My Atlantic

Atlantic

To the water we are drawn.
Through the rocking motion we remember days gone by.
The time before when all were enveloped in the motherly,
water that began our life.
Before all our senses were engaged we felt that warmth and comfort.

Some sit silent before the Atlantic and wonder why relaxation comes.
They do not remember the water that brought them to this world,
nor do they make the connection.

But now you my friend know.
So sit and watch and wonder no more.
The energy radiates from the water to reactivate that which is within.

D. Estep
Bethany Beach Delaware
August 12, 1993

                                     


                                       This is the beach on my back deck.                                             My escape in landlocked Ohio.  :)

                                       


                              This picture of Ginger and my beach should
                                             give you a bit of perspective.   

                        The pictures just don't do justice to the sound of
                              the waves I hear or the scent of the ocean........
                                                But just try and imagine.   

Magnificently, Shiny, Clean Chain - ME

The very first brand new bike I ever had was one I purchased
with my morning paper route money.   It was a green 10 speed bike.
My brain seems to be failing me here, but I guess I was 16 or 17.
Thinking back on the bike what I impressed me most, well besides
the light green metallic color, was the chain.    Never before had
I seen such a magnificently, shiny, clean chain.
I recall the quiet clicking sound as I rode my bike and changed gears.
My chain moving effortlessly from sprocket to sprocket.

You see my previous hand me down bikes always had chains

that were gummed up with debris and goo.   Never a shine at
all to them.    Naturally this caused the bike not to perform
to it’s best ability.   Sometimes the chain would just pop
off the sprocket.   Definitely a performance issue.

I came upon the thoughts of my green bike while doing
a bit of thinking on the subject of self esteem.

While I’m certainly no PHD, I do have a vast amount

of knowledge about low self esteem.

Low self-esteem = debris and goo filled chain

High self-esteem = magnificently, shiny, clean chain

There is nothing that so greatly paralyzes a person

as low self-esteem.   
An individual with a low self-esteem can’t
comfortably brainstorm with themselves because they
can’t even trust the messages received from their own brain. !!!

My views of MY SELF have shifted tremendously in the past 11 years.

Credit for this shift goes to an online individual that I communicated
with for only a few months of my life.   Brian pointed out to me that
I needed to consider going into personal therapy.
My first knee jerk reaction to that suggestion was…….
NO -  NO  - NO  - NO  …

NO WAY

-  NO  HOW …. NEVER !!!!
His response was: ‘There is much less stigma attached to
personal therapy than say just a few years ago.”
My response to that was: “I’m not concerned about any stigma,
I just don’t want to go see someone and get in my brain and
muck around and have to dig up all my past life’s bull shit.”

But you know what, I took Brian’s advice.    I hooked up with
Dr Linda.     Life changing to say the least.
Dr Linda assisted me in removing the debris and goo from my chain.
She helped me to actually see what a magnificent, shiny,
clean chain I really am.

Now mind you this did not happen overnight.   I was in therapy
with Dr Linda a little over a year and all these years later, I have
to consciously keep watch over my chain.    The debris and goo
lurk ever so quietly in the background, just waiting to jump back on.

I’ve come to understand that when you have the inner
knowing of your own value, that is self worth.

I empower myself every single day when I see
the beauty of myself and I let that shine out into the world.

You Wear It Well

Lloyd Price wrote “Personality”,
it shot up the charts in 1959.

Part of the song goes…..

`cause you got personality
Walk, personality
Talk, Personality
Smile, Personality
Charm, personality
Love, personality

Personality has in it a root word, persona.

Persona is Latin for mask.

What does your personality look like?

Aware

I have had a conversation many times with my daughter about
why certain persons act in certain ways.
I have said to her, it’s not about someone being ‘better’ than another

person, IT’S ALL ABOUT AWARENESS.

So this morning I thought I would write about that topic – being aware.

I went to my handy dandy online dictionary site and looked up the
word aware…..    I came across these following words.

conscious , cognizant, wise, mindful

sensible, on the ball, conscious, abreast
informed, apprise , knowing
alert, perceptive , sensitive , familiar , awake , attentive

I then came across the definition of  self-awareness

WOW……. talk about a light bulb moment. 

One must be first self aware. 

I’m STILL saying ‘WOW’ to myself.   

Imagine, lack of Self-awareness

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Self-awareness is the ability to perceive one's own existence,
including one's own traits, feelings and behaviors.
In an  *epistemological sense, self-awareness is a personal
understanding of the very core of one's own identity.
It is the basis for many other human traits, such as
accountability and consciousness, and as such is often the
subject of debate among philosophers.
Self-awareness can be perceived as a trait that people
possess to varying degrees beyond the most basic
sentience that defines human awareness.
This trait is one that is normally taken for granted,
resulting in a general ignorance of one's self that
manifests as odd contradictory behavior.
This ignorance of one's own self is viewed in
existentialism and Zen Buddhism as the source of much
human suffering, as noted by the famous saying from
Zen Buddhism "we are each the source of our own suffering."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-awareness

* epistemological
The branch of philosophy that studies the nature of knowledge, its

presuppositions and foundations, and its extent and validity.

Observe

“Learn to find the blessing in pain.

Practice observing rather than owning it”.

Everyday Wisdom – Dr. Wayne Dyer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This goes for people who are a pain too.

Just observe them, rather than let them own you.

To Do

Take out the garbage
dust
water it
add fertilizer

Does this sound like a TO DO list around the house?

Actually it’s a TO DO list for my mind. 

Cement once set, becomes like stone.
Don’t let your mind become SET like stone.

Water, spirit, and air are fluid substances.
Gently guide your mind to stay fluid and able to
absorb different thoughts.

Think in terms of flexible, changeable.

This ability comes quite naturally to children.
They are not weighted down by STUFF.

If you have been an adult for many years,

this will not come naturally, but with

practice you can keep your mind open ~ ~ ~ ~

Imagine your mind as a flourishing, lush green garden.

Practice forgiveness, that's how we weed our minds.

Don't Quit

Don't Quit
by Leo Piggoti
(1931)


When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill
When the funds are low and the debts are high.
And when you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit -
Rest if you must, but don't quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns.
As everyone of us sometimes learns.
And many a fellow turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow -
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
When he might have captured the victor's cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down.
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out -
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.


These words were a LIFESAVER for me.  :)


THANK YOU LEO !!!!

Dogwood

 

The blood-red spots on the white blossoms of each are said to represent Christ's blood drops. Dogwood blossoms have four bracts (resembling petals) that represent the cross, and the center of the dogwood flower resembles a crown of thorns.

Legend says the dogwood was used for Christ's cross and was later cursed by God so that it would never be used as a cross again, which is why today's dogwoods are small and spindly.

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This is a picture I took last spring of the dogwood tree in my front yard.
Dogwoods have always been a spring favorite of mine.
When we moved into our house it was Fall, not until that following spring
did I even know it was a dogwood. 

Spring can't get here soon enough in Northern Ohio.

~ Tune In ~

We all have radios in our home.   
Your radio is plugged in set to your favorite station.
Wonderful melodies fill your life and bring you joy.
Over time the radio dial slips a bit, dead air, no sound.   
You would never just let it go, as soon as you
realized what was wrong you would retune it back
on your favorite channel.

Now think of the most significant person you
share your life with and imagine them as a radio.

Over time something has slipped a bit, dead air, no sound.

Just simply tune back in.     

Fading Toward Enlightenment

One day I was web surfing and came across some
wonderful photographs.   I emailed the photographer,
Wayne Wir, to compliment him on his photos.

Wayne now has the following book available.   I look forward
to getting my copy.   Please check out the link below to his site.

Fading Toward Enlightenment ~ Life between The Ego and the Ethereal

I am not enlightened, and yet, I am no longer normal.
The journey that I have taken, you too can take.

Fading Toward Enlightenment is the story of my quest to find Inner Peace.

It is a story about Hope and Beauty and Luck and Love.

It is about Destiny.

The Spiritual Journey is a true Hero's Journey. The Seeker must
leave behind the solid world of family, friends and peers.
They must cross mysterious and forbidding lands only to face
loneliness, alienation and the darkness of their very Soul.
It is a difficult voyage, one which few ever complete.
Yet for the persistent and the determined, the Grail itself is the reward:
Lasting Inner Peace.

The door stands open before you. The terrain has been mapped.
The Path through the darkness is now well lit.
Ahead, your Future awaits.

If I could make it, so can you.
That which follows, is a True Story…

(check out the web link below for further reading)


http://fadingtowardenlightenment.com/

Listen

Listening is a skill.

A skill is not something that just comes to you it is an ability that
is developed through training.    We must train ourselves to
listen as others speak.

I realized what a poor listener I was many years ago as a
co worker and I were talking.  It was as if  the co worker was in
very slow motion, kind of like the Matrix movie where time
slows down.   Their lips were moving, but all I was doing
was hearing my own thoughts racing.
I can recall directing myself to ... LISTEN.

When the conversation ended I went back to my work bench
and made myself a sign that said...  LISTEN.

Conversation may indeed be an art, but listening is
the gift we give another when we converse.

Recycled Words

Today I was doing a web search on a particular quote.
Those who know me KNOW how I love quotes.
One's life can be transformed by living one good quote. 

There was one site I stumbled upon that had a whole list
of quotes.   Some are attributed to their author, some are not.

I just had to share recyle them out into the world.

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"Do you remember how electrical currents and 'unseen
waves' were laughed at? The knowledge about man is
still in its infancy." -
Albert Einstein

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"A miracle is not the breaking of physical laws,
but rather represents laws which are incomprehensible to us."
- Guirdjief

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 "There are grounds for cautious optimism that we may
now be near the end of the search for the ultimate
laws of nature." - Stephen Hawking

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 "Probably a dozen times since their death I've
heard my mother or father, in an ordinary conversational
tone of voice, call my name. They had called my name
often during my life with them ... it doesn't seem strange to me. "
- Carl Sagan

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 "The truest end to life is to know the life that never ends"
- William Penn

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"Six weeks after his death my father appeared to me in a dream ...
It was an unforgettable experience, and it forced me for the first time
to think about life after death." -
Carl Jung

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" We are not human beings having a spiritual
experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience."-
Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

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"What would be proof to you?"
Jeffrey Keene

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"We seem to have here one of those problems
wherein people readily agree on what it would
take to establish something they very much do
not want to believe--and then when, contrary to anyone's expectations,
the evidence actually emerges strongly supportive
of the belief, they return (for no persuasive reason)
to add more conditions to what it would take to
establish what they very much do not want to accept.
And they continue to do so until it is virtually
impossible that any such evidence should ever emerge."
--Robert Almeder, Dept. of Philosophy, GSU

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"Die happily and look forward to taking up a new and better form.
Like the sun, only when you set in the west can you rise in the east."
- Jelaluddin Rumi

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"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have
entertained angels without knowing it." -
Hebrews 13:2 of the Bible
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"Pure logical thinking cannot yield us any knowledge of the empirical world.
All knowledge of reality starts from experience and ends in it."
- Albert Einstein

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"EVERYONE GETS THE SAME THING. THEY GET A LIFETIME" -
anonymous

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"Perhaps love is the only glimpse we are permitted of eternity." --
Helen Hayes"

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There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
than are dreamt of in your philosophy "
Shakespeare - Hamlet

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"It’s what you learn after you know it all that really counts"
Earl Weaver

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"Heaven is here -- you just have to know how to live it.
And hell too is here, and you know perfectly well how to live it.
It is only a question of changing your perspective, your approach towards life."
Osho

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"Live as if you were going to die tomorrow.
Learn as if you were to live forever."
Mahatma Gandhi"

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"Honour guides me-The light protects me-Death seeks me-
Rebirth awaits me"-
Lancelot

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'That which does not kill me still hurts - a lot.' ~
Spider-Man"

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"The guardian angels of life sometimes fly so high as to be beyond
our sight, but they are always looking down upon us."
Jean Paul Friedrich Richter  Jean Paul (21 March 1763-14 November 1825

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"Imagine that every person in the world is enlightened but you.
They are all your teachers, each doing just the right thing to help
you learn perfect patience, perfect wisdom, perfect compassion -
Buddha"

(This is the quote I was doing a web search on)    

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"You are an eternal dreamer dreaming non-eternal dreams.
Your dreams take form as you assume the feeling of their reality -
Neville"

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“When death comes to you, may it find you alive”

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"Why tiptoe quietly through life--only to arrive safely at deaths door???"

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"Blackfoot~ "What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night.
It is the breath of a buffalo in the winter time. It is a little shadow
which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset."

Bowling Fun

Many, many moons ago I was in a bowling league.I was a real novice to the sport, unlike my brothers whohad been bowling in leagues since they were kids.

Our team consisted of my sister in law Rosemary,3 other gals and myself.    We were not ‘bowling for blood’,but I took the sport seriously and tried to improve myself week by week.

As all bowlers know, splits are real tough to ‘pick up’.What ALWAYS got to me was the 5 pin.No matter what I did, I could never ever pick up that spare.That is until one night Rosemarygave me some great advice.    Not only did thatadvice help me pick up that 5 pin spare nearlyevery time, it changed my life.
I bowled my first ball and there it stood, thatdamn 5 pin.   Rosemary came up to me andvery seriously said, “Make it your best friend”.I walked up to the starting point, took a deep breath,and looked down at that one pin.   I embraced it.I let the ball roll and down it went.
So many times since that night when facedwith a difficulty, I embraced it and ‘made it my best friend’.

A funny footnote to this story.    One of the years thatwe bowled we had a backer who supplied the teamwith bowling shirts.    Their logo on one sideand our names on the shirt.Rosemary did not give us a choice upon havingour names sewn on the front.Rosemary choose a name for me that was light years away from a name that REALLY named me…She choose…   ‘THE BITCH’. !!!I could hardly believe my eyes, my teammates wereon the floor roaring in amusement at the name.The initial intimidation factor to other teams we hadnever bowled before was priceless.   It did not takethem very long to figure out that the name on myshirt hardly named me the person.

 

I love you Rosie….  You ‘BITCH’….   wink wink.

~ Friend – Ship ~

Twenty years ago there is no way anyone could have

conceived of the world that has been created all thanks
to the world wide web.  The idea of people meeting
through an electronic medium and then developing
deep friendships would have been the stuff of science fiction.
Yet through the WWW we have come to know ….
“It’s a small world after all”.

In all parts of life, the kind where you share
air space and the kind where you share the written word
it all evolves in the same way….
You meet and share common ground.   
Trust grows and you become friends.

Friends don’t flatter you with unnecessary bull shit, they do so

because they see the magic and potential inside of you.
Sometimes you don’t even SEE the beauty that they do.
A friend reads between your lines.

“A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude towards

a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive
qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.”

That is the definition of love, but it could also be related to

a friend.

~ Friend – Ship ~ is a boat that floats when tended with love.

I love you my kindred friends and I thank you for your ~ Friend – Ship ~.   

~ Shower Praying ~

 

One of the best places for me to pray is when I take a shower.

 

This was something that I started in April of 2003.    You might wonder
how I can specifically recall the date.    The reason is that while I was taking a shower
one morning in April I got to thinking about all of our deployed troops who did not
have the luxury of taking a hot shower.   At that moment and every shower after I have prayed.
 

My shower praying has become such a regular routine, that I now turn on the water and am first thankful for my home.   I am thankful that I have a house and a place to shower.
I am then thankful for hot, clean water.    Lord knows how many people all over this world
don’t just step in their shower and flip on the water.    
Even a little left over bubbles from someone’s shower before me has me
being thankful that I have the husband and family that I do.
I then pray for the military.    Knowing that many still don’t have the luxury of a shower.  

Think about shower praying, let’s start a new trend.

Bookcrossing

Set your books free into the world. 

The web site, Bookcrossing was 'launched' April 17, 2001

The word, bookcrossing was added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary in August of 2004.
bookcrossing (n.) The practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.

What you do is go to the web site, add your self as a member
(it's free and anonymous) From the site you register a book to be released
into the wild.  It will be assigned a bookcrossing ID#.   
You label the inside of the book with it's ID#.
Then you leave your books to be picked up, read and passed along.

Bookcrossings has printable labels and also labels available for order.

I just came across this bookcrossing site this morning and I will have to say
that the concept of parting with any of my books is quite alien to me.
In fact I have a very hard time even lending out a book.
If there is something I think should be read by a friend, I'll go on Amazon
and pick them up a used one of the book.  OR suggest they go there and
get it.

Yet the idea of this really interests me.   Enough so that I've registered on
the bookcrossing site. 

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From the Bookcrossing site:
You'll release everything someday
Members: 334,696
Books Registered 1,792,427
Good Karma: Priceless

  www.bookcrossing.org

"The Miracle of Mindfulness"

This was a posting I made on the Air Force Parent's web site.
I made this post prior to my son volunteering for a mission to Iraq
in late 2003.
I can't tell you how many times I re-read my own post to help
me keep my mind in focus during that time.

A military parent experiences a different kind of parental stress.
During the time Vince was serving in Iraq  I  had folks say to me....
"I don't know how you do it"  or  "I don't know how you get through it".

#1)   You 'get by with a little help from your friends'. !!!!
(for me that means online military parent friends) 


#2)  by keeping your mind in the present moment.


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"The Miracle of Mindfulness"

This is no magic wand that we can wave to disperse STRESS
from our lives. If that were the case, I'd be your fairy godmother
and take it ALL AWAY. :) Bippiti -- boppiti -- BOOP

But what I can do is offer some words to you in hopes that
IF you embrace them and the precepts, you will find
moments of peace.

Many of us in these times turn to God in prayer.
'Dear God, help me to process this' 'Amen'
I have no doubt that GOD does help us in a BIG WAY,
but we are responsible for the MOMENTS of our lives.

The Miracle of Mindfulness,
by Thich Nhat Hanh was a very important book
in my life journey.
I would like to present this to you as a quickie version of the
concepts of mindfulness, but for further understanding I highly
recommend
you pick up a copy of this book for yourself.

Answer this question with ALL honesty ....
How many times have you been behind the wheel of your
car, driving down the street and you pass under a traffic light.
Almost immediately you say...
"Ohhh MY GOSH" ... "Was that a green light or a red light" ???
IF you answer honestly, I think you might say...
"WOW", I have no idea what color that light was."

The reason is.... a loss of momentary mindfulness. !!!
You were 100 million miles away.
It happens ALL the time, many times in a day.

Have you seen the movie the Karate Kid ?
Mr Miyagi, the wise teacher has Daniel, the kid, wax the car.
Over and over he says....
"Wax on, Wax off". The purpose of that 'mantra' is to keep
ones mind on the task at hand.

Mindfulness is about developing a continuous awareness of all the
tasks
we do and the thoughts we have during the course of a day.
The mindfulness comes in when your awareness is held to the moment
of each task you are doing.

In the morning when you make your coffee, and have your breakfast,
you hold your mind to the task you are doing.
It is as IF you are doing this task for the very first time.
Actually feeling the items you are touching and processing
everything in just that moment.
All through the day, paying direct attention to what you are doing.

I explained the ideas of mindfulness to my coworkers.
So many times I when I was at work my mind wandered away.
I was house cleaning, grocery shopping, DOING all the things
in my mind that needed to be done in the future.
It's no wonder you get home from work and just don't feel\
like doing some tasks. How many times did you do them
over and over in your mind without even noticing where
your thoughts were.
There is a huge difference between planning out mentally what
you are going to do, and allowing your mind to aimlessly wander
off and do those things.

We have all said, "I'll just keep myself busy and that will get me
through this time." It will get you through, but if you are not
aware, even when you are busy your mind will be racing along
to other things. If, you do not hold your attention to the moment.

In ending I would like to say.....
You will NOT read my posting here one time and have
a full and complete command of mindfulness.
It will take your attention and practice.
Look how many years your mind has been
on vacation. Ha, no wonder it's going to take some time
to really embrace this into a daily practice.

When I first started to 'practice' mindfulness,
I made myself small cards that said.....
"Wax on Wax off" "breath in breath out".

I had one at work, one on the kitchen frig, one in my car.
These were reminders to myself to be mindful of the moment.
If I caught my mind wandering away, I repeated those
lines to myself I could actually feel my whole body relax.
I then returned physically and mentally to the moment, experiencing
totally just what I was doing at the time.

I think I am going to print out a copy of this for Vinny.
These would be great words of wisdom to send to him. !!!
Of course he has heard me speak of this, but I am not so sure
that it is a part of him.

(by the way... The Karate Kid movie made it's debut in 1984,
just like my Vinny)