were they still getting what they needed from the class or just a body taking up space that someone else could have used? And it all started with a yawn.

According to Wikipedia, a yawn is a reflex of deep inhalation and exhalation associated with being tired, with a need to sleep, or from lack of stimulation. It is also claimed to help increase the state of alertness of a person. Isn’t that last sentence an oxymoron? How can it increase alertness if it is from a lack of stimulation?

If you notice someone else yawning, you have a tendency to yawn too. Oddly, sometimes sympathetic yawning may be caused by simply looking at a picture of a person or animal yawning, or even seeing the word "yawn".

The Ancient Greeks and the Mayans believed that yawning was not a sign of boredom, but that a person's Soul was trying to escape from its body, so that it may rest with the gods in the skies. Superstitious people say that yawning is caused by the Devil, who sends evil spirits to enter a person's body when his or her mouth is open. Thus, covering one's mouth prevents the evil spirits from entering. It is also why some people close a baby's mouth when it yawns, but of course these are only superstitions and don’t have any relevance.

Spirituality must be caught, not taught, but how can you catch it if you are asleep? There is a lot to catch; some things may even leave your mouth open, but not for a yawn. Wake up, sleeping Souls. Don’t let life happen without you. Being alert is being aware of your inner and outer surroundings.

I hope you didn’t yawn while reading this, but if you did, I won’t be offended. That means this post was interactive and that’s a good thing.

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You-niversity

"All of us have two educations,
one which we receive from others;
another, and the most valuable,
which we give ourselves."

~John Randolph

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Finders Keeper

"Resolve to be thyself:
and know,
that he
Who finds himself,
loses his misery."

~Matthew Arnold

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In The 'No' Part 2.

I was anticipating the sales pitch. I think the power struggle between buyer and seller can go either way, depending who has the stronger will. We sat down in a corner and the questions began. Not mine, but his. “What did you think? How did you like it? Was it what you thought it would be? Was it good for you?” At one point I didn’t think the questions were at all about the video. Until the next question, “How would you like to pay for it?”

“What,” I thought. “Just by coming here didn’t mean I agreed to buy anything, I added. For every question he threw at me, I answered, “No.” The more he asked, the more I stood firm. My will and my patience was being tested. Finally after the tenth question, I asked, “What part of no don’t you understand?” He went from being a little church mouse to becoming a tiger, shouting, “These vacation shares have changed peoples lives. You’re just afraid to experience something like this.”

The phrase “Time Share” was so yesterday and had a bad connotation, so it was changed to “Vacation Share.” My counselor stood up and demanded that I buy something without telling me the price that I had asked for in the beginning, out of curiosity. Even the other counselors took notice at his action. Once again, I said, “No, I am not interested.”

He added, “How do you know you’re not interested if you don’t know how much it is?” “Because I don’t want anything that is not presented in a honest manner. Why didn’t you tell me the price when I asked,” I said. My counselor stormed off to get his manager.

Once the manger came over, she asked me why I said No? I explained to her that I didn’t take too kindly to scare tactics, especially when the counselor told me that I was “...afraid to experience something like this.” I then added that I thought it was unprofessional for the counselor to act in an overly emotional manner. Was he trying to sell or have a temper tantrum? He was a loose cannon that may prove to be a liability.

People hate when you don’t argue with them. The manager thanked me for coming, released me for the grips of my counselor and gave him a time-out. As I received my free DVD player, I overheard another counselor say the deposit for the vacation share was $10,000., plus annual fees, but the purchaser would never have to stay in a hotel again, granted they didn’t book the vacation spot when someone else booked it.

Some people are afraid to say no, others can’t say it. I like to say it often. We can’t let others coerce us into a “yes,” or into doing something we don’t want to do. I call it spiritual bullying. They will sense a weakness in you and then try to exploit it, making you feel guilty for not pleasing them. Don’t fall for it. Stand firm. Exercise your right to ‘No.’

Though I got a free DVD player, most people wouldn’t bother, I on the other hand live on the edge.

Caveat emptor: if you are asked to hear a presentation on vacation share, run as far and fast as your little legs can carry you, unless of course you’re in the “No.”

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In The 'No'

I was attending one of those vacation time share seminars a while back because I had always wondered what they were about. Supposedly I would watch a video presentation and there would be no pressure to buy anything. “All you have to do is show up and you’ll get a free DVD player,” the voice on the other end of the phone said. “If after seeing the presentation, you don’t want to purchase, all you do is say, “No.”

It sounded simple enough so I agreed. When I got there, I was greeted with an overly friendly staff; the kind I imagine would be at the gates of Hell. Their smiles seem to hide the danger that lurked beneath them. There were posters of foreign lands on the wall; Bermuda, Cyprus, Fiji, Mauritius, The Bahamas and the like. I filled out some paperwork, showed two forms of identification, (I never know why one form of identification isn’t enough?) and I was led down a darkened corridor to a screening room with a huge cinema screen.

The lights went down and music blasted my eardrums while the video began with beautiful people frolicking on white sand beaches. They swam with dolphins in turquoise water; were side by side with marine fish, sailed on yachts, water skied, jet skied, and had a grand old time on vacation. The only skiing they didn’t show was whiskey-ing.

There were several close ups of their faces which looked like they were drugged into a fake happiness. Their expressions were filmed in slow motion to elongate their ‘joy.’ It was picture perfect, just like a vacation postcard. What wasn’t to like?

Then the lights came on and people were assigned to “Sales Counselors.” Each person or couple had their own counselor so all of their questions would be answered. I had a seemingly quiet sales counselor. A middle aged man who looked uncertain of his social whereabouts. This was going to be very interestng.

(To be continued)

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Club God

It’s not an exclusive club with velvet ropes where bodyguards refuse admittance and strangers mingle with drinks in hand, bumping and grinding to monotonous drum beats, synthesizers and guitars. Though it’s a private club with no requirements, everyone is admitted freely.

Though you can come by yourself, you will never be alone. A peace will surround you as you enter the gold plated doors. You will feel at home. You will be at home. You are home.

Go within to your club God and have the time of your life while you dance to the music of your Soul. There really is no other club like it.

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Misery Guts Cracks A Smile

Yesterday I spoke about a woman, I have come to know as, “Misery Guts.” Well, I ran into her again last night at Best Buy. This time she was different. She was SMILING. Seriously. She was grinning from ear to ear showing her choppers. She has a beautiful smile. I couldn’t believe it.

It was a rare moment that will remain frozen in my mind. It was so free, unencumbered by rules, regulations and inhibitions. It was a miracle. The skies must have opened, dissipating the clouds. Thunder blasts. Lightening strikes. The whole nine yards. The universe must have realigned itself discarding the negative energy that gets caught between logic, power and reasoning.

I don’t know what happened? She must have heard my thoughts, or somehow read my post. I am amazed at the instant transformation. A smile really does make a difference to one’s character and outlook. It’s simple, doesn’t take great effort and is beneficial to all. As a bonus for businesses, I am liable to spend more money in a business with friendly, smiling employees. It should be part of the sales presentation.

Smile. Show your teeth. Make your dentist proud of his/her work.

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Powered By God

I love observing people in their natural habitats. In various businesses I patronize from time to time, I see the kings/queens for a day exercising their bit of power over the little people in their dominion. Others are like animals in self-imposed cages; those clock watchers who yawn every few minutes waiting for their lives to start.

Somewhere in between this imbalance of power and boredom lies misery guts. Misery guts is the nickname for the store manager at Best Buy. Every time I go into the store, she is yelling at employees or scowling at people like they are going to steal. I have never seen her smile because her frown gets in the way. In fact, I don’t even know if she has teeth. She’s miserable and she wants the world to know.

Misery truly loves company. It takes a lot of skill and practice. It has an outer shell that is hard to crack and an even harder center. Misery carries over to other aspects of your life too. If you hate your job, you hate your life, if you hate your life, you hate yourself, if you hate yourself, you hate God for creating you. If you hate God for creating you, then you’re just not getting why you’re here.

I can see the misery stirring in her Soul, oozing out through her pores, actions and her being. On the inside of our Soul is our identification that reads, “Powered By God.” It’s our spiritual cooperate identification. Our Souls are incorporated by an elite group of spiritual powers. We can take advantage of all of the benefits our corporation offers.

With this magnificent benefit package, why would anyone power into misery? Happiness is easy. All you have to do is change your thinking. We have a choice. We can be miserable and suffer the consequences or be happy and reap the benefits. Which do you choose?

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Spark

"If you have anything really valuable to contribute to the world, it will come through the expression of your own personality, that single spark of divinity that sets you off and makes you different from every other living creature."

~Bruce Barton

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Your Soul

“Ordinary riches can be stolen,

real riches cannot.
In your soul are infinitely
precious things that
cannot be taken from you.”

~Oscar Wilde

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Embracing Gratitude

We never know when our last day on earth is going to be. We never know when our last sunrise will shine in our eyes waking us from our slumber, or the last sunset will retire putting an end to our day.

That’s why I live each day with gratitude. If I leave this world today, I leave it with gratitude. I leave knowing that I have done all that I have agreed to do and agreed to do all I can. I leave knowing that I have found the purest fountain of love; a love hard to find. I leave knowing that I have enjoyed the ride even through the clouds and turbulence.

I have been to the mountain top, standing atop its peak, basking in the breeze of awareness. I have seen the face, heard the voice, held the hand and have been touched by God. I am blessed with all that life offers. I have no regrets. No doubt. No sadness. No loneliness. Just gratitude. Why would I ever want to leave?

Embrace all that you have now. Embrace gratitude. You are all blessed.

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Humans Versus Robots

Sometimes I am anonymous. I like to go in and out of places without being seen. One place in particular is the supermarket. Every time I check out, I am forced to hear the cashiers conversations; anything ranging from a menage a trois, breast jobs and boyfriends, not necessarily in that order.

Months ago, the supermarket installed a fast self check out system for those of us who don’t like to be subjected to waiting or cashier blathering. I use the system sometimes, but more times that not it seems to be confused.

For instance when I scan an item and put it in the designated bagging area, the machine will stop and yell, “Please remove item from bagging area.” When I remove it, it screams, “Item removed from bagging area.” When I return it, “Please remove item from bagging area.” This same pattern will repeat until my arms get tired.

When I get the store manager, they hit a few buttons and restart the machine and the whole process of the machine versus human starts over.

I find it amazing that the store hasn’t sorted the issue out. Obviously it has been happening since the machines were installed. Unless it recognizes me and only misbehaves for my benefit. Computers wield a lot of power in todays society. Lives can change with the push of a button.

Many jobs are lost to computers. They may be cheaper and sometimes cost effective, but they are still infallible. I guess for now I will have to go to the humans and save my anonymity
for a rainy day.

Cashiering is still one area where humans surpass machinery.

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To God Or Not To God

An atheist would argue that there is no God, whereas a theist would take the opposite view. Both would spout examples justifying their beliefs and both would be right.

Part of atheistic reasoning is that there is no tangible evidence that God exists. Atheists see all the horrors of the world and blame God, instead of seeing all the fascination of the world and thanking God. Their true faith has been shattered and shards of glass cloud their vision. However, at some point, their faith does a U-turn.

An atheist’s disbelief in God is tangible, but not in his belief. A theist’s belief in God is also tangible, but not his disbelief. The two sides are worlds apart on their beliefs, but there is a place where both sides come together -- the end of their life.

Everyone gets religious in a foxhole. When faced with impending death, everyone prays to God; even atheists. It’s a natural function of our rationale. We think that if anyone can save us from death, it is certainly God. So why do some of us ignore God all our lives, only to cry, “Oh God,” at the end of it?

It’s common that vignettes of our of experiences flash before our eyes before death. It’s like seeing a mini film of what we have done. Were we the hero or the villain? Did we cause people to suffer or did we bring love and goodwill to all those in which we came in contact?

It’s when we think that our lives here are final and we don’t really need God to assist us. We think we can do it all on our own. We think that we are big. Well, God is bigger than we will ever be -- a behemoth among men. If we realize that now, we won’t cry at the end our lives wishing we had only done things differently.

It doesn’t take much out of our day to acknowledge our Supreme Being. Just asking if you can lighten the load helps burn off karma and open your heart. One way that we can lighten God’s load is by being attentive Souls and being ready, willing and able to offer a good word, kindness, consideration and love. The sentiment’s not just for greeting cards, it can be a way of life.

We are all here together. A chorus is not a solo. It needs altos, baritones, sopranos and tenors to sing harmoniously. Whether you believe in God or not, we are still in the same chorus being conducted by the mightiest of maestros.

To God or not to God, there is no question.

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Knock Knock

Have you ever wondered why the same thing keeps happening in your life? The same experience with different people? You know the song, you dance the dance and you still don’t get it. How long can you keep bumping your head or getting knocked down?

God is trying to get your attention. Whatever it is that you are supposed to learn has not sunk in yet and it keeps repeating until you get it. We get so caught up in the awe of superficiality that we miss the awe of consciousness. You might say that sometimes God is like the woodpecker.

Woodpeckers have a unique form of communication. They peck on tree trunks with their beaks to find insects under the bark. It may take them a while to locate the insect, but they keep pecking until beak meets pest in a culmination of accomplishment. Woodpeckers don’t give up; they keep pecking until they get through -- like God.

When we are fully aware, we know that at each given moment, there is something we need to know to move on to our next phase of development. However, if we can’t see or hear what God is trying to tell us, we go through one of those emotionally draining, “why-does-this-always-happen-to-me” episodes that may sideline us to make us stop, listen and learn.

Yes life can be a series of hard knocks, but usually the only thing bruised is the ego. As the proverb goes, you must examine where you slipped, not where you fell.

Remember when your head is rocking, the woodpecker is knocking.

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Capability

"Men are often capable

of greater things
than they perform.
They are sent
into the world
with bills of credit,
and seldom draw
to their full extent."

~Horace Walpole

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Mastery

"No man is free who is not a master of himself."

~Epictetus

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The Spur

"It's an old adage that the way to be safe is never to be secure…each one of us requires the spur of insecurity to force us to do our best."

~Harold W. Dodds

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Live It Up

This was sent to me by My Daily Insights . It says so much about the process of living. So much we already know, but sometimes forget. So much to remind us that we are all here for a short while. Embrace life.

Life
~anonymous~

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person
that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will.

You will have your heart broken probably more than once
and it's harder every time.

You'll break hearts too,
so remember how it felt when yours was broken.

You'll fight with your best friend.

You'll blame a new love for things an old one did.

You'll cry because time is passing too fast,
and you'll eventually lose someone you love.

So take too many pictures, laugh too much,
and love like you've never been hurt
because every sixty seconds you spend upset
is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.

Don't be afraid that your life will end,
be afraid that it will never begin.

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The Axe

I have heard some cruel things in my time, but this has got to be one of the worse. A company in Germany will actually break up with your girlfriend/boyfriend for you. They will do all of the dirty work, listen to the anger, tears, heartbreak and shock. There is even a reality show in the works designed to do the same thing.

Sometimes I wonder if this is real, then I think of course it is. In the 21st century anything can happen and often does.

Unless you have been abused, doesn’t the person you are breaking up with deserve more? Is it so hard to find a few minutes to talk to them in person and tell them why without them thinking the worse of you, instead of text messaging, phoning them, or having someone else do it for you? Is it so hard to beak up with class?

You don’t have to have a picnic and champagne, but you can let them down gently. Wouldn’t you want at least that much if the shoe were on the other foot? Treat people as you want to be treated and you will always be treated well. Treat them cruel and you will suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous heartache. What goes around comes around.

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Identity Crisis

My computer doesn’t recognize me? To it, I am persona non grata. I didn’t change my hair color or the face that I have been attached to for years. I didn’t change the way I finesse the keys, or tap the hidden stories underneath them. It just doesn’t know who I am?

When I got a new hard drive a couple of months ago, all of my embedded cookies were erased, now I have to reset all of my internet accounts, which means new passwords, new security questions, new site keys, new everything.

Spiritualists say that if you look at yourself today and then again next year, you wouldn’t recognize yourself. Spiritual growth happens little by little and then bam -- you’re another person.

It doesn’t mean that another person is inhabiting your internal walls; it’s still you. You still have the same space, but inside the walls have changed.

Some have been completely torn down, while others have been moved to reflect the sunlight. The only difference is that the light now emanates from you and it affects everyone in which you come in contact.

The moral is that we shouldn’t get too attached to who we are because who we are can change overnight. As we change we get better than who we thought we were and who we are. While I like who I am, I don’t always know who I will become, I do look forward to moving at the speed of light and solving the mystery and the mastery of self.

So as it turns out, I did change. My computer just got the memo before I did.

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Security Alert

Alfred Hitchcock is alive and well -- and working as a security guard in the local supermarket. He’s 89 years old and still going strong -- well sort of. This Hitchcock look-a-like is the archetype for the security guard.

There seems to have been a mix up in social security and the security industry. Lately I have noticed “older” security guards who are so feeble that they shouldn’t be working, much less doing security.

The other day Hitchcock saw some suspicious characters who may have been stealing. He began to approach them. He could hardly walk, had trouble seeing and probably a terrible shot. It was like a comedy sketch.

By the time he got to the aisle where the suspicious characters were doing the old sleight of hand, they had disappeared as fast as you can say, “Abracadabra!”

What could the security guard do if someone was actually stealing? If companies were really concerned about stealing, don’t you think they would hire beefy guys like the WWF wrestlers? Then there is the other side of the coin, a security guard fresh out of high school and afraid of his own shadow.

Why do we tolerate incompetence? Don’t we deserve better? If a business doesn’t care about the competence of their security guards, then they don’t really care about their business.

If we don’t care about competence, then we can’t progress. We have to continually move forward through the passage of godhood.

Attention shoppers, there is a new sheriff in town. You can run, but you cannot hide.

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Powerful Thoughts

As I have mentioned in another post, my friend is selling his exquisite townhouse because he doesn’t like to live in one neighborhood for too long. I guess deep down he is a gypsy traveling from house to house until he gets his ultimate house; one with a grand entrance and double staircase, anything to rival the house in Gone With The Wind or those other films that show grandiose estates.

He loves substantial properties that are architecturally splendid and make great masquerade party houses. A tall order if I do say so myself. Yesterday he had an Open House for his townhouse. (An Open House is when potential buyers come and look at the property) Some Open Housers have snacks, scented candles, music and/or films playing in the background; almost like having a party. Anything to get you in the mood to purchase. You get to meet different people from different backgrounds and see many character quirks, but mainly there are many “Lookie loos.” (People who tend to come and just look with no intention of buying.)

I usually assist my friend just to keep him company and observe the process. Usually before anyone comes, he prepares by imagining the people who come through the door and what they’ll say? Everyone has a story and they are more than happy to tell it to us.

Half way through the Open House, my friend makes the statement, “I want someone to walk in, love the place and offer all cash.” After we stopped laughing, a woman walked in and exclaimed, “Oh my God, I love this place. I want this!” She walks around a bit, loving every inch of space and decor and says, “Let’s sit down and talk.” She looks at the price and says, “Will you take cash?”

My friend and I were speechless. Just another reminder that the universe has ears -- big ears. The powers of the universe are all encompassing and all God -- omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent.

Thoughts are powerful. They are manifestations of form. What you say is what you create. What you think is what you are. What are you thinking? What are you creating? What are you doing?

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Live Now

"You don’t get to choose
how you’re going to die.
Or when.
You can only decide
how you’re going to live
Now."

~Joan Baez

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