Don’t Believe Everything You Think November 25, 2011
Posted by nrhatch in Happiness, Meditation, Mindfulness.comments closed
Thoughts we think oft times arise of their own accord . . . creating white noise which whispers through the brain’s back corridors like an endless stream of stock prices on a ticker tape parade.
Thoughts appear, disappear, and reappear again . . . like the endless bubbles in a flute of champagne.
Negative thoughts, unbidden black clouds presaging a coming storm, exert insidious control over us ~ even if, and perhaps especially when, we are not fully cognizant of their presence.
Allowing thoughts to wander-at-will adds to daily stress levels, causing blood pressures to rise. Our angry thoughts resemble steam rising in roiling bubbles in a pot about to boil over.
Believing our thoughts to be true, we are quick to anger and slow to forgive. We waste time and energy dwelling on past hurts and future fears.
We suffer under the illusion that thoughts bubbling to the surface of our consciousness are real. They aren’t.
The best way to break the cycle is to stop believing everything we think.
Meditation raises our awareness. We become conscious of the thoughts circulating, percolating, and bubbling through our brains. We learn to manipulate our thoughts, instead of allowing them to manipulate us.
Just as a “watched pot never boils,” thoughts slow to a simmer as soon as we shine our awareness and attention on the rapidly rising bubbles.
When we close our eyes and see the “monkey chatter” cluttering Control Central, our heightened awareness causes unbidden thoughts to drift away as easily as bubbles blown by children on a summer’s day.
Delighting in the silence, we relax into the moment.
Awareness that WE remain aware in that state of silent awareness causes us to realize, “I am not my thoughts. My thoughts are not me.”
We are the silent observer of thoughts echoing, bouncing, bumbling, and bubbling through our minds.
We need not believe everything we think.
Freed of the insidious control of unwanted, unbidden, unwelcome, and untruthful thoughts, joy bubbles up and bliss fills our being.
Aah . . . that’s better!
Related posts: Sidey’s Weekend Theme ~ Bubbles! * Spiritual Milestones * Maintaining Perspective * Attack of the Killer ANTs * The Serenity Principle * Meditation 101 * The Path to Enlightenment * A Warm Hug for a Sad Child
Family Photos November 25, 2011
Posted by nrhatch in Art & Photography, Happiness, Humor, People.comments closed
Family photos are among our most cherished possessions. They capture Kodak moments from the past as the future zooms into view.
Looking at children caught in a moment of levity, sporting sticky smiles, or saying “C~H~E~E~S~E” makes me grin:
Family photos record the times of our lives ~ from moments of pomp and circumstance:
To moments of inspiration, enthusiam, revelry, and levity:
Of course, we must be careful. Filming some family members feeds into their narcissistic tendencies:
Related posts: Weekly Photo Challenge ~ Family (WP Prompt) * Family (Nuvofelt)
But I Don’t WANNA Be An Onion November 25, 2011
Posted by nrhatch in Food & Drink, Humor, Mindfulness, Poetry.comments closed
Wikipedia ~ Onions (in Public Domain)
‘Twas the day after Thanksgiving
And tummies were bloated
Stuffing and potatoes
Had all been demoted
A cook entered her kitchen
With true trepidation
Wondering what she should serve
To lingering friends & relations
Grabbing a huge soup pot
The cook commenced chopping
Soon fumes from an onion
Caused tears to start dropping
From a bowl on the counter
A small onion gave a great sigh
“I don’t WANNA be an onion
And make people cry!”
Wikipedia ~ Carrots (in Public Domain)
“Cooks cutting carrots
Have eyes that stay dry
I don’t WANNA be an onion
And make people cry!”
A voice from the sideboard
From a pie shunted aside
Heard the small onion and,
With compassion, replied:
“It’s true that onions
Have a strong perfume
With aromas that quickly
Permeate the room
“But when making chili,
Casseroles, soups, and stews
The onion is the Secret
Ingredient cooks choose”
“Why is that?” asked the onion
To the kind pumpkin pie
But a man’s loud {{burp}}
Was the only reply
Wikipedia ~ Pumpkin Pie (in Public Domain)
Thoughts to Ponder:
* Nature does not ask, “what do they want me to be?” Its glory lies in its authenticity.
* When you stop hiding who you are, you have more energy to become more fully who you want to be.
* And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud, was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. ~ Anais Nin
* I always wanted to be somebody . . . now I realize I should have been more specific. ~ Lily Tomlin
* The easiest way to transform the world is to change your perspective.
Spirit Lights The Way 