The Thing About Love

The thing about love is it doesn't often look like we think it should, more often raw and exposed than shiny and adorned
The thing about love is the moment you look the other way it sneaks in through your door and takes a seat
The thing about love is it hits you like dawn hits the hills of a new day and offers a fresh chance
The thing about love is it makes us lift our eyebrow and wonder
The thing about love is the part that the movie montage skips over, the in between times
The thing about love is it's inevitability
The thing about love is the dance of wax and wane between two desires and where they collide
The thing about love is we just never know
The thing about love is we can let go of it but it does not let go of us
The thing about love is it is more than we could have ever imagined, more than words can describe.

The Recipe of Your Life

"We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of the dream" ~Willy Wonka

Last night I had a dialogue with myself about all the things I wanted to be different and why they were not changing. Wait just a minute, don't call me crazy, I will bet you you have this conversation with yourself nearly everyday, it just is not conscious. "Why am I doing this job?", "Is this relationship really serving me?", "Why can't I stick to this diet?", "Why didn't I do this before the deadline?". We dialogue all day with ourselves but I actually wrote out this dialogue... like if I came to me for advice what would I say. Long 5 page story short, it came down to one big fat realization. See what I want, and I think what we all want, is the ability to be exactly who we are, have the freedom to do the things that inspire and move us and share it with others. My problem was I could not figure out how to approach my life, my limitations, my everyday grind with the right amount of vigor. Then I thought of something I love to do.... cooking. The reason I love cooking is that it puts me right in the moment, fully experiencing tastes, smells, textures, consistencies and details. There is no judging what is happening, it just is, I add what is needed and keep going till the meal is done. I put all my energy into it and then am able to share the outcome with those around me... so that they literally fully digest what I have created. 

OK, so what if I were to approach every moment of my life like I was cooking? Because that is really what we are doing right? We create ourselves or our stories in every moment so that people around us can learn from it. If I brought the awareness I have when cooking a meal to every action right from that moment in the morning that my consciousness comes back from the dream state I could possibly change everything. If I was willing to fully experience each moment's details for what it was and add what needed to be added to make it the best meal for the day, I thought everything could change. So that is what I decided to do today, it has been phenomenal. This slight shift can open up a whole new energy in our lives. My advice, think of anything you absolutely love doing, think of how you approach it, how you give and receive, the reasons you love it and apply those principles to absolutely everything you do. Try it out for just one day, notice where you resist and where you fall off track, come back to your approach in the moment and see if you will ever go back. 

In every moment we can decide to be great. We are the great chefs preparing the best meal of our career, we are the musicians creating the concert that moves thousands, we are the great ancient poets whose translated writings will provide insight for thousands of years, we are the innovators and artists whose works will be remembered and revered forever, we are the disciplined sculpted dancers on stage sending goose bumps over the skins of our audience, we are the love makers locking limbs with the great invisible unknown, we are the business people creating peaceful, sustainable global conversations that change the world, we are the saints and saviors changing the equilibrium of our planet through our prayers and intentions, we are the environmentalists reaching out and saving the very thing that gives us life, we are the mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers of all of existence. The trick is to remember how to approach every moment knowing this is so.

Is Opportunity Always Knocking?

What lifts us awake from a deep sleep? How do we know when it's time to awaken, to take action? To move,to act, to decide. When do we seize a moment and when do we walk away? The truth is there is always something waiting for us, the hard part of this truth is sometimes we stand in our own way in receiving it. No matter what our situation, opportunity is always knocking. The question is, will we answer the door or will the knocking be drowned out by chatty complaints or barking unsatisfied longings? I believe that something is always being offered to us, even in the most heart wrenching situations, something is being offered up. The trick is allowing ourselves to be exactly where we are, feel exactly what we are feeling and offer something back up in return. Grief, sadness, guilt, anger, depression, anxieties..... I believe these are gifts in our lives. Without these opportunities we would never know our own strengths, we would never find what truly lies in our hearts.... compassion, grace, tenderness, kindness, forgiveness and love. We must learn to take our opportunities with grace and ease, learn to love our challenges and decide when to wake up from the dream, when what is being offered is no longer what we will settle for, when we have truly outgrown our situations.... even when we want to go back, when we don't understand why things have to move along, when we want to be donned in the clothes that used to fit us, the phone will be ringing. Life will be calling, we must accept what is changing and use the opportunity in front of us to create a new wardrobe, answer the call and step into the light of who we are.

As Fragile as a Chihuahua

Just recently my chihuahua was attacked by a large dog. She
broke a rib and punctured a lung. It was a rather traumatic experience for her. However, she was really great through the whole thing and bounced back within days and now is as good as new. The attack happened on a run that we went on nearly every day. I had stopped bringing her on this run due to her health and to avoid another attack. The other day I decided to bring her. She was ecstatic to say the least. She ran and sniffed and wagged and jumped and got into everything as she normally would. I on the other hand had a hard time trusting. It got me thinking about life in general and how we must choose to live everyday. Day in and day out, we may think we are safe but the truth is we are as fragile as my chihuahua. It is only our minds that keep us safe. The truth is at any second everything can change. We can receive news that absolutely changes everything, someone we are close with can decide to change their lives and in turn change ours, an accident can occur or a miracle can occur. The only thing that truly keep us afloat in the river of life is our faith.... besides that we simply glide along with the current. Without trust and faith we can never relax we are left to our own devices and must swim with all our strength to get where we are going. 

So this left me with the question. How will we live our lives? Do we let ourselves play with abandon despite the consequences that may meet us around the next corner? Should we play it safe so that we may change our fate and avoid complications? Or can we trust ourselves, jump on our raft of faith and enjoy the ride?