Beauty and Gratitude

     My "woman cave" office looks out on our backyard garden, which is now buried in about 7" of pristine snow. The sun is making it sparkle. It is awesomely beautiful.
     I consider things I am grateful for... the eyes to see this beauty and sparkle, the much-needed moisture in our area, the fact that I can stay home and work and be warm, the quiet a blanket of snow provides, the knowing of the vibrant life that is dormant below the whiteness. Is there something in this moment that you are especially grateful for?
     Sparkle on!
            Leta

Yet another huge blessing--airbnb

     I just said good-bye to my ninth set of airbnb guests. What's airbnb?
     It's an international hospitality company with a website (airbnb.com) that enables hosts to list space online for travelers to rent for one or more nights. There are over 350,000 hosts worldwide. It started, literally, with a San Francisco man who rented an air mattress in his home during a convention that had all the city's hotels completely sold out. He did it to pay the rent, and it's blossomed into an awesome organization joyfully connecting people from all over the world.
     When I learned about airbnb last summer, by staying with an airbnb host, I was immediately hooked. We are empty-nesters with two open bedrooms--we'd been sitting on a "gold mine" and didn't know it! I have had guests from as far away as Thailand. I've met and enjoyed many wonderful people. It's a very self-regulating system because after the stay, the host reviews the guest, and vice versa. It's fully based on the belief that people are good.
     What an awesome blessing this has been in my life! For me, it's getting PAID to keep the house clean, with the added bonus of meeting great folks I would not otherwise meet. It's a huge blessing to the world, as all these personal connections are bit-by-bit creating more love, joy, and peace in our world.
     Check into it--it may not be for you, but it may open up a whole new world.
Blessings,
Leta

Happy All The Time?

     Because I am generally in a good mood, someone asked me recently if I'm happy all the time. That question makes me giggle. Hell, no, I'm not happy all the time. If I were, I wouldn't appreciate all the time I am happy. It seems the downer times prove to be a good contrast in life.
     Abraham Lincoln is credited with saying, "Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be." I fully agree with the wise Abe that happiness is my choice, independent of outside circumstances. If I'd allow outer circumstances to gauge my happiness, what a powerless drag that would be.
     Today so far is a rather "shitty mood" day. I also note that during those times when I'm not feeling very cheerful, there are a lot of instances of "should" or "shouldn't" in my self-talk. Hmmm!
     I also know what will support my drawing upon my inner well of happiness. To set aside those things that are annoying me, and let something greater than me handle the details for awhile. Everything works out just fine, this I'm sure of.
     So I'm off to tap into my "happy" reservoir.
     Have a great weekend!
Leta

Oh, well!

     I'm reading the awesome book, Inspired & Unstoppable, by Tama Kieves. (I'll be doing a yoga series and then a book study on this book in Feb/Mar/April.)
     One anecdote Ms. Kieves relates is about a therapist she saw for a while. Ms. Kieves would go into a therapy session ranting, whining, crying over something, and her therapist would just say, "Oh, well." Ms. Kieves considered this an inadequate, insensitive response, until she learned the wisdom of it.
     She could hang onto the distressing situation, make it her story, and put lots of energy into indignation and making others wrong. Or she could say, "oh, well," let it go, and move on to more meaningful things.
     Letting go makes pretty good sense, I'd say.
     "Oh, well."
     Leta

I've figured it out! What enlightenment is for me...

     First some background. I'm a dedicated lap swimmer, and for 16 consecutive years, I have swum over 100 miles each year. Being a "numbers person" and quite anal-retentive, I keep track of my laps in a spreadsheet. In 2013, I decided to be exceptionally rigid with my swim schedule, swim 90 laps a week, and once a month, swim a full mile (36 laps), and see if I could break my previous record. I did it, ending with just over 133 miles.
     Start 2014. I have decided this year to give myself complete freedom in how often and how many laps I swim. My inner roommate (that voice in my head) has gone bonkers. "How can you be sure you'll make 100 miles?" "What if you miss one or more swims a month?" "Are you sure it's a good enough swim if you only do as much as you FEEL like doing?" The inner roommate is quite nervous about my intentions!
     I was discussing this with my husband in a most comical way, which led me to the enlightenment about my enlightenment. That will be when I go swim and don't even count my laps, much less record them in a spreadsheet. I've planted a seed here, but I can tell from my resistance that this seed will take a LONG time to sprout. It's certainly a worthy freedom to aspire to, swimming for the pure pleasure of it, not to reach some mileage goal. I'll just have to keep you posted on my progress. Baby steps...
     Life is good!
           Leta

Big Lesson of 2013

     I had the opportunity to reflect on my life in 2013, and one thing bubbled up as the huge lesson I took to heart this year. That is, releasing is a good thing.
     I comically refer to myself as a "card-carrying control freak." I would prefer to always keep my wonderful life orderly, fully good, with minimal changes to rock my boat. (That sounds boring as I write it!) Alas, life has other ideas and inspirations and surprises for me.
     So this year, I released stuff, relationships, beliefs, and many limitations. And lo and behold, the Universe replaced all those vacancies with even more wonderful life riches for me. I have seven new best friends whom I did not even know at the beginning of 2013. How cool is that?!? That's proof enough for me that life continues to expand its good through us if we don't block the flow by clinging to what needs to go.
     Here's a helpful reminder: hold your breath. At some point, it becomes uncomfortable. Let it go. Relief and fresh air flows. This is our physical reminder that releasing is a good thing.
     Here's to an awesome 2014!
              Leta

Perspective

     Somewhere along the way in my life, I became attached to the saying, "It's never so bad that it couldn't be worse." I think my dad used this to stay positive even if life wasn't so great at the time. I don't use this to minimize my own aggravations, or avoid self-care, but I do use it for perspective.
     We just returned from a wonderful Christmas holiday spent with our sons in Colorado. It was great to be together, but, alas, both my husband and I were ill on Christmas Day and days surrounding it. Well, that sucks. Then Christmas morning, looking at Facebook, I saw that a friend's brother passed away Christmas morning, this person also being a dad and grand-dad. Lots of folks mourning. Makes a virus pretty insignificant.
     We are so drama-oriented in our society. There's plenty of one-upmanship claiming, "my drama is bigger than yours!" Do we really want our (mostly petty) dramas to be our life story? What compels us to make sure others know about our "drama of the day?" Experience and deal with the truly life-changing, big events, like a loved-one's passing. Let the others go.
     Another saying I love is, "This, too, shall pass." If you let it...
Leta