No truer words...

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. -Rumi


Today I will carry this in my heart as a reminder that happiness is an inside job.

Surrender, Dorothy!

Believe more deeply. Hold your face up to the light, even though for the moment you do not see.
--Bill Wilson


Sometimes in life the greatest power comes from acceptance and surrender. Often, both are very difficult for me because I am a fighter. I need to be reminded that the Universe is always conspiring in my best interest, even if I can't see it at the moment.

Sad news, a joyful life.

Bill Petry died the day before yesterday. Bill is our dear friend, Hisham's, dad. I met Bill on several occasions over the years and he is a really warm and sweet man. He and his son have a wonderful rlationship. They did several biking trips togther and always appeared to really enjoy each other. Theirs is a deep and abiding love based on acceptance and respect. Bill is a teacher, in both life and profession and I am profoundly grateful that I got the opportunity to know him. He made Karl and I feel like family and in turn, I hope we did the same for him. He will be missed, but truly lived a life worth celebrating. His passing reminds me of a saying I heard in my Al Anon program:

In the end what matters most is
How well did you live,
How well did you love,
How well did you learn to let go.

here is a story about Bill:
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20090827/NEWS01/908270346/1221/LANSING

Generosity

Even after all this time the Sun never says to the Earth, "You owe Me"

Look what happens with a love like that,

It Lights The Whole Sky

Hafiz
- Sufi Master, 14th Century

Thanks to my friend!

My friend B sends me a daily thought, which always helps to start the day off great!

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

The body repeats the landscape. They are the source of each other and create each other.
--Meridel Le Sueur

The beautiful correspondences that structure the world - from the five pointed star in the core of the apple to the snail shell spiral of our inner ear - can be a source of great comfort to us. When we feel most alone, most abandoned and out of sorts, the simple forms of beauty can remind our eyes of the world's unity and our place within it.

Our path through the world is a part of it. We add our individual voices to the chord that is language, that is history. No matter how desperate we may feel, or how hopeless our lives may seem at times, the fact remains that loss and sorrow are a part of life, and the law of life is change. Unless we choose to cling to sorrow, it will flow through us. The next wave of feeling may bring us joy.

The hexagonal cells of the honeycomb recall the shapes of insects' eyes, snowflakes, geodesic domes. We fit into this grand design. We're here for a reason - for many reasons. Let us treat ourselves as gently as we try to treat the other parts of the delicate web of life.

I stand in a reciprocal relationship with the world, part of it as it is part of me.

You are reading from the book:

The Promise of a New Day by Karen Casey and Martha Vanceburg

The Promise of a New Day by Karen Casey & Martha Vanceburg. Copyright 1983, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission of Hazelden.

An oldie but a goodie......

-- written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s --

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
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.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Superheroes do exist!

Check out this picture of Liam and his friend Andy. They are so cut together. They always hug one another and walk hand-in-hand when we go places together. They are, in a word, precious.

The Little Duck

Heard this while watching the documentary "How to Cook Your Life". It made me cry, it was so beautiful. BTW, AWESOME movie!

The Little Duck

Now we are ready to look at something pretty special.

It is a duck riding the ocean a hundred feet beyond the surf,

And he cuddles in the swells.

There is a big heaving in the Atlantic.

And he is part of it.

He can rest while the Atlantic heaves, because he rests in the Atlantic.

Probably he doesn’t know how large the ocean is.

And neither do you.

But he realizes it.

And what does he do, I ask you.

He sits down in it.

He reposes in the immediate as if it were infinity – which it is.

That is religion, and the duck has it.

I like the little duck.

He doesn’t know much.

But he has religion.

Donald Babcock, The Lyfe Poems of Donald Babcock