Daily Inspirations

[Cowinkie]

I am so enjoying Lynlee's quotes. They give me a moment to think about myself and my life. I thought some of you might be feeling the same and wanted to start a thread where we could come and share thoughts that touch us. They can be humorus or thought provoking. I have two to share today.

[Cowinkie]

Letting Go of Understanding
Deeper Meanings

by Madisyn Taylor

We don't always need to know the deeper meaning of everything that happens in our lives.

All of us who seek to be conscious and aware regard our experiences as teachers, and we try to discern what lessons we are learning from the things that happen in our lives. Sometimes the lesson is very clear from the get-go, and other times we have to really search to understand the deeper meaning behind some event. While this search often yields results, there also comes a point in the search where what we really need to do is move forward. It is possible that we are not meant to know the deeper meaning of certain occurrences. Answers may come later in our lives, or they may come as a result of letting go, or they may never come.

We are all part of a complex system of being, and things work themselves out in the system as a whole. Sometimes we are just playing a necessary part in that process with a result larger than we can understand. It may have very little to do with us personally, and while that can be hard to understand, it can also free us from overthinking the matter. Sometimes it is best to see it in terms of karma, a past debt we have been able to repay in this way, or as the clearing of energy. We can simply thank the event for being part of our experience and let it go. This completes the process that the occurrence has made possible.

To make this letting go official, we can perform a ritual, make a final journal entry on the subject, or sit in meditation with the intention of releasing the event from our consciousness. As we do so, we summon it one last time, honoring it with our attention, thanking it, and saying good-bye. We then let it go out the door, out the window, out the top of our heads, or into the earth through the bottoms of our feet, liberating ourselves from any burden we have carried in association with it.

[Cowinkie]

Defense Mechanisms
Beyond Behavior
by Madisyn Taylor

We can let go of our defense mechanisms when we are ready to be truly honest with ourselves.

We all have defense mechanisms that we’ve developed over time, often without being aware of it. In times of trouble, the behaviors that have worked to get us past challenges with the least amount of pain are the ones that we repeat; even when part of us knows they no longer work. Such behavior is a natural response from our mental and physical aspects. But because we are spiritual beings as well, we have the ability to rise above habits and patterns to see the truth that lay beyond. And from that moment on, we can make choices that allow us to work directly from that place of truth within us.

Most of our defense mechanisms were developed in childhood; from the moment that we realized crying would get us the attention we craved. Passive aggressive ways of communicating may have allowed us to get what we needed without being scolded, punished or laughed at, so we learned to avoid being direct and honest. Some of us may have taken refuge in the lives of others, discovering ways to direct attention away from ourselves entirely. Throwing ourselves into projects or rescuing others from themselves can be effective ways to avoid dealing with our own issues. And when people are truly helped by our actions, we get the added bonus of feeling heroic. But while defenses can keep away the things we fear, they can also work to keep our good from us.

When we can be honest with ourselves about what we truly desire, then we can connect our desires to the creative power of the spirit within us. Knowing that we are one with the energy of the universe allows us release any need for defense. Trusting that power, we know that we are exactly where we are meant to be, and that challenges bring gifts of growth and experience. When we can put down arms raised in defense, then we are free to use our hands, minds, hearts and spirits to mold and shape our abundant energy to create and live our lives.

[Lynlee]

Interesting quotes Cowinkle. They cover a lot of ground. I like the first.

agreeing with the karma connections of family.
Disagree with the passive aggressive example.. Sometimes it seems to be the taught , preferred interaction model in some families when things are taken down the notch from outright aggression. I'm not sure that it gets anyone their own way as it denies reality, and the hospitality of meaningful communication.
Getting past that hopefully builds a new karmic reality.

[Cowinkie]

I'd rather look back
at my life and say
"I can't believe I did that"
instead of saying
"I wish I did that".

[Cowinkie]

This from a web site called Makes Me Thinks..... (MMT)

Today I was traveling to Kenya and I met a refurgee from Zimbabwe. He said he hadn't eaten anything in over 3 days and looked extremely skinny and unhealthy. Then my friend offered him the rest of the sandwich he was eating. The ffirst thing the man said was "We can share it." MMT

[Harriet]

I came across Mark Twain quotes that I don't want to save until his Nov bday because they are too delightful to chance forgetting. If this is not exactly the place to put them, perhaps they'll serve as an intermission.

He is still a mystery, a riddle wrapped in an enigma, shrouded in a white suit. Twain is remarkable several times over. - from University of California Press, publisher of Twain's autobiography

"Twain was a man of many parts. And not many of them from the same kit." - Malcolm Jones

Nothing's made in vain.
But the fly came near it. - Mark Twain

Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been. - Mark Twain

Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest. - Mark Twain

and from Twain's brief, effective handbills for an 1866 debate in San Francisco:

"Doors open at 7:30.
The trouble will begin at 8:00."

[Cowinkie]

No Harriet...this is just the place to put them.

Today as I was waiting at a red light I was an old woman with a cane helping a yound man in a wheelchair cross the street that was riddled with potholes from road construction. MMT ....Makes me think

[Cowinkie]

The Bathrobe... A true story.

Years ago my mom had a co-worker and friend named Norma. Norma was a fun-loving type of gal. Right after a Halloween night Norma came to work and told my mom about a prank her friend had pulled on her husband the night before.

Seems Norma's friend decided to play a trick on her husband on Halloween Night. She began answering the door and handing out candy as the kids arrived. After a while she told her husband she was experiencing a terrible headache and asked him to take over answering the door while she went upstairs to lay down.

With her husband answering the door, Norma's friend headed to her bedroom. Once there, she quickly took off all her clothes, slipped her robe over her naked body and pulled a stocking over her head. Then she quietly snuck out the back door. She waited till there were no children in sight, walked up to her own front door and knocked. When her husband answered, she yelled..,trick or treat..and opened up her bathrobe exposing her naked body.

Her husband was so shocked he fainted on the spot hitting his head on the floor which caused a nasty gash. After her friend aroused her husband it became very apparent that a trip to the ER was necessary to address the gash. Once there Norma's friend had to explain to the staff just what caused the cut.

Norma thought this story was hysterical and vowed to my mom she was going to do the exact same thing on the next Halloween night.

True to her word, Norma repeated the same procedure that next Halloween. She complained of a headache, had her husband Ted take over, ran upstairs to strip down, grabbed her bathrobe, wrapped it around her, pulled on the stocking and headed out the back door.

She waited till no one was around, ran up to her front door, knocked and yelled ...trick or treat..when Ted pulled the door open.
As soon as he saw her, and much to her dismay, Ted yelled...Norma, get in here, now!!!

"How did you know it was me?" Norma asked her husband. "Why I recognized your bathrobe" he replied.

Moral of the story...if you're planning to duplicate this prank, make sure you buy a new bathrobe

[Ivy]

Cowinkie.... I just read The Bathrobe story and laughed. It sounds like something fun to do, but it's too bad there was a trip to ER. Yes, a new robe would make it even more fresh and funny and unexpected.