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It's Enough

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. -Seneca 

 

  

I found myself watching a video last week by Tony Robbins which was created on January 15. The day, he says, when ninety-five percent of the people who made New Year's resolutions abandon them. He goes on to give an energetic talk about the real basis of happiness, which is progress. Change, Robbins assures, is automatic and basically out of our control, but progress is not. He suggests that the choices and beliefs that we formed many years ago, are responsible for the bodies and lives we possess today.

I've been contemplating his pointers and reminders and patting myself on the back because, I love my life. But, Robbins also says, "Raise your standards, that's how you progress", and I'm intrigued by ways in which to do that and still remain on the path of least resistance. Stress and progress may rhyme, but they're not good reasons.

Once again, I give thanks to yoga. A decision I made some twenty years ago to stand on my head, continues to embellish my life. My body doesn't conform to every pose in the book, yet. Nor do I live strictly by yoga's philosophical tenets. However, all that I do, is enough. It's that potent. That's my choice and belief, and so it goes.

I'm raising my standards this year and I'm into new things. Yet, only with joy and peace.  It's all I can do and it's enough.


~~~~~
Watch this, then do it your way.
But have fun, okay?
New Year, New Life by Tony Robbins.

 

 

Photo: Myhaela

That Mythical Law of Nature

There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life -- happiness, freedom, and peace of mind -- are always attained by giving them to someone else.-Peyton Conway March

When I awoke one morning last week, my thoughts of gratitude were for all the acts of generosity I've been witnessing. From the millions of dollars being raised for Haiti to the boxes of bath and spa products lined up on my kitchen counter (above), I felt so blessed just to witness all the giving.

I know a very generous woman who works at the Life Care Center in Keauhou who warms my heart with acts that she considers mundane and trivial. Such as her weekly "meals-on-wheels" day when she shops and cooks for her shut-in aunt and a couple unable to cook full meals for themselves, and the shampoos that she buys for the residents at Life Care "so that they can smell nice and feel good".

When I mentioned this in passing to another friend, she decided to pick up a "few things" the next time she went to Kalona Salon and Spa. Through the generosity of my friend and her husband, as well as the owner of the salon, the products found their way to my counter and I bagged them up and delivered them this afternoon. I can't tell you how good it made me feel to do that and I really didn't do anything but witness it all.

It does seem true, that mythical law of nature that Peyton March refers to in his quote. What we crave for is attained by giving them to someone else because it has nothing to do with money or material goods. It makes us feel good to make others feel good. Journalist Nicholas Kristoff wrote recently:

Let's remember that while charity has a mixed record helping others, it has an almost perfect record of helping ourselves.

Of generosity, I know that it even feels good to hear about it, watch it happen, and to tell others about it. As a generous act does your heart good, it ripples out into the world and touches the hearts of others. Thank you, to all of you in my world, for your acts of kindness and giving. I feel your love!

Eat Food

Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they are not.  -Michael Pollan

I'm reheating my food blog, Ono Bee. While maintaining the Eat Local theme, I'm also encouraged by Michael Pollan's book Food Rules and artist Terry Border (creator of the scene above) to keep it simple and fun.

 
There's so much news and information streaming toward us on a daily basis, often conflicting what was said the month before, that most people give up trying to understand it all.  What Pollan did was seek out answers to the simple question, "What should I eat?" and came up with sixty-four simple rules which could be even further reduced to seven words: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

I know, it sounds like marching orders for a little rabbit. That's why, the other  thing I plan to do with Ono Bee is to find good tasting, healthy foods to make at home or restaurants that serve the same.  It's bound to be good for all of us.

In the end, it's our healthcare system and our country, and while a growing number of us are shopping for fresh, local and organic food, the majority of Americans who end up in our healthcare system are not. Thus there is always a need for constant outreach and education. Excerpt from Healthcare:The High Cost of the American Diet. Organic Connections Magazine

Please stay tuned to www.OnoBee.com.  In the meantime, a few more food rules:

"It's better to pay the grocer than the doctor".
"If you are not hungry enough to eat an apple, then you are not hungry."
"Don't eat anything you aren't willing to kill yourself."

and more...

Photo: Food Art by Terry Border via GPL Teens

My Twelve Nights

The twelve pieces above are from a deck of cards designed by artist Penny Clement. They were drawn from the deck one Saturday by those in my Yoga for Women class and I shuffled and selected them in order.

Tonight will be my eleventh night of interpreting the depictions, which began on December 25, and I couldn't have asked for a better entrance into the new year. I've been keeping to the practice I set on the first night which includes:

1. writing down three objects (people or things) of my gratitude first thing in the morning;
2. looking for three good-news items throughout the day;
3. sending people I pass during the day, praises or compliments instead of making any judgments or criticisms.

By the fourth night, Gandhi's phrase, "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony," began to ring true. From morning till night, I was looking for the good in my life and that's all I got. I don't know if anyone else noticed what I was thinking, but I certainly felt lighter and nicer to myself. Which leads me to wonder what happens when we harbor ill thoughts of people and situations. Who is the ultimate recipient of our thoughts?

I finally seem to be incorporating something I wrote a couple of years ago:

We have to learn to have unconditional love for all of the parts of ourselves, to wear that love like a seamless garment. It would mean doing no harm to ourselves in speech, thought and action. That alone could change the world.

There will be no resolutions for me this year. I'm just going to follow the theme set by my Twelve Nights of Christmas and see what happens when my harshest critic becomes by biggest fan.

Read all Twelve Nights on Lessons in Balance...