At the End

Someone said to me the other day "thank God we don't have to take with us, what we are left with when we die." She was referring to her body...

That struck me really hard. What if we did have to take what we were left with at the end? Would we change what we are doing to our bodies now?

I actually felt a lot of sadness when I heard this statement. I know many people feel like they can't wait to give up the body they are in and get a new one. Hence the overwhelming response to plastic surgery and the outstanding number of people with eating disorders...

What about the people with actual physical handicaps? Don't they seem like the ones that are trying to take the best care of themselves and the ones who are the most grateful for what their bodies can do?

I have been on both sides of the fence. In the past I have literally hated my body, but today, thankfully, I am learning to love all of me. I am so grateful that I have come into this place of awareness, and am able to understand what a gift it is to have a functioning, healthy body, free of disease and physical limitations.

At the end, I hope I will still be in a place of gratitude for all my body has done for me. After all, it carries my most precious possession...my soul.

GR"ATITUDE"

In the past I've talked about how I think that the difficult parts of life are simply opportunities to practice "getting better" at doing what we think is so hard...

Well, I recently have come into a place in my life where I feel good about most things. I don't feel like I have to worry about much, -which by the way I am so grateful for- and I feel like I can truly say that most days I like myself and I feel good about the life I am living.

But just when I am rolling along, feeling pretty good about things, along comes some old negative thinking pattern that -if I let it- can discredit all of my past efforts and bring me right back to square one.

In times like these, and as soon as I am aware of what is happening, I need to turn my attention to God and to remember that He does for me what I cannot do for myself. The most important thing for me to do is remember where I have been in contrast to where I am. This reminds me that I haven't been brought this far in life -through all of the things I've been through- to be abandoned now.

Today I know my happiness is a cooperative effort between me and my Higher Power and to the extent that I rely and trust in the process, is the extent that I will find the happiness I used to think was so elusive.

All in all, it comes down to simply remembering to stay grateful for all the gifts I have in my life. If I can remember to be grateful, it's nearly impossible to get dragged down by the BS.

What if?

What if...who would have thought that these two little words could be so powerful?
Powerful enough to take over a life? Yes, I think so.

When we let them, they can cause fear and anxiety, guilt and apprehension, even happiness and excitement...as a matter of fact, these two little words -when given the power- can create any emotion in us.

It seems to me, it all comes back to staying in the present moment and just going with the flow within each moment. All we really have is right now anyway right?
So I think, making a decision based on how we feel about the situation right NOW is the way to go. If our feelings change then we can always change our situation.

But we can pretty much be guarranteed, that if we don't live in the now and let go of the "what ifs", we will get stuck and will not be able to experience all of the wonderful things that this life has to offer.
So for me, it's goodbye to the what ifs and hello right now.

Who Knew?

I have been to Rocky Pointe Mexico more times than I can count. Most times, I would spend my time on the beach or tooling around on quads, but this time I went out to a little island just southwest of Rocky Pointe. It's about 45 minutes away by speed boat and its called Bird Island.

The boat ride in itself was an adventure for me! It seemed crazy to be in a boat so small, going that fast, on the open ocean. And more than once the whole front end of the boat was up in the air. Talk about a practice in having faith!!

The experience once we got out to the island was definately worth the boat ride though. The island is literally covered with sealions, in all sizes. There were huge bulls all the way down to little babies.

As we approached the island in the boat, the younger sealions all got in the water . They were everywhere, swimming in little packs. They would all stop at once to pop there heads up and stare at us. They looked so curious. I swear they were collecting information. Then they would all go under at the same time. Shaun and I joked about what they were possibly saying to each other under the water about what they saw... :)

Once we anchored in, we put on our snorkel gear and actually got in the water with them! It was amazing. They would come right up to us doing their acrobatics all around us. Sometimes they would stop right in front of us, literally inches from our faces, then turn and take off swimming again! They really seemed to be okay with us and to be having a good time. I know I was!

A few times we would get caught up in what we were doing and get a little too close to shore. One of the big bulls would start barking and head toward the water, so we'd swim back out. We certainly didn't want to get him too upset with us!! That was a little rushy!

I have to say it was an awesome experience and I definately recommend doing it if you are in Rocky Pointe. But I would feel bad if I didn't give this little side note....

Almost everyone who knows me, knows I am a shark lover. And while I love sharks, I definately DO NOT want to be in open water with them, unprotected. So to jump in the ocean with their favorite snack was pretty crazy on our part. Mexico is not a hot spot for Great Whites and I've never heard of an attack out there...but it never hurts to know what's possibly in the water!!

Regardless, I'd do it again. In a heartbeat!

A Walking Contradiction

Someone very close to me made the statement today that I am a walking contradiction...
At first my reaction was defensive and my feelings were hurt. I wanted to get lost in the anger and frustration of the comment and take it out on the person who said it.

I started to do this but then I remembered something I read a little while ago in "The Darkside fo the Light Chasers" by Debbie Ford. She said something like this...If my reaction to what is being said about me is intense, look to see if there may be some truth in what is being said; and to the degree I react to it, may be the degree that I am denying its there.

Turns out she was right. There are some things in my life that I would like to tell myself that I have under control or a greater understanding of, than I do.

This experience has brought to my awareness the idea that it takes hearing and really listening to the ones we love to get through some of the illusions we try to present to ourselves.
I don't know yet specifically what new understanding will come of this, but I am sure more will be revealed and I am truly grateful that -while it was a little bit of a struggle- I was able to open my mind up enough to the opportunity to understand myself a little better and change if needed.

So to this friend of mine, I want to say thank you for helping me to understand myself a little better and for your patient understanding.