More Than Just Yoga

Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday mornings I try to devote yoga.   I really look forward to it and after a little over 6 months, my body actually craves it.  The days I can't make it to class I practice at home but it is not the same for me.  I need the intermingling of other energy with my own.  I need the personalized instruction and insight. You cannot get that from a DVD.   So for me it's more than just stretching, it's a spiritual practice.  This is my time to check-in with myself.  It is my time to erase the board and start over.  I am able to focus on who I am instead of my disjointed and irrational perception of me. I feel more grounded, more sure of myself.  The instructors have an uncanny way of knowing what each of the students need during class; the poses we require, the words our heart needs to take in.  When I leave class I feel as if I've been rebooted.  Not only does my physical body feel better by working hard but my intellectual self feels more rested and powerful. I walk out of there with the "I can handle anything!" attitude.  It is important to feel unshakable.  Then when bad stuff starts happening it is not so bad.  If you believe in your own power you can handle anything :)
Namaste

Faith

Double Rainbow

It is amazing what faith can do, even a little of it.  Having faith in something motivates you.  Without faith motivation is lost.  Without faith you can feel stuck and possibly hopeless.  Without faith you are not in charge of your life.  You leave your life to chance.  You leave your life.





Faith comes and goes, sometimes a bit erratically.

Hoping that next wave won't be the last!

Ye have much faith!

                            This picture proves that sometimes you can have too much faith in someone.  My daughter wanted to believe her brother when he said," I promise I won't get you wet!"   My son wanted to get the upper hand on his sister for being so gullible, which in his mind means putting up with a lot.  Faith in something or someone is used as a life rope to many.  

                               Too much faith in people who show you that you shouldn't trust them can lead to wounded pride and possible devastation with the thought you can't trust anyone again.  


               Along with faith in others there needs to be true faith that you are meant to be where you are for a reason. Things are always changing.  Situations are always changing.  Faith gets us through those tough scary times.  


A possible reason we go through the bad, good and ugly is to experience relationships and how those chance meetings can change our lives.  The ripple effect is you do not realize how that one encounter could affect someone else.  Someone else's life.  It does not stop there.  What transpires is incalculable.  


       Completely unknown is when it will happen. Look at it as a lesson.  My son's lesson was not to take advantage of his sister's love for him. As he tells me, "Karma baby always wins out." My daughter learned not to be so trusting but only after several years of what is pictured above.  


If in the past someone has taken advantage of that trust don't forget what you learned.   Use that knowledge, especially if it is your sometimes obnoxious teenage brother. It's best to try these things out on family first.  


            In any given situation try not to judge the person because we do not know the circumstances.  We usually assume the driver who cut us off is just an incredible jerk.  Maybe, just maybe he just learned he lost his job, his wife, his child. There is usually more to the story.  So much energy is wasted on trying to figure someone out.  It is impossible.   Too many variables to do that.  


We need to work on ourselves.  We cannot change or fix anyone else.  No matter where we are in life or where we go we need to focus on change within. Having faith that we are where we are meant to be for this moment. So "Have A Little Faith."

It's Expired!!!

Okay, I know that sometimes I am totally guilty of not throwing things out when I should, food that is. Actually I don't throw out the other stuff  but donate it. Anyway,  I do sometimes forget to go through the pantry and the fridge to make certain things haven't passed their prime. Occasionally there is the furry fruit or  green cheese.  One thing is for certain, I will check a prepackaged item's expiration date,  that's just one aspect of my quirkiness.


I've always been the one to check the expiration dates on items I, or my kids, may potentially eat.  I'm not going to eat something that has gone too far beyond that date in bold.  My thoughts are they, the manufacturers, put a date on the product for a reason.  Sometimes it's because it would simply taste a little better before that date and other times the date means don't consume it for other reasons.  I don't know, maybe it could turn rancid or turn into other things.


   My husband, on the other hand, was apparently born in the 30's.  He swears that date is stamped on the product to speed up your purchases.  It's a conspiracy.   The date to him means nothing regarding whether a product is good or bad. 


 What originally set me on my path to "eating more cautiously," as I like to call it,  began many years ago.  My parents had the same attitude my husband does.  Growing up, I use to think it was completely disgusting to find a food item that had expired the previous year.  Since then the years have started piling up and so have the expired products.  


Just recently my retired parents went away on a much longed for trip.  They would be gone an extended amount of time.  I don't live nearby but my brother does.  He happens to feel the same way I do about expiration dates.  Over the holidays, when I'm back in town, we make a game out of finding the oldest prepackaged food.  We usually hit pay dirt at least twice during the week. 


Today he  stopped by mom and dad's place to check on a few things while they were gone.  They needed him to make doubly sure that nothing was left in the fridge, or other places, that could go bad or had already turned that corner. Amazing isn't it? While he was helping out he thought he'd play a solo game of "It's Expired!" He began poking around and  not too long after that I received a text with pictures.  Following is what he came up with 

Pesto from 2006

BUT the winner is-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Peppermint Extract from...... drum roll please.......
1966 !!!

I almost peed my pants from laughing so hard.  My parents would have just said,"Oh Pam," as in "Good grief. What is the big deal?" Really,  I guess it's not a big deal as long as I don't have to eat it:)

In My Own Backyard

The other day I started questioning my thoughts regarding starving children in my own backyard vs. children living in other countries who do not have enough to eat.  I hear what you are saying, starving is starving.  I did agree with this but, I am also embarrassed to say,  I was of the opinion that we need to take care of "our own" first.  How many times have you heard someone say that? Since that time I have come to realize that the children I speak of should not be segregated.  Also,  who exactly are the children that belong to us?  The use of "our own" children is also a bit selfish and egocentric. I still believe we need to help those who live nearby but now I readily accept the perspective that the children living in other countries need our help too and probably more so.

 I live in Cherokee County, Georgia.   We have thousands of children that go without food and this is especially true in the summertime.  During the school year, the school system provides free or reduced lunches to kids who meet a certain criteria, poverty.  When school is not in session,  these same kids may only get one or two meals a day.  Some days it might not be anything.  It is overwhelming to think of all of the children in this area alone that go hungry for whatever reason. Most of the reasons are endlessly sad.  Fortunately,  where I live,  there are things that we, who are more fortunate, can do to help those who are not as fortunate.  We can donate resources and time to organizations like MUST Ministries. MUST provides food and clothing to individuals in need.  They also assist in areas of adult education and employment.  In addition to that, MUST feeds thousands of kids in Cherokee County and nearby Cobb County every summer through their summer lunch program.  (www.mustministries.org)

It takes a great deal of volunteers to pull this off as well as an immense amount of donated food and money.  It is a wonderful program that I do not think a lot of people know about. I do know about this program because I have been one of the many volunteers who have gone to the trailer parks in the summer delivering lunches to kids.  It is a life-changing experience. The children flocked to my van, so eager to get something to eat. They waited for these lunches with the same anticipation my own children have had before they unwrap their birthday gifts.  After I delivered the food and chatted with some of the kids and their parents, I sat in my van and wept for a long time.  My heart ached for those kids and because of my experience I was drawn to helping people, children especially,  on a local level.  What  about the starving children who are not in my backyard, my state, or my country? What resources do the kids in Africa or India have?  They have programs like Feed The Children, but it is not a local organization.  ( www.feedthechildren.org) Those children need our help too.

 Children in need depend on us to help them. Children did not ask to be brought into the world therefore it is our responsibility to help them however we can,  no matter if they are in our own backyard or not.
Peace,
Pamela

True Love Starts Here

Finally I understand the need for taking care of myself. It was always good advice to give someone else. You know that person in your life that beats themselves up and you offer up the usual, "Don't be so hard on yourself. In order to love others you must first love yourself." How many of us have actually realized this in our own life. It is hard to sit down and really think about how you treat yourself. Most of the people I know are more concerned about others. I did not really understand what it meant to "love yourself." "Sure I love myself. God made me and I love God so I automatically love myself." That is the easy part. To really understand I dug a little deeper. Loving yourself actually encompasses a lot more than that. Forgiveness is also a part of the equation and it is this part that is the most difficult to digest. We have to not only be able to forgive others but more importantly recognize when we need to forgive ourselves. Sometimes it's hard not to hold a grudge against ourselves. "If I wasn't so ______ then _________ would not have happened." This bottomless pit is an easy place for me to go to. It was comfortable and I knew what would transpire after I went there. It's hard to climb out of that hole once you are there. Little by little if you try to replace the negative talk with something positive you can turn things around. Yoga helped me do exactly that. The instructors at the studio I go to create a place so that I feel comfortable enough to forgive myself and love myself. They remind me to erase the harmful chatter and fill up that space with light, and warmth and love. I can now love others on an even deeper level because I first love me.

Trusting Your Instincts

I just got back from a very powerful workshop on trusting your intuition. How do we know when we should trust how we feel about a person or situation? Thinking of trust reminded be of the Angel Oak Tree in South Carolina. This was one place I wanted to go to go on our short trip. As a matter of fact I felt drawn to it and I'm ever so grateful we made the time to go. Angel Oak is reportedly over 1000 years old. Until visiting I didn't really know what it felt like to be 100% sure of something. The Angel Oak was strong, seemingly indestructible, and yet very comforting. My instincts that said I needed to go visit this magical place were correct. We either choose to trust our intuition or we do not. We make a decision at that point to either agree to continue in the direction we are headed or we decide to do something differently. How do we know we have made the right decision? There are many clues that help us along the way but we must choose to recognize and accept those gentle, and sometimes forceful, nudges we get. You know what is best for you but you cannot live your life solely by that. If you have been given hints along the way but chose to ignore them then that is your choice and you have chosen your path. It is yet another life lesson you need to learn. After tonight's workshop I got the message that I need to trust people less and investigate more. I investigate everything else. Why would I chose to accept everything someone tells me? If I did choose to investigate and the information was not what I expected, nor wanted, what would I do with this revelation? Maybe that is the issue for me. If the information was damaging to my impression of the person would I use that information or discard it? The information does not change but sometimes my perspective does. I need to open myself up for options. We should all learn to use the tools we have available to us. These tools help us make wise choices because these choices ultimately affect our life. These choices easily lead us down our path or lead us to another life lesson. Everyone has life lesson(s) and the sooner we learn them the easier life becomes. That is how we learn and grow and grow and grow.

Friends and the moment

Have you ever been separated from someone for a while yet when you get back together it's as if you haven't been apart? I have a friend like that. I've known her for years and years but that closeness has always been there. It's like putting on that comfortable pair of PJs and settling in for the evening. You want to be in that space, sharing that space. Time goes so quickly and then she's gone. While she was visiting we shared quite a few funny stories about life, about kids, about being. I think that's what makes our relationship special. I know we both bring different things to the table but it's about feeling safe, not being afraid to be vulnerable. The risk of sounding stupid, saying the wrong thing, ... is outweighed by the fact that whatever I do or say she isn't going anywhere. I trust her and she trusts me. What a wonderful place to be in. When she's in the room I automatically relax into who I am, my authentic self. She is a good friend to have around.