Urgency

"When feeling urgent, you must slow down." Mark Nepo

     I love this very succinct way of stating a practice I remind myself of frequently. I know from my life experience that if I am pushing, or forcing, or rushing, some part of me is out of balance, and if I continue on that path, the results are generally not satisfying, and I get worn out from unnecessary expenditure of energy.
    Some examples... if I'm in hurry to get somewhere driving, I hit every light red, get frustrated, and may not be paying attention to what I'm doing. If I tell myself I am NOT in a hurry and calm down, I arrive at my destination in fine time and fine emotional shape.
    I also tend to be a person who feels, in the moment, that things aren't happening fast enough in my life. That would be impatience. But in hindsight, everything always works out perfectly. Slow down, Leta.
    Folks tell me sometimes that yoga is too slow for them. My response is, "If yoga is too slow for you, you need to slow down." See Nepo quote above.
    Faith is an integral part of the slowing down process. There's something to slow down and ponder!
            Relaxed and peaceful,
                      Leta

Whining, or not

     I recently returned from an awesome trip to the Bahamas. What a magnificent spot on our glorious Planet Earth!

     I went from sunshine and temps in the 70s to cold and snow back in Kansas. I awoke to an inch of snow, and began mentally whining about it, even though I knew it would be gone in a matter of hours. Sure wish I could have stayed in the islands!

     Then I opened my daily meditation book by Mark Nepo, and this was the day's reading (in part):

"If peace comes from seeing the whole, then misery stems from a loss of perspective... We begin so aware and grateful. The sun somehow hangs there in the sky. The little bird sings. The miracle of life just happens. Then we stub our toe, and in that moment of pain, the whole world is reduced to our poor little toe. Now, for a day or two, it is difficult to walk. With every step, we are reminded of our poor little toe.  

"Our vigilance becomes: Which defines our day--the pinch we feel in walking on a bruised toe, or the miracle still happening? ... It is the giving over to smallness that opens us to misery. ... When we narrow our focus, the problem seems everything. ... So, when feeling miserable, we must look wider than what hurts."

      Quite the wisdom there. So I stopped whining and went to the YMCA and climbed into warm water and had a great swim. Life is good. Perspective broadened!
      Gratefully,
           Leta

Word fun

Mark Nepo: "There is no greater act than putting yourself before another."
What is your reaction to that statement? "Selfish" may be the most common term to come to mind.
Now here's the whole quote:

"There is no greater act than putting yourself before another. Not before another as in coming first, but rather as in opening yourself before another, exposing your essence before another. Only in being this authentic can real kinship be known and real kindness released."

This way of living that Nepo suggests is the essence of my vision for my life: Whole heart connection. It's a practice.
If you don't put yourself fully before others on a regular basis, why not? It's a question worth pondering.
        Leta

What's Wrong? What's Right?

     I just finished watching the movie, I AM, by Tom Shadyak. It's definitely worth the time, about 75 minutes. He starts out with the question, "What's wrong with the world?" He ends up with the question, "What's right with the world?"
     This is an invitation to pay attention to your own thoughts and feelings. Note how you feel when you say or think, "what's wrong with ...?" For instance, "what's wrong with me?" Is there anything about that self-judgmental statement that feels good?
     Now let's practice, "what's right with ...?" Your thinking or your conversation moves in a whole different direction. It feels uplifting. It feels hopeful. It feels encouraging.
     Imagine if each of us started viewing our lives and our immediate surroundings and those we come in contact with from the standpoint of "what's right with ... ?" Every single moment and interaction is more enjoyable. Life becomes a simple state of contentment rather than a problem to be fixed.
     What's right with the world? I am, and you are!
                Leta

Spring please...

     I'm excited for spring to get here. (I will confess, sure, nature is wonderful, but I LOVE March Madness and Opening Day of baseball season even more!)
     So I've read ahead a bit in my daily reader, The Book of Awakening, by Mark Nepo. Here is his writing for April 5:

All the buried seeds
crack open in the dark
the instant they surrender
to a process they can't see.
What a powerful lesson is the beginning of spring. All around us, everything small and buried surrenders to a process that none of the buried parts can see. And this innate surrender allows everything edible and fragrant to break ground into a life of light that we call spring.
In nature, we are quietly given countless models of how to give ourselves over to what appears dark and hopeless, but which ultimately is an awakening that is beyond all imagining. This moving through the dark into blossom is the threshold to God.
As a seed buried in the earth cannot imagine itself as an orchid or hyacinth, neither can a heart packed with hurt imagine itself loved or at peace. The courage of the seed is that once cracking, it cracks all the way. 

Love and blessings,
Leta

OneLessStranger

     I am a airbnb host, one of my business ventures that I truly love. (airbnb.com) The company recently sent a total of $1 million out to hosts (I received $10) to go out and make "one less stranger." That's one of the things I love about the company--it's all about connection, all over the world, making peace one interaction at a time.
     Here's the story of my OneLessStranger adventure this past Sunday morning:

I've just returned from a lovely morning adventure to Starbucks.
Dan was my first new contact, as he was the employee I gave the money to for treating customers. Also working there is a neighbor, Tyler, fun to see him. Despite the early hour (7:15), the folks there were in a great mood. Fun environment. I sat there for a couple hours and read E-Squared, working on my upcoming class.
Thanks to the two folks who left their money at my house Thursday night, I had $65 to play with. I left $10 in tips, and the rest went to customers.
I met Locke, a young man with whom I had a great chat. And yes, I approached him, not the other way around. I am delighted to say that I have, via an informal survey I am undertaking, found another person besides me who likes surprises. When I asked Locke if such is the case for him, his face lit up and he said "yes" without hesitation. More fun!

Kindness rocks.

Smile. It's a great OneLessStranger starter.
          Leta

Surprise?

     Am I the only person on the planet who likes surprises? I'm beginning to think so. I had a powerful lesson just this past week that most people do NOT like surprises.
     As a former card-carrying contol freak, I understand that there are personalities that don't care for surprises. Why is that? Lack of control? Expecting bad things to happen? Unwillingness to believe good could happen? Plain old fear? Embarrassment? I want to expand my understanding.
     I love surprises. Trust me, I've had some less-than-wonderful surprises in my life. I guess it comes down to Einstein's very important question: Do you believe the world is a friendly place, or not? I definitely believe it is, and I believe people are inherently good, and life supports us in every way.
     How about you? Do you like surprises? I plan to do more informal research on this topic, so there's more to come...
     Life is good!
               Leta