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Lesson 27

Reflections on life based upon the book “God Never Blinks” 50 Lessons for Life’s Little Detours” by Regina Brett

Always Choose Life.

Throughout this lesson Regina discusses how she chose life when confronted with an unexpected pregnancy at age 21 and later in life when at 41 she found out she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

She concludes with, “Life took me down a path I didn’t want to be on, didn’t plan to be on. Yet once there, I learned the secret of life is just that: to chose life. Living is so dear.

I too believe living is a choice and life is what we chose to make of it. As a slogan for Your Second Fifty I expanded on the catchy phrase Live, Laugh, Love and added Learn. Live ~ Learn ~ Laugh ~ Love

The way I see it, is there really any other purpose to live than to learn?

Even if that learning experience was only in learning how to accept each situation for what it is.

Here is a song I wrote with my son’s, in the hope of conveying acceptance of life as it unfolds.

Enjoy The Journey
Written by: Bob, Clint, Dave, Frank & Scott Moffatt

Verse 1
Back in 1982, my skin was shinny, soft and new
But over time it begun to crack, but I keep it smooth with extra fat
Now it sags underneath my arm and that old six pack has lost it’s charm
But let me tell you one hard fact, it’s a waste of time to over react

Verse 2
Back in 1992, I thought I’d lost a hair or two
But when I looked at the back, I darn near had a heart attack
Now it grows in my nose and in my ears it grows in rows
But let me tell you one hard fact, it’s a waste of time to over react

Chorus
Time waits for no one, time moves along
The clock keeps on tick’n, to the beat of your song
Time waits for no one, so don’t over react
Enjoy the journey cause your bags are packed

Verse 3
Back in 2002, I had this fear I’d lost her too
But the good lord choose to give her back, today my life is right on track
Now I know what I need to know, I cherish each moment and I take it slow
But let me tell you one hard fact, it’s a waste of time to over react

Chorus
Time waits for no one, time moves along
The clock keeps on tick’n, to the beat of your song
Time waits for no one, so don’t over react
Enjoy the journey cause your bags are packed

My son’s are currently recording the music for this song and once it’s completed I’ll post a link to it on www.ysfmotivation.com.

Lesson 19

Reflections on life based upon the book “God Never Blinks” 50 Lessons for Life’s Little Detours” by Regina Brett

It’s Never Too Late to Have a Happy Childhood. But the Second One Is Up to You and No One Else.

In this story Regina discusses how we may be one age at present, however if the right button is pushed we can quite easily revert back to the age we were when we first acknowledged the sensation.

She then goes on to say, “Some people have unhappy childhoods. Others had unhappy moments. How do you heal a childhood?” She continues, “You give yourself a new, happy one. You feed the child or children you still carry inside of you.”

She then goes on to list countless ways in which you can go out and re-establish a happy childhood.

For myself I think the best way to overcome pain of the past or for that matter pain of the future is to live in the now.

The Buddha stated that pain is a by-product of craving, lust, desire, wanting in any shape or form. When we live in the now we have none of these conditions.

Another condition that creates pain is to resist – when we are unable to accept what is.

But you know sometimes the pain we know is more soothing than the pain we imagine we will face when considering the option of venturing into the unknown.

It is said that on an occasion when the Buddha was teaching a group of people, he found himself on the receiving end of a fierce outburst of abuse from a bystander, who was for some reason very angry.

The Buddha listened patiently while the stranger vented his rage, and then the Buddha said to the group and to the stranger, “If someone gives a gift to another person, who then chooses to decline it, tell me, who would then own the gift? The giver or the person who refuses to accept the gift?”

“The giver,” said the group after a little thought. “Any fool can see that,” added the angry stranger.

“Then it follows, does it not,” said the Buddha, “Whenever a person tries to abuse us, or to unload their anger on us, we can each choose to decline or to accept the abuse; whether to make it ours or not. Therefore it is our personal response to the abuse that determines who owns and keeps the anger or abuse.”

Author Unknown

I cannot recall a time in my life when I felt good after becoming angry, my heart was always racing, I was always tense, shortly there after I felt ashamed, but I have never felt good. Yet I have met people who have said they felt good after they took out their inner frustrations on another person.

Maybe they have reached a point in their life where they no longer are aware of their own feelings and inner most sensations or maybe they have become so confused that they now believe their own lies and live in denial.

In any case ANGER is never the solution. It is always the sign of ones inability to communicate effectively!

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”

The Buddha

Yesterday I was in Jakarta, Indonesia where it was sunny and +33 and today I am in Calgary, Canada where it is snowing and -21. So what do I think about that – I don’t – because there is absolutely nothing I can do about it if I want to accomplish the tasks I have set forth for myself here in Calgary. So why waste my time thinking about what could have been or trying to change what is – when it’s much more pleasing and productive to just accept and appreciate what is at this moment in time.

You know far too often in my past I tried to control the outcome of events by coercing people to meet my desired needs and wishes, but I’ve now come to realize that those small victories, that I placed so much importance on at the time were in fact a much greater loss, because for each victory I fought so vehemently to be right I had in fact lost the respect of the person I had intimidated or coerced, which ultimately ended up reducing the circle of friends that had assisted me in attaining whatever importance I perceived myself of having and needing to maintain in the first place.

Now I can’t say that this behavior has died a rapid death as it still rears its ugly head on occasion – but the good news is that the more I practice acceptance the sooner I notice this negative behavior when it appears and that gives me more time to get out before the water gets to deep.

“Acceptance of others, their looks, their behaviors, their beliefs, bring you an inner peace and tranquility — instead of anger and resentment”

Anonymous