Compassion Wins

There is some ridiculous statistic out there about the percentage of time people spend waiting for something or other...usually some kind of line. Sometimes for a traffic light, for your date or pizza to arrive, for someone to call or even for the price of gas to go down! Well, I just upped the percentage in the last week. I have spent a total of 8.5 hours in motor vehicle departments in only 2 visits waiting to get a new license and register my car in NM!!! I can't complain about the 'service with a smile' once I was called to a window because it was delightful. Today as I sat and sat and sat, I began to think about what it must be like on the other side of the window. Each of us had only to 'deal with' 1 maybe 2 individuals! The clerks had to 'deal with' ALL of us! The complainers, the whiners, the ones with the big angry victim faces! Just thinking about it made me want to hug one of the people on the other side! When I finally got called to a counter, I made sure I smiled big, told the woman how happy I was to see her and thanked her for being so pleasant. She smiled and told me to have a wonderful weekend. I think it made both of our days!

Lovely Lotus Land

I have been doing a lot of exploring since my move to NM. I am always in search of wonderful spots out in nature. Natural spaces tend to bring great excitement as well as a certain stillness. One place I visited recently, called Shady Lakes, came to mind again today when I glanced down at the tattoo on my outer right ankle. It is a beautiful lotus. The symbolism behind the lotus is one of rising up from the mud and muck toward the light and becoming a beautiful flower. This process is very similar to how many of us travel through our own lives. We face challenges and we often struggle for awhile, but if we can keep our focus on the 'light', we come out stronger and more beautiful.
Enjoy the photos. Spend a few minutes in natural surroundings when you get a chance.

Rewards of trusting your instincts

About 7AM this morning, I was on my way out the door when I had this strong instinct to take my camera. I laughed because I was only going 2 miles away. Then, I thought, oh, well, why not. So i grabbed it but was shaking my head at myself all the way to the car. As I turned the corner at the intersection, I looked up and what I saw was a beautiful floating just above the 'morning after' full moon! I was almost too mesmerized to get my camera out, but I did and here is what I was able to immortalize because I trusted my gut...even though it seemed ridiculous at the time. There have been times when I ignored my intuition and wished I had listened. I have to remind myself that it has never steered me wrong.

Sky light, sky bright...full moon I see tonight

Last night was 'officially' the full moon for July, 2010. It was too cloudy and stormy here to be able to see it. So, I bring it to you tonight. One day later, but still a magnificent sight! Enjoy! The twinkling lights are the Rio Grande Valley!

Rain, rain...what a wonderful day!

Not too much to report today except we have had 3 storms in 4 days here in the land of 300 days of sunshine! Everyone is ecstatic though...rain in the desert is a welcomed event whenever and for however long! I laughed out loud this morning. I went to a program and when we all came outside and saw that it had rained, there were cheers to be heard a block away! The funniest part was that there were spots of deep water in the parking lot and we created pretty big splashes as we all drove off. It was great! Right next to a big patch of desert, cars were honking and cruisin' through 'flash flood' areas! What a sight...pure joy over a few inches of rainfall! Life is good when we can be grateful for the simple things!

What a day for a daydream

Today has been kind of a lazy day. The weather here in ABQ was only in the low 90's and it was a bit overcast with intermittent cool breezes. So, much of the day I hung out at the pool and read and people-watched. I was rereading portions of the Esther and Jerry Hicks' book called, "Ask and It Is Given." All of their books discuss different aspects of getting the most from the Law of Attraction. I love reading other peoples' take on this topic as I am also very familiar with it.
Anyway, I was just flipping through the book and landed on the page that states: "Nothing is more important than feeling good." YES! Then I saw an activity recommended to help you increase your % of time feeling good. It was called the game of Virtual Reality! Without going into great detail regarding the law of attraction, I will say that unless you clear away any resistances you might have to attracting what you really want, chances are that it may be difficult to manifest those desires. Also, these resistances fill the space where the good stuff needs to go. This is a fun way to help get rid of resistance and allow yourself to accept what you are asking for. Since feeling good is so crucial to manifesting desires, I love to practice feeling really good as often as possible. I like this process so I'm going to share it with you so you can try it.
Basically, you deliberately activate a scene in your own mind that causes you to feel fabulous! Choose a place you have been, want to go to or just imagined. Then begin to add every tiny detail to this image to your exact liking. What do you see, hear, feel, taste? Go wild! There is no limit to the perfection you can create in your mind. When you do it, you will feel yourself lighten up and smile. This kind of daydream can be done any day any time of day. For me...today was the perfect day to create a perfect daydream...and I did...and I felt great! Try it, you'll like it!
Don't try this while driving or operating heavy machinery:-)

Ultimately our choice

So, today's events fell a bit short of my intentions. I was going for an outcome of complete success on my end to a unpleasant situation. However, I ended up with a poor excuse of a partial success, if there is such a thing. When victory didn't happen, I felt ripped off and taken advantage of among other less than desirable afflictions. I did the right things. I deserved to be successful. The other party involved owed me retribution. I could go on and on, but to what avail? Victimhood feels a lot worse and is less likely to improve your chances for a better outcome next time than accepting the loss, looking at your piece of it and moving on. Is that giving up? Is it surrendering? Is that settling for less than you wanted? Maybe and maybe not. It depends on your perception of the situation. Will anger, bitterness and resentment improve the situation, how bad do you want to "win" and how much responsibility are you willing to take for what occurs in your life? All of that and more effect how you choose to respond to the overall event and what you "call" the outcome...a success, a failure or maybe a learning experience. I chose to examine my piece of this mess and be grateful for a partial success. I see it now as better than no semblance of success at all. I am still disappointed and surprised that a company could do business as shabbily as hey did...but I choose not to allow those thought/opinions to consume me.

The perfect place for me

Before I moved to NM last month, I took some time to walk along the Susquehanna River near my home in MD. There was a promenade there where I spent some magical moments and times when I was comforted by the serenity of the river's gentle flow. I especially loved the ducks and geese...the ducklings born late spring were my favorite! There were wonderful flowers and trees along the path. I was truly blessed to have lived so close to this sweet space for more than 5 years. I knew that I would miss it, but it was time to move on.
Today I discovered a place called Tingley Beach in SE Albuquerque. To my absolute joy, there were ducklings, geese, beautiful flowers and a walkway surrounding the water!!! AND a magnificent view of the Sandia Mountains! Butterflies and dragonflies danced around everywhere, too. Fish swam playfully in the water. To top it off, there was a train that drove right along the edge of the land that travels through there, the zoo and the botanical gardens.
I believe that my gratitude for my time at the river and my willingness to let it go contributed to the discovery of this new magical place where new memories will be made. Be truly grateful for at least one thing in your life every day and you will feel the magic.

Unsolicited wake up call

Just before dawn, I was jolted awake by an unusually loud and obnoxious sound! As I gathered my wits about me, I realized it was the building's fire alarm. I was pretty calm, thinking about what I wanted to take with me when I left the apt. I chose my pocketbook, my cell phone, my camera a bottle of water and my keys, of course. When I reached the bottom of the outdoor stairs, there was no one/no thing in sight! No fire, no smoke, no evacuees. As I stood there wondering what was going on, I realized that I felt absolutely no concern that all my worldly possessions could possibly go up in smoke. It surprised me a little since I had just spent all my savings to transport 6500 lbs. of 'stuff' to NM. I looked at what I had taken with me. The pocketbook-ID, a few bucks, and pics of my kids. The cell phone-a means of communication with those I love and if I needed help. The camera-to take pictures of my fabulous future adventures. Water-life giving substance. The keys-well, to drive if need be. This horrendous penetrating noise pollution was more than a thing that woke me from my physical slumber...it was a wake up call for my heart as well. To live, to be free to move about, to have trust in the future, to remember the sweetness in my life and to be able to communicate with those I love...I guess that's what is at the top of my list of important things. Just then the alarm was silenced. Instead of going back in my apt, I took a long, slow 4 mile walk taking in as much as I could of the beauty around me. What would you take with you? It might be interesting to think about.

A Sight for sore eyes!

This afternoon I was sitting at a red light on my way to run some errands. Across the street...the oncoming traffic lane-also stopped...I watched a man jump out of his car and was moving fast. First, I thought there was going to be a Chinese fire drill scene. But he stopped at the rear driver side of the car in front to screw on the guy's gas cap!!! The owner of that car jumped out and put his hand on his shoulder and they both smiled and got back into their cars just in time for the light to change! Random acts of kindness-they are a wondrous thing! It felt so good seeing one. It feels even better doing one...try it today!

What goes up must come down!

This is what I watched happen across the street from my balcony this morning about 7:15! It brought a thought to mind. 'Sometimes, in life, we don't land where we think we will when we take off! So we must make sure our flight is a memorable one!' Happy flying!

Westward-ho!

Welcome to Albuquerque! Maryland? Wow, that's a long ways away! What brings you here to New Mexico? Well, good for you! I hope you have a grand adventure here!
These are the questions and comments that have been ringing in my ears for the last 3 weeks! And I love it! Yes, I upped and moved nearly 2,000 miles for a grand adventure.
Little did I know that the first leg of the adventure was going to involve me not having any of my worldly possessions for the first 2 weeks! Even more exciting was that my car would actually hang around MD for yet another week!
If not for friends...while I waited in my wonderful new apartment, I was fully equipped with all the necessities of life by my friends Marie and John who live nearby. They donated an air mattress, pump, pillows, pan, pot, spatula, card table, 4 chairs, and a lamp. I rounded up some grub and bathroom tissue at the store...driven by Marie! It was truly an adventure...one that will go down in the books! I learned that I can do fine with very little for a short time anyway and that friends are indispensable! By the way, the pool, hot tub, gym and spectacular mountain and Rio Grande Valley view from my balcony helped too! More to come.