Crocodile And A Pelican.

I saw this picture earlier and wanted to share because as soon as I saw it thought what a beautiful lesson in life this is. A Crocodile and a Pelican. Two animals and creatures so completely different to each other yet living together in harmony.

One could have the other for lunch and satisfy his own need and greed at any minute but instead is allowing him to ride on his back. That there is love, that there is how we should all endeavor to live our lives. To see others not as the enemy, different, or a means to gain for ourselves but as someone we can help sail through this life and journey together.

No Umbrella Is Wasted - Random Act Of Kindness

A few weeks ago I was in a thrift store, a place that sells second items and clothing. I was so happy and grateful to have bought so many things for only $7. Included amongst those items were some umbrellas.

I bought a few thinking we had none when in fact we already owned two. I held on to the newly purchased ones knowing that they would some day come in handy. Today one did.

We experienced some very heavy rain today and in it a young gentleman came to my door introducing and trying to sell a new service which offers fresh produce straight to your door. I was not interested however I was interested in getting this poor young man dry. He was dripping wet from being out in all this rain.

As soon as I saw him I knew what I had to do and remembered those umbrellas I had bought, so I offered him one. How happy he was and how happy I was to finally have an opportunity to put one of those umbrellas to good use.

It made me realise today that nothing we do is by accident and that there is always an opportunity for kindness. We are all here only to help our fellow humans in whatever way we can. Even if it is only offering a second hand umbrella.

Death Will Teach You

You know it often takes another’s life to be taken from you for you to be grateful for your own. For me it was my mothers. I of course knew she wouldn’t live forever and would someday leave this planet but nothing can prepare you for that moment and how it will affect you. For me personally it’s been a blessing, because I choose it to be.

Her death was a wake up call to me, a reminder smacked straight into my face that none of us here will live forever and that no one’s future is guaranteed. From that day forward I began to live my life differently. I saw everything as so impermanent and everything I did see I knew would someday be gone. That’s when I chose to live everyday in gratitude for it all!

I’ve always known my mother was the greatest gift to me but never would I have guessed that in her death she’d leave me wit the greatest gift of all – an appreciation and love for life.

Life is short it really is, so enjoy it and be grateful. And remember in every moment you have a choice. To be thankful for what you have or complain and whinge about the little things that in your death, and the death of those closest to you, will not matter.

Love YOURSELF As You Love Others.

I heard and read again today “love others as you love yourself” and I couldn’t help but question it and think it should in fact be the other way around … “love yourself as you love others”.

I’m not sure about you but I know (in the past) I have always treated other people much nicer than I do myself. No way would I ever tell someone they are stupid, fat, ugly, hopeless, could do much better etc yet this is exactly what I told myself all the time.

Am I right? Think about it. Think about how you treat your friends and loved ones. Now think about how you treat yourself. Is it equal? Are you as supportive, kind and loving to yourself as you are to a stranger in the street or your best friend? You should be!

So that’s why I say “love YOURSELF as you do others” and not the other way around.

What Can I Do To Help?

I helped a lady today. I saw her get up from where she was sitting and struggle to walk. She was heading towards the supermarket where I was with my trolley and my youngest son. Seeing her made me stop. It made me realise how grateful I am to have my mobility and health.

Seeing her struggle to walk I wanted to help but didn’t know how. What can I do? I thought. I had no idea, so I asked her. I went up to her and said ‘Can I help you in any way?. Her whole face lit up. Ihad noticed, I had seen her. Someone cared. 

She asked me if I could get her a trolley and bring it to her which I did and she was ever so grateful. Couldn’t stop thanking me. I wanted to do more and would have done her whole shop for her if I could have.  So I all I could do was tell her how many of us take our mobility and health for granted and don’t realise how good we have it until we see another who isn’t quite as fortunate. And I thanked her. Telling her it was the least I could do (get her trolley).

I walked away thinking about how many others would have seen her yet did nothing. It thought about the me a few years ago who would have done the exact same thing. Nothing!

Why? I would have been too afraid to ask and offer help. Worried about what she would think or say and at the very bottom of it all, I would have thought she was capable on her own.

But what I have learnt is people want to be helped. People need to be helped and people appreciate being helped. We all need to pen our hearts a little more, to see the many that are struggling and to stop and ask ourselves ‘what can I do to help?’….

The Mirror Doesn't Lie. You Do!

 

Compliment yourself. Seriously. Do it.

I figure why expect someone else to make you feel good, loved and appreciated when you can easily do it yourself!

I'm not embarrased to admit, I do this. There was a time when no way would I ever have mentioned to others (never mind publicly blog about it on the internet) that I tell myself I'm fantastic and loved. I would have thought this was a sure sign of crazy and being up yourself. Perhaps I am crazy, I could even be what you would consider conceited. I can't be the judge on that, but I don't mind, someone has to play the part of crazy and it may as well be me.

What about me being conceited? Well that is merely just a judgement and someones opinion isn't it?

I decided to look up the meaning of the word conceited and this is what I found:

 "Having an excessively favorable opinion of one's abilities, appearance, etc." 

"Excessively proud of oneself"

"Holding or characterized by an unduly high opinion of oneself"

Are they really all such a bad thing?

Being too proud of yourself and being favorable over your own abilities. Whats better, its opposite!? To doubt your own abilities and yourself. Yep that must be better Ha. Anyway that is an entirely different post.The reason I'm sharing this is because it will change your life!

Look in the mirror and don't criticize what you see. Love what you see.

 It will be hard at first and you'll have all sorts of voices telling you the opposite. I know I did. But the voices eventually stop telling you how terrible you are (and also how stupid you are for doing this exercise!) and when they do you will look in the mirror and see the truth of who you are.

You will see that you are not the judgements and criticisms you tell yourself and hear but standing there in front of that mirror is a person as perfect as can be. A person who was made exactly as he or she should be. Love that person. I do

Life is About Living.

Life is about living. You are alive to live. No other reason are you here than to live your life. Your probably thinking but I am living it! But are you?

Years ago I too thought I was living life but I was merely existing. Watching everyday go past, some days were good others bearable.

Now? Well every day is amazing. A big call, yes, and my days haven’t changed at all. But I have changed.

I still get unwell, tired and cranky, have bills to pay. My children rip each other apart on a regularly basis and I have days where I feel unloved and under-appreciated but what is different now is that I know how precious life is. I know each of these things are a blessing to experience, but on top of it all I know how lucky I am to be here. Alive in this life and to have all I have.

In any situation you are in no matter how terrible, how awful, painful or depressing I can guarantee that someone out there is doing it much worse. You are a lucky one. You have so much in your life to be grateful for and that is what I live for. That is what I love and that is how I have changed.

I no longer see life as against me but for me. I see everything in my life as a gift even the so called ‘crappy’ stuff as I have found it’s the ‘crappy’ stuff that has always helped land me into the good. To live is to appreciate it all - the good, the bad and to be grateful that you’re here in this life. Alive.  

Caged Birds

I like to believe I live with an open heart. So open it hurts. I cry for others pain, I cry for the innocent, I cry for guilty but I also love like I’ve never loved before.

My latest pain is caged birds. No bird should ever be caged!  A Bird is born to fly, to spread its wings and do what it was born to do. A bird wasn’t given wings to sit in a cage.

I know a caged bird. He sits in the nursing home I visit. He is so sad. He hardly chirps, only ever occasionally when he spots his own reflection in the mirror. He thinks for a moment he has company and is happy, it is short lived as he soon remembers he sits alone . He sits awaiting his own death never flying at all, never having felt wind beneath his wings.  

Again I am only one person but how can I make this better? How can I stop the madness of the world we live in? A world that cages birds! Why? Because they make good ornaments and decorations? Or is their company that we seek, yet how often is that company shared?

If you own a caged bird when was the last time you really looked at him or her. What did you see? I doubt you saw peace in his eyes…

Tonight I pray that no bird shall ever be caged and that the birds that are, fly free.

Nothing Seperates. WE Seperate.

I often say that we are all one and nothing separates us. No religion race or colour, we are all human. All here to share, to love and to learn. I was thinking of a great example of this today. If a man has fallen and lay hurting on the ground and reaches to you for help or if a child falls into a body of water unable to swim and is slowing drowning.  What do you do? 

Do you not jump in to save the child? Do you not bend down to help the injured man? 

Or do you keep walking because that child or man is Muslim, Catholic, African, Asian or homosexual?  No.

We are all humans. We all suffer, we all experience pain and we all want love. So why do we separate and box each other into groups?

 Maybe I’m unusual but when I look at another I don’t see their label, I see the soul within. The part of them that is just like me.

Ears and Hearts.

Last night I watched this video posted on facebook.

It touched me quite deeply and I spent my evening thinking about it, mostly through tears.

I  wasn't sure what it was that upset me so much about this video. The boy, Christian, was so obviously loved happy and healthy so it wasn't that. I tried to figure out what it was that was upsetting me and I realised, I felt sorry for him.

I felt sorry that he has to live his life this way and throughout his life be at the receiving end of cruel remarks and jokes. Then I remembered he is blind and will never see his own face and will never see the face of another to compare his to.

This made me realise something profound. As he will never see his own face or be able to compare his to another it is unlikely that he will ever judge another person because he is blind.

So many of our judgements and criticisms are over the way people look, act and do things. To a blind person we are all beautiful. How much kinder of a world would it be if we were all blind and loved each other with our ears and hearts.

I do not in any way take my eyesight for granted or wish I were blind, but it is our eyes that judge not our hearts. That is what I learnt last night. So as sad as I was for young Christian I realised that in his eyes he is as beautiful as you and I.

The Best Place To Be

Whilst in the kitchen tonight making dinner my eldest son asked me “Mum where is the best place to be” he told me to guess.

As soon as he asked me I had an idea of what his answer would be however I thought I would be smart and cheeky and answered “right here at home with mum”. He said “no” and that I had two more guesses as I had three. I’ll admit a part of me was a little hurt as secretly I was hoping that that was his answer. That his favourite place to be was at home with me.

So as I was running out of guesses I thought I would just guess it, what I assumed was his answer. So I answered “the best place to be is Disneyland or a place with lots of rides and rollercoaster’s”. He said “no”. I was shocked. I honestly thought that would be it.

So I was down to my last guess and I couldn’t think of the best place to be that my eldest (as an almost 7 year old) would want to be.  So I thought I’d answer it with my answer.

I said “the best place to be is with god”.

My eldest then looks at me as says a big “Yes”.

 I couldn’t believe it. I think I almost fainted. First that I had gotten the answer right but more so that this was his answer. Something so wise and well beyond his 6 and bit years.

I later asked my eldest why he had asked this question as it was such a random thing to come out with. I asked him if had learnt this at school today as I assumed he must have had religion today. He said that no one told him this he just knows.

Isn’t that just beautiful. Whether you believe in god or not there is truth in that. That the best place to be is with that part of ourselves that never dies. That part that knows, that source from which we all come,  and from which we will all return. What a beautiful insight by a 6 year old and what a gift it was to me. Bless that boy and his heart so pure.

Faith Is Jumping From The Roof

After eating lunch today I noticed Ben (our cat) on our neighbours roof. He looked quite concerned which I’m guessing was because he no longer wanted to be on the roof and was unsure how to get off.  I watched as Ben looked down, then up, then to the fence. He looked at the fence and knew it was his only way of getting down. He had to jump from the roof down onto a fence which was an inch thick if that, much narrower than any of his paws.

I looked at Ben who was in a panic and I knew it was crunch time. He was going to jump. I watched on my heart beating as fast as his as he made the leap out into the air and onto the fence. He landed, then slipped and only by gripping the top of the fence with his two front paws was he able to pull himself onto the top of the fence to safety. He did it!

As I watched him do this I realized that there is an example of faith! That is faith. He leaped and jumped in the sheer hope that he would land safely on top of the fence. There were no guarantees, just faith (and probably some serious cat praying) that he would land right where he intended.

Faith is an attribute of all of us. It’s one that we probably don’t use all that often and keep on the sideline for emergencies.  What Ben showed me today is that sometimes we need to take that leap of faith and jump in order to land exactly where are suppose to. Yeah sure we may miss but we will never get anywhere in life clinging to the safety of a roof. 

I think it’s time I jump. I’ve been sitting on a roof for too long. I love safety, I have to know that I won’t fail or fall before I jump.  I need to trust that if I do fall someone (or at least a fence) will be there to catch me. Faith.