Just start - December 8th 2022

 "You have exactly one life in which to do everything you'll ever do. Act accordingly."

Colin Wright

Thoughts today: 

the closer I get to 65 the more frequently I think about the temporality of me in this life. Lying awake last night I had a fleeting visit from an older me, wondering why I was wasting so much time. Minutes will never come back, each breath is the only one, the next will be another one. Looking for something to distract my thoughts I scrolled through Youtube lists of sleepy time music, Tibetan bells, meditations, until, randomly, a Ted Talk by Mel Robbins: "How to stop screwing yourself" drew me in.

Chief message takeaway:

"Start before you’re ready. Don’t prepare, begin!"

Mel Robbins

Cheers

Jeanne

Fleas - December 15th 2022

 "Exploring the unknown requires tolerating uncertainty." Professor Brian Greene, Physicist

“Sometimes attaining the deepest familiarity with a question is our best substitute for actually having the answer.”
Brian Greene, The Elegant Universe

“The overarching lesson that has emerged from scientific inquiry over the last century is that human experience is often a misleading guide to the true nature of reality.”
Brian Greene, The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality

The storm today must have addled my brains. Is it Thursday?

Beyond the ice covered trees and the wind and the rain is a universe full of questions. Is there anything else that matters in time? Tonight it is easy to believe that our petty squabbles and greed are as puny as a flea bite on an elephant.

Cheers

Jeanne

Where to start - December 29th 2022

"Every habit and faculty is formed or strengthened by the corresponding act – walking makes you walk better, running makes you a better runner. If you want to be literate, read, if you want to be a painter, paint…So if you like doing something, do it regularly; if you don’t like doing something, make a habit of doing something different."

Epictetus

"Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start."
Nido Qubein

I wish you all the Best for 2023!

Cheers

Jeanne

Spiritual Exercises - Dec 22nd 2022

 "The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises."

Leo Buscaglia

May your Christmas and the New Year overflow with Spiritual Exercises!

Cheers

Jeanne

Messy - January 5th 2023

 "Don't use all-or-nothing thinking. Take each day as its own day, and don't worry about it if you mess up one day. The most important thing you can do is just get back up on the horse."

Henry Cloud

Thoughts:

I didn't expect to be sending a message about messing up this early in the new year. I'm trying to let go of my desire to do everything right and focus on getting back up and remembering what I did so as to not make the same mess again. What I know is the messes happen when I don't know what I'm doing and it seems to be the way I learn to do things so I guess the good part is I'm doing things. Happy learning 2023 

Cheers Jeanne

“You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.” 

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata

Radiate - December 1st 2022

"You walk into the world you make
You lose yourself but you find your way"

Jack Johnson from the song Radiate

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in service of others.”
Mahatma Gandhi

“The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems.”  Mahatma Gandhi

Radiate 

You walk into the world you make

You lose yourself but you find your way
I'm gonna watch you
Radiate

We turn so slow I know it's hard to wait
Take your time, sun is yours to take
I'm gonna watch you
Radiate

These rocks they hold heat
Pools of water cool your feet
As you walk you believe
Every part of the dream

I see you lost in what you create
All of time in this one single day
You take it in and you
Radiate

Follow your hands as they build
As they shape, as they follow your mind
And rose like a wave
Take it and you radiate
Radiate, gonna watch you radiate, radiate

These rocks they hold heat
Pools of water cool your feet
As you walk you believe
Every part of the dream

Lyrics by Jack Johnson

Willow Being

“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

Spoken by Dumbledore from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Author JKRowling

“The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed.”

Dumbledore

“Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

My thoughts:

Everything always circles back to our choices. Is today a day like every other day and is every other day the same as today? Of what use is it to wish things were different?? Of what use is it to feel futile??

"Be the Change you want to see in this World"

Matahtma Ghandi

Cheers

Jeanne

Deep Listening - November 3 2022

 “It is only through dialogue, deep listening, and passionate disagreement that we find our way to something larger than a singular and isolated point of view.”

Henry Kimsey-House, Co-Active Leadership: Five Ways to Lead

“deep listening, shared commitment, and empowered learning are critical.”

Henry Kimsey-House, Co-Active Coaching: The proven framework for transformative conversations at work and in life

My thoughts:

I believe you Henry; I KNOW these have to happen to begin to make effective change. But it seems so hard to keep dialogue and listening active.... passionate disagreement, well that's easy

Trees listen deeply, when I get lost, I can look to the trees

Cheers

Jeanne

Water by Margaret Atwood November 10th 2022

 “Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away a stone. Remember that, my child. Remember you are half water. If you can't go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does.”

Margaret Atwood, The Penelopiad

Not much I can add to Margaret Atwood!

Cheers

Jeanne

I am Old now

 

Zeno Quotes 1 November 17th 2022

 “Well-being is attained little by little, and nevertheless is no little thing itself.”

“Man conquers the world by conquering himself.”

“Nothing is more hostile to a firm grasp on knowledge than self-deception.”
Zeno of Citium

Thoughts from today's quotes:

It is important to define and continually refine specifically what "well-being" means to me before I can attain it, because if it is one thing one day and another thing the next, I will never get there lol. 

It is important to keep bringing myself back to who I want to be to enable myself to conquer myself, and if I can't do it, I'm going to be continually buffeted by what happens to me from the world outside me.

And if I continually fool myself that tomorrow everything will work out without me doing the work on myself today 

then I am a fool.

Cheers

Jeanne

Zeno of Citium is known to be an ancient Hellenistic philosopher from Phoenicia who was the founder of the Stoic school of philosophy around the early third century, BCE. This philosophy was designed to shape the human spirit so that it becomes resilient, happy, virtuous, and wise, as a consequence of which they evolve into better individuals possessing great strength of mind and soul. Stoicism and its principles equip human beings to wade through the otherwise ugly and most challenging river of life with a composed mind and a calm heart. It is believed that Zeno’s teachings had a major influence in paving the way for the evolution of Christianity.

Blithering Idiot - Oct 20th 2022

 "In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you." 

Buddha

"If it is important to you you will find a way. If not, you'll find an excuse."

Anonymous

My thoughts today: I am struggling with a responsibility I  voluntarily undertook that is turning me into someone I do not want to be. 

(Recently I watched a scene between Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau and Commissioner Dreyfuss on Youtube and thought GAK!!  - I'm turning into Commissioner Dreyfuss 

Alternatively I find myself singing Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire

I fell into a burning ring of fire
I went down, down, down
And the flames went higher
And it burns, burns, burns
The ring of fire, the ring of fire

You might say I am allowing myself to get sucked into some weird vortex of darkness

None of this sounds like living gently... Sometimes Buddha just got it wrong (I think) 

And I don't seem to be letting go gracefully cause I'm still in this...

And somehow I haven't found an excuse that will allow me to wake up in the morning without feeling I've not given it my best try... I know I know, we learn from failure and it is important to know when to fold the cards...

Sadly I am not there yet.

So off I go on this journey, limping, burning, confused, and tired..

Time to stop doing the same things over and over and expecting different results!! (quotes of the past 15 years mingle in my mind)

I have made a couple asks for help in different directions recently and now I have to trust that people are creative, resourceful and whole enough to say no if they are overwhelmed too because I realize my excuse for not asking is that I worry about things beyond my control and also because I didn't have the questions before.

Need to be specific on direction before the questions are specific enough for people to do anything other than be confused about what i'm asking...

Paradox city is where I reside 

There you go folks... today's rant

Cheers

Jeanne

When will we ever learn - March 10th 2022

 “You may conquer an army with superior tactics and men, but you can conquer a nation only by conquering the hearts of the people.”

Jack Weatherford, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

When will we ever learn?

“How differently would we see our time on Earth if we wrote the date as January 26, 4.543 billion?”
Ziya Tong, The Reality Bubble: Blind Spots, Hidden Truths and the Dangerous Illusions that Shape Our World

Cheers

Jeanne

Trails - March 17th 2022

 “May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.”

Edward Abbey

Edward Abbey | Americans Who Tell The Truth

Cheers

Jeanne

Humility rocks! March 24th 2022

 “True will is quiet humility, resilience, and flexibility; the other kind of will is weakness disguised by bluster and ambition. See which lasts longer under the hardest of obstacles.”

Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Adversity to Advantage

My thoughts:

Everywhere I look around I see examples of the best and the worst of what people choose to be. The best give us a reason to believe in humanity and inspire us to become better. Those are real leaders.

Cheers

Jeanne

Choose Hope - March 31st 2022

 “Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.”  Christopher Reeve

“In spite of the knowledge that there were many ways in which I could fail, I had taken the first step.”
Paulo Coelho, The Pilgrimage

Cheers

Jeanne

Prepare for Adversity - April 7th 2022

 “It’s your reaction to adversity, not adversity itself that determines how your life’s story will develop.”

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

My thoughts; There are many life stories being determined right now under extreme circumstances. We, who are not faced with extremes at this time, have the opportunity to think about how we would like our life story to be, who we want to be and how we would want to react if faced with war and very tough choices. I think about living with integrity and how could I live with myself if I sacrificed that integrity, no matter what alternative was threatened? I hope thinking about this now might help me better know who I am and make future decisions based on that knowledge when faced with a desperate situation.

Cheers

Jeanne

You deserve your love - April 14th 2022

 “Be kind to your body, gentle with your mind and patient with your heart. Stay true to your spirit, cherish your soul and never doubt yourself. You are still becoming, my love, and there is no one more deserving of the nurturing grace of your love.”

Becca Lee

Cheers

Jeanne

Ghost on a lost Highway / Let it be - April 21st 2022

"All we have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given to us"

J.R.R.Tolkien

My thoughts: 

We all lose our path sometimes. Our moral and spiritual compass are guideposts  that can steer us in to discover what it is we want to do with our finite time on earth. There are songs for this. I find it comforting to listen to them and know I'm not the only one. 

These are two of the songs:

Let It Be

The Beatles

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

And when the broken-hearted people
Living in the world agree
There will be an answer, let it be

For though they may be parted
There is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be

Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Yeah, there will be an answer, let it be

Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

Let it be, let it be
Ah, let it be, yeah, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

And when the night is cloudy
There is still a light that shines on me
Shine on until tomorrow, let it be

I wake up to the sound of music
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

Let it be, let it be
Let it be, yeah, let it be
Oh, there will be an answer, let it be

Let it be, let it be
Let it be, yeah, let it be
There will be an answer, let it be

Let it be, let it be
Ah, let it be, yeah, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

Songwriters: Lennon John Winston, Mccartney Paul James

For non-commercial use only. 

"It will not break you. Dust yourself off, take a step forward, don't let them see you despair. You are more than a ghost on a lost highway. You are the morning, the river, every breath of fresh air."

Courtney Peppernell

Cheers

Jeanne

Define you to help them - April 28th 2022

 "No one, no relationship, no role, no thing, NOTHING, outside of you defines you. You have to define yourself and then everyone around you reaps the benefit of that"

Julie Horton

Cheers

Jeanne