Why this? Why now?

I have given a great deal of thought to whether or not a blog is right for me. I have been on an amazing journey - some of it very sad, some of it profoundly joyful. Transformation is possible - I know because it is happening with me.

I can't say for sure when it all started, other than it started happening with tremendous regularity upon my 40th birthday. This may be a rather normal occurence - you reach a certain age and start wondering if this is all there is in life. Am I doing what I'm meant to be doing? Are my beliefs real - what are my beliefs exactly?

Here's a smattering of the journey -

I got a divorce and began to discover and explore life from a much different perspective.

I began thinking about my health and researching and reaching out to learn things like: what I should be doing to avoid heart disease. The book, The China Study, changed my life. I am now a vegetarian. This also led me to quit smoking....and finally to stop drinking, too (I don't care what the studies say - just eat the grapes instead).

I have embarked upon an incredible spiritual journey - from a comparative religions class, to studying Ayurvedic living (of which I'm now studying to become an instructor), to learning more about Buddhism, and, as documented here in my blog, an active study of A Course In Miracles.

I am in a place in my life where I finally recognize very consciously that what I put in my mind and in my body is what comes out. As I am reminded most days when listening to Deepak Chopra's soul affirmations, "My body is the garden of my soul."

May I be of vessel of spirit, of loving-compassion.

Yes, I do think a blog is right for me. Thank you for joining me.
Namaste,

mac

Monday, May 2, 2011

Day 122 - Lesson 121

Forgiveness is the key to happiness.

This lesson addresses so well:
The unforgiving mind is full of fear, and offers love no room to be itself; no place where it can spread its wings in peace and soar above the turmoil of the world.  The unforgiving mind is sad, without the hope of respite and release from pain.  It suffers and abides in misery, peering about in darkness, seeing not, yet certain of the danger lurking there.

The practice periods for this lesson included thinking about someone you dislike and someone you love.  As you think about and see the person you dislike, you look for some 'light' in him.  You see your friend, the person you love, and the light is clear.  You then work to combine the two. This, of course, encourages you to see love in those we don't like.  To see ourselves in each other.

I think these kinds of exercises are always good.  They remind me not to take things personally, to keep my ego in check. To recognize that just because I feel a certain way about how I think someone has treated me and why I think they may have treated me a certain way - that I really don't have any idea.  I don't know what's happening in someone else's head.  I don't know that they've done anything intentionally.  And, frankly, if they have it's up to me completely whether or not I let it bother me.

When I choose forgiveness I choose love, and when I choose love I choose peace.  And this is the perfect recipe for happiness.
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