Guest Nature Art--4

Thanks again to my brother for sharing another photo.  He took this with his cell phone in Colorado, while on a cross-country skiing trip.

Quotation--11

Here's a poem about the value of a day--this day, today.

Salutation to the Dawn

Look to this day!

For it is life, the very life of life.

In its brief course

Lie all the verities and realities of your existence;

   The bliss of growth

   The glory of action

   The splendor of beauty,

For yesterday is but a dream

And tomorrow only a vision,

But today well lived makes every yesterday

A dream of happiness

And every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Look well, therefore, to this day!

Such is the salutation to the dawn.

                                         Kalidasa

[Kalidasa was a Hindu living in India and he wrote plays and poetry.  He lived in about the 4th-5th century.]

Would like to add that some other simple pleasures [but not insignificant ones], besides those mentioned in the poem, are the enjoyment of fun (sometimes) and relationships; and the satisfaction of participating and working in a group, and of contributing something to the community or society.

(And some people have to work on the evening or night shift, and their time counts as well!)

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!

As far as I can tell, these are some crab apples which I photographed near my home last September.

Talking and Thinking Positive

A number of years ago when I was attending a particular 12-Step program, my young son's imaginary description of it was, "A bunch of old ladies sitting around talking about their problems!"  He had never attended, himself, of course.  And he wasn't exactly correct, but he wasn't completely incorrect either.... 

These days, there are many kinds of support groups and self-help groups, and they're promoted on the Internet.  And they can have some value.  But when speaker and writer, Louise Hay, whom I've written about in a few posts below, was asked in the 1980's to host a group for men with AIDS she first told them, "We're not going to sit here and play 'Ain't it awful!'"  She had positive and constructive things to talk about and the group was very successful!  Some of the men eventually died but others were able to heal and they lived a long time.  She told about this in her book "Life Loves You," 2015, written with Robert Holden.

In my opinion, it's preferable to keep the "Ain't it awful" comments to a minimum...!  Some people wanted me to increase my contact with support groups but I don't know if it's what I need, at this time...?  I've used support groups in the past and they've helped.  Right now, I'm reading some of their literature and it makes a difference....  [And if I can find a suitable group, I don't mind going.]

Guest Nature Art--3

Thanks to my brother for sharing these photos which he took in the USA.

Forgiveness

If it's possible to get justice for a wrong in a reasonable manner and without undue hardship, then I think it's desirable to do so....  But sometimes it's very difficult or impossible to get justice.  We can let God or fate deal with the wrongdoer!

In some situations that I've been pondering, I'm freeing myself from unrealistic expectations of justice....  I'm noticing that.  In the post below, I mentioned Louise Hay; and she said in her book that she got free from her past experiences of abuse by forgiving!  [She had quite a difficult childhood.]  That's quite powerful, I think.  And she had help from counsellors along the way.

In May 2017, I wrote a post called "Forgiving Others," if anybody would like to read more.

Some Work For Me

A little while ago, I bought an encouraging book called "Life Loves You" by Louise Hay and Dr. Robert Holden, Ph.D.  (Copyright 2015, published by Hay House, Inc.)  Ms. Hay passed away recently at over 90 years of age.  She had previously written many books, including "Heal Your Body" and "You Can Heal Your Life."  She had also gotten cured of cancer in the past, mostly by changing her thinking....  Dr. Holden is a younger person and he has written other books as well....

Ms. Hay's books have been popular worldwide and she was a metaphysical lecturer and teacher....  I can't say I understand or agree with all the ideas in "Life Loves You" but there's a lot that I can reconcile with my own religion....  For example, one theory is that a spirit of unforgiveness can be a cause of disease....  And I certainly agree that negative emotions can cause health problems and unforgiveness is a bad thing....

Another concept in the above book is to imagine a "Forgiveness Scale" and to consider HOW MUCH you've forgiven a person who caused offense...?  Sometimes we may forgive 20% or even 60%, but the ideal is to forgive totally and completely...!  [My religion requires me to forgive others but the book has given me some new insight and awareness about the topic....]  So, I've realized I have some work to do in this area, for more than one person....  Sometimes life can be very complicated...!  Maybe the forgiveness work will help my health and maybe not?, but I'm willing to make an effort....

For more information about the authors above, people can go to www.LouiseHay.com or to www.robertholden.org.