The Bat Lady Next Door

I live next door to a bat. Really. A bat who goes to work everyday, pays taxes, drives a car, flies on airplanes and leads a relatively normal human life.

She works as a nurse by day, but at night she is a certifiable bat. I doubt her coworkers even know she is a bat, but I do - and now you do too.

Maybe she’s a vampire bat? Hence the reason she works in a hospital for those nightly “feedings,” except vampire bats live in the warm tropical countries of central and South America, not Los Angeles.

A vampire bat needs to drink about half of its body weight every night which is about a tablespoon of blood. Hmmm, I wonder if the hospital where she works ever has blood shortages?

She lives in darkness - literally! Though she moved in several months ago, she still has boxes stacked on the floor that haven’t been unpacked yet.

She doesn’t have any furniture, not even curtains on her windows, so anyone can see inside her house.

When I return from my nightly walk, I see the light of her refrigerator illuminating her face, but she won’t turn on any lights.

She reads in the dark, eats in the dark, and talks on the phone in the dark, all at the kitchen table.

I told you, she’s a bat. She flies with her hands, (bats are the only true flying mammals in the world) and sees with her ears (echolocation helps them navigate in total darkness by sending a high frequency that bounces off objects. They hear these echoes and locate, identify, and capture moving prey while flying through the dark.)

There is a large clothing rack in the window upstairs which I think she probably sleeps on while hanging upside down.

My bat neighbor is part of a world population of more than ten billion. They have been around for at least 50 million years. Despite this incredible length of time they still look much like their fossil ancestors.

Bats are one of the most misunderstood animals. They are gentle, intelligent animals that are quite timid when it comes to interacting with humans. (Come to think of it, I have never seen her “interacting” with humans, certainly not in her home.)

A bat is a trogloxene; from the Greek words "troglos" (cave) and "xenos" (guest.) They are temporary cave residents which freely move in and out of the cave. Bats are of the order Chiroptera, Latin for "hand-wing."

I do find it strange that she doesn’t have any lights on, not even candle light. All she has to do is get curtains so she can turn the lights on, or even put paper on the windows so she won’t be seen, but she would rather stay in the dark - and that’s the sad thing.

Though Helen Keller was deaf and blind, her life was totally illuminated. She even said, “If I, deaf, blind, find life rich and interesting, how much more can you gain by the use of your five senses!”

Our lives are only dark because we can’t see the light. Often times, it’s only a switch on the wall, or a switch in our consciousness to help brighten our living space - the space our Soul calls home.

For some reason my neighbor doesn’t want to take simple steps to illuminate herself and thus illuminate her life.

She would rather wear a veil of darkness. Some people don’t necessarily like living in darkness, but they don’t know how to hit the switch.

I can’t force her eyes to see. I can't force them toward the light. She must be ready to accept light in order to see.

I can only offer her love and compassion and sometimes that’s all it takes to remove the veil of darkness.

Once that veil is detached, there is such a light and lightness in our world. Darkness is a heavy burden. A bough that weighs us down and when the bough breaks, the cradle will fall along with our will and willingness to get up.

We have to partake in the art of seeing. We can’t let darkness obstruct our vision. If we can’t see where we’re going, we wind up going in circles, staying in one place or bouncing off the walls (like a bat.)

Like Helen Keller would say, “It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision.”

Don’t let darkness prevail. Move towards the light. Bask in the brightest heaven of invention. Let the light of your love illuminate the path in your heart.

Happy bright weekend everybody.

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Interview With God

Today since I am still in the midst of eradicating my errands, I have invited a guest blogger to do the post. The blogger’s name is Anonymous. You may have heard of Anonymous.

You may have even seen work by Anonymous all over the internet and it’s pretty good, I might add. Anonymous is also very talented and usually doesn’t take any credit for any work.

When I asked Anonymous to do this post, I was pleased when Anonymous didn’t put up any resistance to do this post for me.

Isn’t it marvelous when things go smoothly. It’s like making all of the green lights and getting to your destination that much faster.

When we remove resistance from our path, we add a passing lane where we can travel around the obstacle.

And now without further ado, I present a post by Anonymous. Enjoy.

Hello everyone. Alexys, thank you for allowing me to write the post for today. I know you work very hard and I am honored that you gave me this wonderful opportunity to share my story.

It’s about a dream I had. A dream that made me think about the world, life and my relationships with others and myself as well as the universe.

I dreamed that I had an interview with God. I was sitting at a big conference table and the light that illuminated from the other side was blinding.

A soft voice said, “So you would like to interview me?,”
God asked.

“If you have the time,” I said.

God smiled and said, “My time is eternity. What questions do you have in mind for me?”

“What surprises you most about humankind?,” I asked.

God replied, “That they get bored with childhood, they rush to grow up, and then long to be children again.

That they lose their health to make money and then lose their money to restore their health.

That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live in neither the present nor the future.

That they live as if they will never die, and die as though they had never lived.”

God’s hand took mine and we were silent for a while.

And then I asked, “As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons that you want your children to learn?”

God squeezed my hand and said, “To learn they cannot make anyone love them. All they can do is let themselves be loved.

To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others. To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.

To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in those they love, and it can take many years to heal them.

To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most, but is one who needs the least.

To learn that there are people who love them dearly, but simply have not yet learned how to express or show their feelings.

To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it differently.

To learn that it is not enough that they forgive one another, but they must also forgive themselves.”

"Thank you for your time," I said humbly.
"Is there anything else you would like your children to know?"

God smiled and said, “Just know that I am here... always.”

I would like to give special thanks to Anonymous for sharing this very heartfelt dream. I will hang on to each word and hold them in my heart.

You don’t have to interview God to know God. All you need to know is that you ARE loved.

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Stringing Pieces

Today I am off doing a few errands. Errands, I usually put off because I prefer writing. Errands that were small in the beginning, but somehow grew since I didn’t do them.

Today has to be the day that they disappear.

Hopefully people are already exhausted from their weekend shopping sprees and are back at work so the traffic will be light.

I love when I can drive with no one else on the road. It's a great way to focus on things ahead.

Another form of meditation is focus. You don’t have to sit in the lotus position, close your eyes and chant, “OM.”

This is like a motion meditation, you are physically moving as your spirit is regenerating.

We are in constant motion. Our undulating spirit gives us the strength to go forward, string the pieces together and find peace within our Soul.

Peace is something you can't buy. It has to be manufactured from within. Get it? "Man"-ufactured?

Let today be a peaceful day and may it find you in peace, but not in pieces.

My friend shared this joke with me this morning. I hope it offers as much enjoyment for you as it did for me.

I will be thinking of it as I go about my day of stringing the pieces together.

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales.
The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal it’s throat was very small.

The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.

The little girl said, “When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah.”
The teacher asked, “What if Jonah went to hell?”

The little girl replied, “Then you ask him.”

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Being Alive

“We can only be said
to be alive in
those moments
when our hearts
are conscious of our
treasures.”

~Thornton Wilder

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Black Friday

They call it Black Friday. It’s crazy. It’s hectic. Lots of people purposely spending the night on the street, camping out in front of department stores, electronic stores, and any other stores that offer what they want for a deep discount.

Some stores open as early as 4 AM, but people are known to line up days earlier to secure the bargain goods.

There is even a cute commercial where a dog wakes up to an alarm clock. He quickly makes coffee, opens the drapes and wakes his owner by grabbing the covers off of her while she is still sleeping. When she sleepily gets up, the dog goes back to bed.

In order to save money, people push, fight, and stomp on people. Is it worth it? Last year people got beaten up, a woman was almost stomped to death, people got robbed in line (queue) - worse than being a victim of a pit bull attack or worst yet - - a football hooligan.

How can you enjoy shopping with a black eye, fat lip, or ripped ear?

Though that’s one way to make it a Black Friday, retailers have given it that appellation. Black Friday was originally so named because of the heavy traffic on that day, although most contemporary uses of the term refer instead to it as the beginning of the period in which retailers are in the black (i.e., turning a profit.)

It is always the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, where it is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season and also proceeds Cyber Monday, (the beginning of online Christmas shopping.)

If you don’t want to be a part of the frenzy, keep your car safely parked in your garage, not break the bank or max out your credit card, there is an alternative.

There are ten gifts you can easily afford and are just as easily attainable. Gifts that won’t be advertised in any sales flyer, or television; but they are still coveted and you can have them right now. Although you can keep them for yourself, you can also give them away.

THE GIFT OF LISTENING

Listen to someone who is talking to you. Listen with your heart, but you must REALLY listen. No interrupting, no daydreaming, no planning your response. Just listening. While they are talking, quietly bless them.

THE GIFT OF AFFECTION

Be generous with appropriate hugs, kisses, pats on the back and handholds. Let these small actions demonstrate the love you have for family and friends.

THE GIFT OF LAUGHTER

Tell a joke that you find funny. Laughing is contagious. Clip cartoons. Share articles and funny stories. Your gift will say, "I love to laugh with you."

THE GIFT OF A WRITTEN NOTE

It can be a simple, "Thanks for the help," note or a full sonnet. A brief, handwritten note may be remembered for a lifetime, and may even change a life. Make it original and from your heart.

THE GIFT OF A COMPLIMENT

A simple and sincere, "You look great in that dress or suit," "You did a good job," “I really l love your smile,” can make someone's day and stay with them for a long time.

THE GIFT OF A GOOD DEED

Random actors of kindness. Do something for someone else everyday. It can be a friend or a complete stranger. Do it and don’t ask for anything in return (it will come back to you anyway.)

THE GIFT OF SOLITUDE

There are times when we want nothing better than to be left alone. Be sensitive to those times and give the gift of solitude to others.

THE GIFT OF A CHEERFUL DISPOSITION

The easiest way to feel good is to make others feel good. A happy positive attitude creates a positive environment. Having a smile on your face will put a smile in the air. If you want to make someone happy, be happy.

THE GIFT OF COOKING

Nothing says lovin’ like something from the oven. That used to be the slogan for the Pillsbury Doughboy. When you make something from scratch, it tastes so much better than mass produced food. So if you love someone, cook for them. Even if you think you can’t cook, you can follow a recipe. One year I made chocolate chip cookies and I wrapped them in individual baskets and hand delivered them to friends. It was an instant hit. Be creative.

THE GIFT OF LOVE

Love and be loved.

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Many Thanksgiving Blessings

Happy Thanksgiving. Today celebrate the blesssings that abound and share the bounty with all in which you come in contact.


“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

~Melody Beattie

(Note: If you haven't read yesterday's post, it's a wonderful one, especially for today.)

Photo by Claudia Meyer

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Love's Resolve

Since we are on the subject of love - - and when are we not on that subject, I wanted to pass on this marvelous little story. I didn’t write it, but someone else had the heart and Soul to create it for all of us to savor.

Please enjoy and remember, whatever we do, it’s ALL about love, so be gentle and generous with it. Treat it kindly and it will treat you the same.

Once upon a time there was an island where all the feelings lived; Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge and all the others, including Love.

One day it was announced to all of the feelings that the island was going to sink to the bottom of the ocean. So all the feelings prepared their boats to leave. Love was the only one that stayed.

She wanted to preserve the island paradise until the very last possible moment. When the island was almost totally under water, Love decided it was time to leave. She began looking for someone to ask for help.

Just then Richness was passing by in a grand boat. Love asked, Richness, “Can I come with you on your boat?” Richness answered, “I am sorry, but there is a lot of silver and gold on my boat and there would be no room for you anywhere.”

Love decided to ask Vanity, who was passing in a beautiful vessel, for help. Love cried out, “Vanity, help me please!” “I cant help you,” Vanity said, “You are all wet and will damage my beautiful boat.”

Next Love saw Sadness passing by. Love said, “Sadness please let me go with you.” Sadness answered, “Love, Im sorry, but I just need to be alone now.”

Then, Love saw Happiness and cried out, “Happiness, please take me with you.” But Happiness was so overjoyed that he didn't hear Love calling him.

Love began to cry, then she heard a voice say, “Come love, I will take you with me.” It was an elder. Love felt so blessed and overjoyed that she forgot to ask the elder his name. When they arrived on land the elder went on his way.

Love realized how much she owed the elder and when she met Knowledge she asked, “Who was it who helped me.”

“It was Time,” Knowledge answered. “But why did Time help me when no one else would?,” Love asked. Knowledge smiled and with deep wisdom and sincerity, answered, “Because only Time is capable of understanding how great Love is.”

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Something For Everyone

There are many ways to say, ‘I love You.’ It’s in a sign, a symbol, a sound, a gesture or an expression that sparks the ignition in another heart.

The language of love makes all parts of speech stand and take a bow. It puts life in motion. It makes us smile.

Love gregariously speaks to everyone on every level in every town, every village, every country in every stage of development, permeating to every fiber in every being.

It really is life’s greatest gift. You have the gift and what you do with it determines your life.

Will you keep it to yourself or give it away freely? Will you attach strings to it, wrap it in fancy dressing, misuse it, abuse it, or lose it?

What do you do with it? Let the language dictate. Let it speak to your heart. Let it give you wings. Let it fly into your Soul and take you on a journey.

Let it wrap its arms around you. By speaking the language of love, you are allowing the flow of life to breathe through you.

Watch how you speak to people. Are you gentle? Loving? Careful? Angry? Critical? Insulting?

Speak to everyone as if you are speaking to a cherished Soul. Watch their reaction.

Watch their eyes. Watch their expression soften. Watch their body language. You have just given them wings to fly.

Let the language of love speak and watch as everybody listens.

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Light Of Man

“There is no beautifier of complexion,
or form, or behavior,
like the wish to scatter joy
and not pain around us.
'Tis good to give a stranger a meal.
'Tis better to be hospitable
to his good meaning
and thought
and give courage
to a companion.
We must be as courteous
to a man as we are
to a picture,
which we are willing to
give the advantage
of a good light.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Amazing Space

Have you ever seen a meteor shower? When people see them, they are so excited to witness the stars dancing across the sky. It gives them such a sense of wonder and awe. It is truly amazing.

Because meteor shower particles all travel in parallel paths at the same velocity, they all appear to radiate away from a single point among the constellations. This is caused by the effect of perspective.

This "fixed point" slowly moves across the sky during the night due to the Earth turning on its axis, the same reason the stars appear to slowly march across the sky. The radiant drift also moves slightly from night to night against the background stars due to the Earth moving in its orbit around the sun.

A meteor shower is the result of an interaction between a planet and a comet. Comets are comprised of ice and rock, orbiting the Sun. Each time a comet swings by the Sun in its orbit, some of its ice melts and it sheds debris. As the debris streams from the comet, it forms the comet's visible tail. The rest is a feast for your eyes.

Today make someone turn on their axis. Be their orbit, their moon, their stars, their meteor. Make their day. Be awe-inspiring. Be amazing.

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Think Of Happiness

This was co-opted from another website. The author is unknown, but the message is clear.

A 92-year-old well-poised lady who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.

The death of her husband of 70 years made the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready.

As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, a nurse gave her a visual description of her tiny room.

"I love it," she enthused.

"Mrs. Jones, you haven't even seen the room."

"That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied.

"Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged - - it's how I arrange my mind.

I already decided to love it. It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.

Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away - - just for this time in my life."

Enjoy your weekend. Make it a good one. Enjoy your happiness. Make those memories the ones you hang onto and let go of the bad ones and always - - in all ways hang onto happiness.

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Chinese Fire Drill

Thank God I’m back. That was scary. I’m lucky to be alive. Seriously. I was in the back of the car as it sped through traffic, weaving in and out of cars, finally coming to a stop, only to burn rubber when it took off again.

You would think that it was a bank job, but it wasn’t. The funny thing is that it was MY car - - but I wasn’t driving.

Let me back up (pun intended.) I decided to sell my car a couple of weeks ago. I’ve had a cavalcade of characters who were interested, some which never showed up and some which wanted it for free.

The most captivating potential buyer(s) were a Chinese family. That’s where we left our story with me in the back of the car holding onto the ceiling handle with my face pressed to the glass mouthing the word, “Help,” while it was being test driven by a Chinese family, though not all at once.

The Chinese family in question was comprised of a mother, father, teenage son and young daughter. We were all in the car together - - and they were driving me crazy!

The parents didn’t speak English, the teenage son was glued to his iPod so the 10 year old daughter translated. To top it off, the father was hard of hearing so he would speak at higher decibel than most people. Have you ever noticed that people who are hard of hearing make YOU hard of hearing?

Chinese is an absorbingly tonal language to hear. It sounds a little like the tongue running off of a diving board and that guttural sound when your body hits the water.

There is a long string of words and then the last word just lingers like a whole note in music. (A whole note is one that you hold to the count of four.)

As one person would drive a few miles, they would then switch drivers. The parents would say something in their native tongue that took what felt like hours to say and when the daughter told me what they said, she only said it in a couple of words. I wonder if she left anything out?

There’s a certain paranoia that comes over you when you are in a situation where you don’t speak the lingo and someone interprets for you. I was trying to keep the paranoia at bay.

In Chinese, the meaning of a word changes according to its tone. There are 4 tones in Mandarin Chinese: flat, rising, falling then rising and falling. Other dialects feature up to 9 different tones. There are so many dialects, including Mandarin, Wu, and Cantonese.

Most Chinese-speaking people in the United States speak Cantonese.

So we finally get back to my house - - and not a moment too soon. The little girl was very engaging, the teenage son slept through the whole ordeal and I lived to write about it.

While her parents examined the outside of the car with a jeweler’s eye, looking for scratches, dents and dirt, they bounced one of those mellifluous phrases off of their daughter. She looked at me and said, They want to discuss it.”

All of us went inside and sat around the table. They spoke to the daughter and she told me that they liked the car and they wanted to know what my bottom price was.

I, being the clever business woman said, “What are you offering?”

They went back and forth between them and the little girl took out a piece of paper and wrote a figure down. I thought I only saw that in films, but apparently it happens.

I countered the offer and the couple spoke to their daughter. Her expression looked like she didn’t want to say what they said. She wrote another figure on a piece of paper and slid it to my side of the table.

It was like we were playing tic-tac-toe. She was “O” and I was “X.” Every time she gave me a figure, I would X it out. I didn’t feel comfortable negotiating with a child, so I told her to tell her parents that I wasn’t willing to take anything less than my price.

She said, “They like it, but they want an air conditioner.”

I said, “Tell them they that that should look for another car with air conditioning, mine was no longer for sale.”

If looks could kill, I may be dead. I heard a lot more Chinese words spew from their mouth, but the little girl didn’t translate.

The whole episode reminded me at how we are all being test driven daily by everyone around us. There are times when we feel that we are at our wits end, when we are vulnerable and other people can sense it. That’s when they will come in for the kill.

Those are the times when we have to put up our shield. We have to protect ourselves because there is always someone waiting to tear us down if we let them.

There's always someone willing to take advantage. We have to know when to put on the brakes and stop the behavior. We have to know when to walk way.

We have to know when enough is enough. And the way we gauge that is to know that when we don’t feel good about a situation, then it’s probably not good for us. Don’t be afriad to say, “Stop.”

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Remember Them

In honor of Veteran’s Day. Let’s remember the soldiers who have fought and who are still fighting a battle only known to them. A battle that stretches beyond our imagination and into the unknown.

They are on the front lines, in the trenches, seeing images we would never understand and embedding them into their memories. Images they never forget. Images that haunt them and destroy their lives.

Today in America we celebrate them. A token of our appreciation, but it could never really bring back the thousands who have lost their lives at the hands of underhanded deal makers who sell their Souls to the devil.

Remember the soldiers today. Remember them everyday.

“Heroism is latent in every human soul -
However humble or unknown,
they (the veterans) have renounced
what are accounted pleasures
and cheerfully undertaken
all the self-denials - privations,
toils, dangers, sufferings,
sicknesses, mutilations, life.”

~Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

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Unhappy Endings

“Love never dies a natural death.
It dies because we don't
know how to replenish its source.
It dies of blindness
and errors and betrayals.
It dies of illness and wounds;
it dies of weariness,
of withering,
of tarnishing.”

~Anais Nin


Please Note: This does not reflect the state of the blog author.

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Use It Or Lose It

This was co-opted from Spiritual.com.au written by an anonymous donor. Enjoy and have a great weekend. Use your time wisely.

Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day.

What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course! Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose.

It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow."

You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today.

To realize the value of
ONE YEAR,
ask a student who failed a grade.

To realize the value of
ONE MONTH,
ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.

To realize the value of
ONE WEEK,
ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of
ONE HOUR,
ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of
ONE MINUTE,
ask a person who missed the train.

To realize the value of
ONE-SECOND,
ask a person who just avoided an accident.

Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time.

Remember that time waits for no one. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present!

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Men In Tights

I am not a huge sports fan, but I have always been drawn to archery. The bow, the arrow, the target, the whole Robin Hood thing. (Maybe it’s my fondness for men in tights.)

In fact, a secret escape tunnel discovered under Nottingham Church dating back to the 12th Century is said to be the same tunnel used by Robin Hood and his men to escape the Sheriff of Nottingham.

A medieval document confirms Robin and his men being surrounded by the Sheriff's soldiers at the church, but when the soldiers broke down the church doors, Robin and his men were nowhere to be found.

Archery is a sport of the gods with quite a wealthy bloodline. In 50,000 BC, the first stone arrowheads were discovered in Africa which indicates that the bow and arrow were invented there.

Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, Mongols and others were toxophilites (experts) and used master archery skills to conquer and/or ward off enemies.

In 1479 BC, the King of Egypt, Thutmose III, was a showman of archery prowess, often giving public displays of his skill.

In 1260 BC, Philoctetes was bequeathed the bow and arrows of Hercules in return for lighting his funeral pyre, and thus became a notable archer. On the way to the siege of Troy, he was sidelined by a vicious snakebite and was left behind.

When a seer revealed that Troy could be taken only with the aid of Hercules' bow and arrows, Greek warriors Odysseus and Diomedes went to Philoctetes and persuaded him to accompany them to Troy.

There he was healed just in time to kill Paris, son of the King of Troy, by which action he paved the way for the city's fall through using the Trojan Horse.

In 250 BC, Parthians were topnotch horsemen and archers. They were famous for feigning retreat then, while at a full gallop, turn their bodies back to shoot at the pursuing enemy. The maneuver required superb equestrian skills, since the rider's hands were occupied by his bow, leaving only pressure from his legs to guide his horse.

This disrupted the enemy, hence the term, "A Parthian Shot,” which later became known as, "A Parting Shot." (a hostile remark made while departing.)

In 1208 AD, Temujin became Great Khan of the Mongols, better known as Genghis Khan. Mongols were expert mounted archers that used high stirrups which allowed them to shoot in any direction.

The unarmored soldiers wore silk undershirts to minimize the injury from arrows. The loose silk shirt would wrap around the arrow head without being cut and allow a clean removal of the arrow by slowly pulling on the shirt, thus stopping cuts from barbed arrow heads and reduce the risk of infection.

In 1307 AD, William Tell refused to bow towards a hat placed on a pole as a sign of imperial power and was ordered to shoot an apple off his son's head. He succeeded.

He also had a second crossbow bolt hidden behind his belt in case he failed and killed his son; he would have quickly reloaded and killed the official who ordered him to shoot the apple off his son's head.

1492 AD, Leonardo da Vinci sketched a design of siege crossbow, done when he was employed as a siege engineer in the court of Francis I of France.

English engineers recently built a replica and managed to fire a canon ball about 60 meters before one of the limbs broke from the strain. Thus proving that the design could work.

So you see, life is like archery. The same principles apply. We have to have a target. We have to have aim. We have to shoot for the target. We have to hit the target.

Even if we don’t hit the target right away, life teaches us our stance, our aim, how to conduct ourselves, when to raise our bow, when to draw and when to retreat.

We have to focus, steady and aim. To go through life without knowing where we’re going is like a bowless archer unable to hit the target. We have to have goals.

We must set our sight on the target, aim and let go. We must follow the arrow as it passes from our mind to the goal, our hand to the target, our heart to our Soul.

If we can shoot only one arrow a day with all of our might, it’s better than shooting 100 arrows in any direction. The goal is to develop the feel, mentally and physically, of a perfect shot, to build the subconscious controls and recognition points.

Research has shown that you can increase your accuracy dramatically by using imagery and visualization. It gets both hemispheres involved. There are three types of visualization.

1. In vivo (in life) -- when you are shooting your bow, visualize the path of the arrow to your target, just before release.
2. Quasi (near) -- take natural surroundings and visualize shooting.
3. True -- close your eyes and create the target and the arrow's trajectory. See the arrow already on the target.

First, practice holding the bow and learn the correct positions. Don’t worry about not hitting the target. Focus on the correct form and the follow through. Then, slowly develop positive mental habits.

Like a spiritualist, the experienced archer knows that a certain amount of practice, focus relaxation and surrender is the key to success.

Releasing the arrow properly is the most important fundamental in shooting. To follow through simply means to hold the release position until the arrow is safely launched onto the target.

I knew there was a reason that I liked archery. Hitting the target is just another part of life, and you know what? You don’t have to wear tights.

The important thing is to have a target, know where we want to go - - and go.

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When Was The Last Time?

When was the last time you...
held someone close

When was the last time you said...
I forgive you
I love you
I cherish you
I hear you
I honor you

When was the last time you...
danced
laughed
cried
thanked God you’re alive
opened your eyes
refreshened

When was the last time you offered...
your hand
your heart
your hope
your smile
your love

Let me hold all of you close and give you the love you deserve. I cherish you.

Take time to acknowledge your success, your accomplishments, everything in your life worth celebrating - - the passion, the pleasure, the pain, the drain, everything.

Just know that whatever you’re going through, the greatest spiritual masters have gone through it too. This too shall pass.

You made it through the night. Now, let’s make it through another day.

Hold on to the golden twilight in your eyes and the red swirls of passion in your hearts.

Remember that you are loved and I honor each and every one of you.

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Unmasked

"Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the self-same well
from which your laughter
rises was often times
filled with your tears."

~Rene Descartes

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Black And Gold

A boy had two boxes in his hand which God gave him to hold. God told him, to put all of his sorrows into the black box, and all his joys into the gold.

The boy heeded God’s words and in the two boxes, both joys and sorrows were stored. The gold became heavier each day and the black was as light as before.

With curiosity, he opened the black box to find out why. He saw that in the base of the box was a hole which sorrows had fallen out.

Alarmed, he showed the hole to God, and mused, "I wonder where my sorrows could be?" God smiled gently smile and said, "My child, they're all here with me."

The boy said, “Why the gold and the black with the hole?” God replied, "My child, the gold is for you to count your blessings, and the black is for you to let go."

I join you in counting your blessings and letting go. Happy weekend everybody.

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