Or fear the blurry shadows as the light begins to dim
When the buzzer says it’s over as the ball bangs off the rim
As the waves consume the lifeboat and some aboard can’t swim
You can choose to start believing that all of life is grim
But i say grab your Goblet and fill it to the brim
For Karma flips eternally and often on a whim
And your slice of glee and happiness is really not that slim
Things Change
take a shot from the hip
All the posing just skip
And your sweetness unzip
So what if you slip
Don’t let fear crack the whip
Take a gulp not a sip
From Your Grail called Life’s Trip
Live Now
At the wheel of fate you wink
As you stand here on the brink
You’ll dare not even blink
Or count how many shots you’ll drink
As the bright sun morphs to pink
And the blue sky turns to ink
Hope conquers as fears shrink
Liquid courage
So right off… I’m sure there’s another entry among these 500+ blog offerings that uses the phrase “go fly a kite”, yet somehow the cosmic tumblers prompted what falls below.
You see we in my neck of the woods (yes we’ve asked the question about what other body parts the woods might have—such as the left pinkie toe) it was a little warmer and provided a glimpse of Spring. It was also a little breezy, so of course it’s kite weather and lo and behold this week includes the international day of the kite. Yes… it’s not just a city, state, or American deal this is worldwide baby.
Well there’s a bunch of extra paper around this house. A lot of us is useless or needs to be trashed—take for instance this bill from DTE energy every time I get something from them I mutter. “You can go fly a kite.” With all this paper I could make hundreds of kites and challenge the world record of flying. Nearly 1200 kites from one string and if the wind came down from Canada in an Arctic burst maybe we could max out the altitude and over 2 and half miles to break that record. Where would all that string come from? Have you read the latest fine print from your credit card company about the low low rate… there all kinds of strings attached and how would you hold these strings together? Look at the process for disputing or altering our health coverage. there’s enough red tape there to attach the Empire Stte Building to the Top of the gateway Arch in St. Louis. Anyway getting serious about kites…
In s history kites have served as a toy and a very important communications device. This makes sense because most of the time in life really important things seem to be up in the air a lot. Seeking. Peace and joy is often like flying a kite. You have to hold on tight to a fragile thing for some moments, run fast and then have the courage to let go. You may have to give your dreams.some room to rise above the ordinary and yet remember to stay grounded just enough to stay connected and to let others see the beauty in your flight. Oh and will you eventually get tangled up in things that end that particular flight? Yes. Almost every time. Will you occasionally get a little off the ground, spin around awkwardly and crunch violently? Count on it. Yet there will be days when you will fly like the wind, see the world from brand new perspectives, and others may point to you and say “look there—all my efforts are worth it.”
It’s probably not quite the perfect time of year to latch to sticks to a string and pray or to construct one of the other wonderful flying shapes possible, however, we are always ready for the next winter storm and people always rush to the store to get milk and bread so the next time the forecast says Sunny and 67 with a moderate breeze, get to the store or your junk drawer and get ready to fly
There was some paper. One could. Buy
Bits of wood on strings we’d tie
Hold and Run then let it fly
Then int rises to the sky
The sun is bright you squint one eye
Then the breeze decides to die
The whole thing crashes you ask why?Breathe Deeply Give it one more try
Live Now
Well we just went out to take a quick run to the store, however, the Jeep battery was dead. Fortunately we have a charger that we plugged in and it seems like it will get us up and running... Now the charger of course has alligator clips and they are a special connector for a specialized charger. That sparked a stream a trickle really of thoughts about the number of chargers we have here. We have two 18 volt drills and they each have a different charger and battery set up. We have an 18 volt weed-` Eater —again differentbattery, different charger.
Now we have all types of gadgets and gizmos that have rechargeable and replaceable batteries and because they all do different things in different devices it is nearly impossible. To know how long or how well they will work. As far as flashlights go... I hope. They work long enough to see the light so to speak.
Well this thinking about batteries got my gray matter popping and then this morning when my phone was on “low battery” I popped on my wireless mostly charge headphones so that I could listen to a podcast that was discussing the ideas of making a point and making a difference. Well it seems a lot of folks today are shining a lot of light (using a lot of batteries) on what is different about people and what is wrong with “them” or what “they” do. I*n short we are getting particularly skilled in using our media in all forms to point out what is our preferred view of things or put more simply we are getting very good about making a point. However, in seeking peace and joy I’m wondering if making a point isn’t an exercise in comparing two states of being or two historical viewpoints and further I’m wondering if we are really stressing these difference to make a point. It’s one approach for sure.
On the other hand is it enough to make a point? DIf we point out that we have black shoes and we need brown does that make the shoes we have any more brown. How much battery power do we ne3ed to use showing everyone. We have black shoes? Maybe we should use some of the battery power. To search for brown shoes or places. That sell brown shoes, or people that can lend us some brown shoes etc. It seems in seeking peace and joy we should use our energy to make a difference instead of being the experts at marking a point.
Let’s look at it this way....
Joe and Jane have to make it through the forest and in the forest there are many paths that lead to the exit, however some of them lead to a river that must be crossed in able to get out. Now joe points to the fastest way. Out of the forest, yet Jane says she thinks the river is that way. Now of course Jane can spend the rest of the walk telling Joe this is the wrong way and that they’re doomed...OR.... Jane can spend time on the path reading about how to build a land bridge using common outdoor supplies. If Jane sulks and moans until they come to the river blocking the way she certainly can make her point. If she. Has spent time learning to builds a bridge...she can make a difference....
Well time to go see if the good old Jeep” fairies are smiling. Upon us...
Peace.
So while opening a new checking account a week or so ago the people at the bank said they were in fact experiencing a change shortage. Now aside from the obvious question—“isn’t money your main product?”—I started imagining why this shortage was real. The best explanations I could come up with were:
seriously... maybe it’s time to move to the question—why does it take so long for change to happen when it does?
Well some folks are just fine with the way things are and. Believe the future will be pretty much the same as long as they don’t push for change. well... a lot of these folks really. Hate 2020.
Uncertainty is often sold as failurr and if there is little risk of failure than. There is little hope for change. So in a world of uncertainty and uncertainty being viewed as something to. Fear... there is little doubt that. A lot of people can’t bring themselves to embrace change due to the notion that people want to feel like they have control outcomes when they experience self-directed. Or coincidental universal shifts. In short, uncertainty is not calling for curiosity it is calling for fear and a lot of people are listening. even when we see alight at the end of the tunnel people are shouting “it’s a train.”
Now here’s the magic...
If you apply a bit of curiosity and make a change you eliminate all the uncertain associated with all the choices that you put aside to act in a particular. Way and as uncertainty dwindles the more opportunities to explore without fear materialize. So when you are uncertain —change—it’s a win-win
So in the realm of the completely obvious—today starts a couple days on the relationship between curiosity, fear, and control...
and one thing I can control is my worcount—so this is it for today
EVERYBODY NEEDS A BRIGHT SPOT NOW AND THENOver to the left sunlight spills through a window and casts a glare. Over every one of the electronic screens in the room. At other times in my life I’d have been somewhere. Between annoyed and angry about this. Development, however, I’ve learned a few things about the sun and the lessons it holds for my journey of seeking peace and joy... here are three of these lessons
Things Change—
the sun that shines on us in terms of relative time has been the same as always for all of recorded history... That is not amazing if you consider that the sun is about. 460 billion years old. It’s really hard to fathom something being that old... although in college I had some cottage cheese in my mini-fridge that may have started out as a cup of milk from the cafeteria and Ikept it there to have with a Dolly Madison snack cake that may have actually been baked by that grand ol’ dame just after the war of 1812.
At. 460 billion years old the sun. Is “middle-aged” as it has about 500 billion years to go. As it burns up it’s hydrogen our sun will look about the same. I wish I was burning hydrogen instead of calories—When the sun uses up all the hydrogen it will start expanding and burn up the helium available for fuel. The sun will. Expand to such a degree. That it will swallow up the earth completely and it will take on a red color. So our sun will go from a yellow dwarf to a red giant and then after a bit it will collapse and become a white dwarf. So the lesson to take from this is...If you think. Certain of your body parts change over time.you’ve got nothing. To worry about in comparison to the sun? Well maybe..however.. perhaps the lesson is Significant change isn’t always. Evident overnight—then again if you can be patient and persistent you might be star struck.
Important things happen under the surface
The sunlight blasting into my office right now takes about 8 minutes traveling at the speed of light of course—to come into my house. That means this light got to the surface. Of the sun and came streaming tow2ard earth. What most folks don’t know is that same sunlight came from the center of the sun and it took several million years to travel from the core. Of the sun to the surface. Lesson: find out what’s inside folks because it could be really powerful stuff and even if you can travel at the speed of light now...don’t forget there are many people who have light to share . light that is still a long way from shining so that the whole world can see it—when seeking peace and joy try not to waste the chance to assist others in. Bringing their light forward.
The Sun is always there...
Our world’s will always turn and there will always be clouds and storms (even hurricane-like ones in Iowa), however the sun doesn’t move away. You can’t be the sun for everyone, and yet, you can be the sun for a few other folks and you can be thankful for those people who have been your sun for extended periods in life. even. When it’s storming you can know that the sun will show up soon, help. The flowers grow, dry up the. Messy puddles, and melt the ice that makes life a little more uncertain than you might like.
So the next time you see the sun while seeking peace and joy think about the realities that things will change—sometimes slowly, understand that there is a lot of strength and power that goes on under the surface in many people and that you can enhance peace and joy by helping them find and show their. Inner light/gifts, and believe in the notion that we not only need a bright spot from time to time, but we can be a bright spot for others too..
So as the song suggests...
this is the dawning ...and it’s time to
Let the Sunshine In
I can’t quite imagine every topic on this earth
Needs the entire world to recognize my humble two cents worth
No pretending play dough pondering need seem like they’re carved in granite.
I needn’t hold opinions ‘bout all folks across the planet
It’s perfectly acceptable to admit “oh no, I haven’t. Seen it.”
You can swear you don’t care especially when you mean it
I am not the Judge my words are just suggestions
So I propose you question answers just as you answer questions
Chorus
You see I am not your judge and I am not your jury
There’s no claiming facts are clear if many still are blurry
If you’ve got no time to listen Oh..what’s your bloody hurry?
When we could all work together or alone mix fear and fury
No No No No No
I am not your judge—-No I am not your jury
Verse 2
There is no harm in smiling as you say I haven’t learned that yet
The things in life that baffle us won’t approach an empty set
You needn’t be a ruler with delusions of defining
Which clouds will only rain and which have a silver lining
Don’t declare your lot is awe full when at least half the time it’s awesome
or be quick to say that thing’s a weed give it a chance to blossom
Chorus
BREATH —A LAZST GASP?
Well...I’m kidding... this WILL NOT BE THE LAST TIME we wander. Down the road of breathing... Unless you wish to stop breathing in which case read fast...
However...maybe take this three-part entry series as a beginning..like we are just in the delivery room and the doctor is holding us by our feet and. Slapping us on the rump to get us howling and sucking in that. Valuable air. Now... I don’t remember my kids getting slapped when they were born and as Rodney Dangerfield might remark... when. My kids were born the doctor slapped their father...
Okay moving back to a little more serious time and place—
Here and Now—-
Much of my current awareness of breathing comes from two sources. Peter Leidy and John Kabat-Zinn.
So assuming you all know who Peter is... I’ll start with JKZ..Now this person wrote tow books that helped me understand about meditation and breathing as a path to the meditation /mindful state. Not only did he write clear and very readable. Books they have great titles..
Full Catastrophe Living—-
Speaking of 2020 for so many people and my personal favorite title with the possible exception of Green Eggs and Ham—
Where ever You Go There You are.
In both these. Books JKZ illustrates how people can use breathing to help people become “mindful—-Now that’s a much-used trendy self-help word although I’d guess we all could find some people we would claim are mind-empty.
Anyway breathing or being aware of this thing called breathing that we do 20,000 times a day, helps us pay attention to what is happening right here and right now. It helps us focus on our current state—-not on what happened ye3sterday—so we become aware of the fact that our concept of yesterday is a present one and not tomorrow yet. JKZ makes it clear that today’s actions do create tomorrow’s possibilities to some extent. The point is that when we pay attention —full attention to now we don’t ‘mindlessly tumble forward or fall where we stand.
Let me put this another way...
Imagine your life is a walk down a hallway. At the end of the hallway there is a door you can see through and on the other side of that door there appears to be something you believe you want or need...a goal. The realization of a purpose so to speak. Now this hallway has doors Indented on either side... you can see that there are. Doors but can’t see into them.
So sometimes the hallway will appear scary and you won’t. Go down it... that’s a topic for another. Blog...however let’s say for today you have decided to move. On ahead—In reality life will move you down the hallway whether you like it or not....again a topic for a different day..
Okay if we stay focused on where the hallway came from we will likely wander down the.path looking. Back and maybe not see the places where the hallway has tacks on the floor rotten boards or even worse....
As we pass. The first door on the right moving down the hall there may be a key that just might unlock the door at the end of the. Hall...but if we are not paying attention we may miss it—-stop and breathe and notice the key or move forward automatically and miss it...I’d say BREATHE
Breathe again as we pass the second door on the left. Stop and really pay attention and you may smell the. Most delicious cinnamon rolls ever and looking in you may see the most beautiful garden and from the garden you hear sounds emerging like birds and what’s that? Some sweet combination of. Vivaldi, Mozart, and Blue Grass violin (although the bluegrass will come from a fiddle. Suddenly you realize that. This door has. Much more to offer than the one at the end of hall and you noticed it because you were paying real attention to the here and now which is rally all we have full access to.. You see the rest is only what our mind is imagining what was and what will be..... You see in that. First door there was a key....
Well Breathing is the Key to countless doors a if you let it be—I didn’t forget there’s a Beatles” Day coming before the end of September.
Okay... contact me directly if you want to hear more about JKN and his books.
Okay Peter Leidy
Keeping this to the point...he was the first “regular” Joe I knew who said “I’ve been getting into this “mindfulness” stuff. Notice I used the word. Regular instead of normal—Normal is a loaded word and Peter might be offended if I used it in describing him in the here and. Now.
anyway...we all benefit. From knowing people in our network who highlight their. Curiosity right out loud. I’m fortunate to know quite a few folks who have that kind of courage....
Time to Exhale...
I’ve spent about two hours trying to figure out how to finish up this thing on breathing and then it sort of hit me like a ton of featherrs—which weighs just as much as a ton of bricks by the way—
So...since breathing doesn’t stop —well until it’s over and it’s not over till it’s over...I’ll just say we’re going to take a step down our hallway of topics for now.... Instead of closing the topic it may be interesting to toss some info. About meditation (breathing with a purpose of paying attention)..
Now here’s a cautionary note...if you are reading this info to see how much you will be accepted or how much you are like others if you meditate stop reading HERE AND NOW
Otherwise here are some interesting facts...
As of about three years ago it was estimated. That 14% of all Americans claimed to have tried meditation. The. Number of children who currently meditate is nearing 5%. The. Number of adults has tripled in the past two decade as and the number of children has increased nearly tenfold . So maybe kids are not completely losing the capacity to pay attention in this attention economy—
Speaking of paying attention... I have asked for enough of your attention for one post...So thank you...close your eyes ...breathe. In hold think a positive thought. Breathe out—-
BREATHING, FEELING, AND THINKING—NOT NECESSARILY IN THAT ORDER
In honor of the fact that each breath is thought to have two basic parts—the inhale and the exhale there were going to be two parts to this “breather” portion of the show. Then many sources included a third part to the breath—the “hold” part. So..now in honor of my changed perception there will be three parts and this is the second of those. since most of us can’t hold our breath all that long I’ll try to make this middle portion a bit short, however, if it leaves you gasping for air...well..sometimes it happens.
So what’s the big deal about breathing?
Here’s some perspective...
We make (these days ) probably a dozen or two career/job changes in a lifetime. We enter into about that many romantic relationships some of which result in marriages or long-term partnerships. Some of these. Are “till death us do part” although it is somewhat worth mentioning. That when this concept was introduced the average human being lived to the ripe old age of about 24 years old. Now before I get nasty comments...I have nothing against marriage at all I’m just offering some context. Some other things that happen repeatedly...
Well we eat on an average 3 to 5 meals a day... We go to the bathroom lots of times..I’ll have a post about that in September..... Although suffice it to say after about age 50 it seems like the “view from the throne” is far more frequent.
If you add all those numbers up... the number of things we do in a day... wow!!!
Yet, you can go a couple days without water and a couple weeks without food however. Drumroll....
Breathing and Thinking/feeling are mountains compared to the molehills of other things we do.
Breathing
We use our tennis-court sized lungs to bring in somewhere around 23,000 breathes a day. In an 80 year lifetime we are talking over 672 million times. So... maybe, just maybe, we should give this breathing thing a little attention right?
given this number of breaths we are taking maybe exploring clean fuels and things like. Wind and solar energy aren’t such a bad notion. Maybe electric and self-driving efficient transportation could be a plus? Okay commercial over...
However, as long as you are going to be breathing anyway why not make it something gun and interesting? In yesterday’s post there was a brief breathing technique—and there are almost countless others like. It available in books and online. After all, I didn’t invent breathing and neither did your yoga instructor or Buddha.
Now let’s set that aside for a second and add a little something called
Thinking
Science has had a difficult time. Nailing down just how many thoughts we have in a day. Most folks agree that it’s somewhere between 12 and 60 thousand thoughts a day. Well tha’t like saying the weather is going to be partly cloudy. If you see a cloud any time in the day then it was partly cloudy right? Okay back to thinking....
Not only do we think a lot —-but not too much I have argued—most folks have more negative thoughts than positive ones. In fact the Cleavland Clinic estimates that 80% of our thoughts might be negative. Oh and for extra measure science has started to show us that. 95% of these negative thoughts are repeated .
So how are we supposed to feel good if the stories we are telling ourselves Over and over are not the night. Before Christmas” they are the Nightmare” before Christmas on Elm Street?
So in seeking peace and joy and being armed with these notions... I suggest that we become a bit more aware of breathing and thinking as a combo.
Breath in..imagining a healing or joyful thought...Hold. In the breath and the. “Happy thought” for a few seconds —WARNING IF YOU ARE PETER PAN YOU MAY TAKE OFF FLYING— and the breath out a negative. Thought... No really actually imagine the3 last negative thought you have and let it exit your body with the breath you have held for a second or two.
does this sound a lot like yesterday? We’re you breathing yesterday?—and are you still breathing today? ,sorry about the sarcasm).
In seeking peace and joy (for me) it is usually a productive activity to breath in positive thoughts. If I do. This with awareness about 10 minutes a day life seems a bit more cerntered—
It’s an experiment I’m sharing and saying I’m just wondering how it might work for you?
Short of Breath?
Well I promised I would try to keep this. A bit short—sohere’s the wrap...
We breath and think a lot... We hold the breath in us for a bit.... this provides an opportunity to explore changing some negative thoughts to positive or creative ones.
If I’m still breathing tomorrow or Saturday...then there will be one last gasp at this subject matter for now...
Until then. Know that there’s something in the air go ahead and instigate...
