Flutter
Personal Success
Speak Plainly
Call a spade a spade.
Soul in Manacles
“If someone else can decide what will happen within you right now, isn’t that the ultimate slavery?”
Sadhguru
“He’s a narcissist and he’s dating that whore.”
This is something she said for over eight years. Eight years. She wore bitterness on her sleeves, she spoke of her ex-husband – their father – like this openly. In her desire to vent and let her ego shine, she cast a dark shadow on her sons.
What she didn’t realize was that she had no control over his actions, but she DID (and still does) have control over her own thoughts and actions. When we get angry about the words and actions of others, we have just placed manacles on our own words and actions. We have become slaves to others, allowing our moods to be swayed by them.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Kiss your ex goodbye, wish him well and move on.
Honoring All Who Served
Thank you, Veterans of all colors and creed,
for today, we honor the actions behind your beliefs
Your love of our country – with her beauty and blemishes –
in contemplation, we hope to mirror your images
No Such Thing as a Free Lunch
I pack my daughters’ lunches on school days. Yes, they’re teenagers and could do it themselves and no, I’m not spoiling them. I do it because it really is a pleasure for me.
Monday, I packed chicken quesadillas. I used Costco shredded cheese. Literally, it says “Mexican Blend Cheese“:
Ava comes home and says, “The Mexican boys at my table saw my lunch and asked me why you use yellow cheese. I told them that I have a Korean mom.”
!
Tuesday, I packed garlicky pasta. Because I’m so nice and thoughtful, I taped a piece of gum on the thermos:
No comment from the peanut gallery teens.
Wednesday, I packed Korean sticky rice and threw in some dried seaweed. Ava says she wants to be more vegetarian, so I thought this was perfect.
She came home and said, “I got so much teasing over my Asian lunch.”
Thursday, I packed more Korean sticky rice and baked tilapia. But when I looked for small tupperware, I had none. I’ve decided to stop using plastic bags (you know, the ocean and all) and so I had to use the zipper pouches I wrote about before:
Yes, I put fish in a bag.
That afternoon, Ava comes home and sighs.
“Could you please pack lunches that won’t get me beat up*?”
*Obviously, she’s not really getting beat nor bullied.
Nature is Pure Joy
“The earth laughs in flowers.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Midterm Meditation
I’ve been on a “news fast “for almost four weeks now. Yesterday was the midterm elections and the itch to check in was inflammatory.
However, I have voted.
I’ve done my part.
That’s all one can do.
Worrying and hoping do no good.
Lily
Can this chameleon use anything else? Constructive criticism welcome! She is a character in my next children’s book and she might seem “bland” but she’s supposed to be.
Good Company
I’m in a room of about 100 teachers from all over Arizona. I feel blessed to be here. We’re all pursuing National Board Certification. Sure, we get a (small) financial award, but the biggest reason that we’ve shown up is that each of us will deepen our teaching practice and bring more to each of our 30 – 180 students each day.
The great majority of teachers are exceptional people.
And then there are these bigots (who ought to lose their jobs):
13% of their student body is Latin-American. Idaho needs to do better for the children.
Today’s Challenge
Can you stop thinking?
Try it.
Say, I will stop thinking now. Then, wait. Wait. Wait.
How long before a thought comes?
Try it again.
This is practice and you’ll get better.
We grow up believing that people who think are smarter.
Of course, one needs to think in order to achieve or produce.
But most of the time, we have 12,000-60,000 thoughts a day and research has shown that over 90% of those thoughts are repeated thoughts from the day before. Completely unnecessary.
This is the gateway to personal power and inner peace.
Kismet 