Finding the Joy...

"And the true realism, always and everywhere, is that of the poets: to find out where joy resides, and give it a voice far beyond singing. For to miss the joy is to miss all." -- Robert Louis Stevenson

This one little bit of sage wisdom has completely transformed my life. It's really that simple.

Find the Joy.

Choose the Joy.

Really! It's THAT simple!

Yep.

February 14, 2008
Being Clear About Desires
Getting What We Want

The best way to get what we want from life is to first know what we want. If we haven’t taken the time to really understand and identify what would truly make us happy, we won’t be able to ask for it from those around us or from the universe. We may not even be able to recognize it once it arrives. Once we are clear about what we want, we can communicate it to those around us. When we can be honest about who we are and what we want, there is no need to demand, be rude or aggressive, or manipulate others that are involved in helping us get what we want. Instead, we know that we are transmitting a signal on the right frequency to bring all that we desire into our experience.

As the world evolves, humanity is learning to work from the heart. We may have been taught that the way to get what we want is to follow certain rules, play particular games, or even engage in acts that use less than our highest integrity. The only rules we need to apply are those of intention and connection. In terms of energy, we can see that it takes a lot of energy to keep up a false front or act in a way that is counter to our true nature, but much less energy is expended when we can just be and enjoy connections that energize us in return. Then our energy can be directed toward living the life we want right now.

Society has certain expectations of behavior and the roles each of us should play, but as spiritual beings we are not bound by these superficial structures unless we choose to accept them. Instead, we can listen to our hearts and follow what we know to be true and meaningful for us. In doing so, we will find others who have chosen the same path. It can be easy to get caught up in following goals that appear to be what we want, but when we pursue the underlying value, we are certain to stay on our right path and continue to feed our soul.

Happiness

"True happiness is an acceptance of life as it is given to us, with its diminishment, mystery, uncontrollability, and all." -- Michael Gellert


Yes. Yes, indeed. And my acceptance of late has come in the form of remembering to honor the same advice I give my children. "Follow the Joy. Don't do something that doesn't feel right to *you*."

Last Sunday, I was as far away from Peace as I'd been in a very long time. I was consumed with the thought of this being my last free day with my family. Come Monday morning, when my phone would rip me out of restful sleep, the call from a local school, asking me to come in and take Mrs. So and So's class for the day; I would belong to someone, some thing, else.

I moped around here all day, incredibly sad. My family was sad, too. Nobody wanted me to do this, myself included. So, why did I think I "had" to? I kept telling myself, "It's the right thing to do". Hmmmmmm? Really? Is it "right" to feel soul-less? Because that's how it was feeling, as I tried to imagine myself putting on clothes that I hate, walking down the hallway, fronting someone that I'm not, being with other people's children all day, reading to them and trying my very hardest to be nice, while my children are away from me.

I went to bed Sunday night fully expecting that phone to ring Monday morning. I slept fitfully, dreaming all night long about a million different things. I kept waking up thinking, "I don't want to do this..."

Well, the phone didn't ring. My family was happy, I was happy. Lesson learned. I won't be leaving my family to do something that I'm less than enthusiastic about. Thankfully, my wonderful man is fully on board, too. He wants me around. That's cool.

We've decided we'd rather be in debt a couple years longer, and be happy, then be out of debt a couple years earlier and be miserable.

Following the Joy.............and oooooooooooo, it feels so good!

Wednesday

Saylor started coughing yesterday, and said he had pain when coughing today, so we ventured out and took him to the chiropractor, for an adjustment and to soothe mama's fears that all was well in those precious lungs. His lungs are clear, so we'll keep doing what we've been doing; lots of herbals, homeopathics, eucalyptus in the vaporizer, Raven and Frankincense rubbed on the chest and back, and some arnica tabs to help with his sore little ribs. Tomorrow, he'll be better! Yes, yes, yes!

Stone and Sage went for a visit to Haakon and Henry's house, so Saylor and I rented a bloody, gory vampire movie, and brought it back home for a fun little date. Stone reeaallly! needed some play time with friends, and enjoyed his time there. We drove over to pick them up around 5 and Stone wasn't quite ready yet, so Mary (H&H's mom) agreed to bring him back to our house on her way to volleyball around 7.

We returned the vampire movie (Blood Rayne) and picked up a couple others from Red Box. Don't you love Red Box! Heck Ya! $1 movies. I'll take it! We brought home Across the Universe and Game Plan. The boys requested Game Plan first, so that's what we watched tonight while we nibbled, er, ah, scarfed some guacamole. But tomorrow, we watch the movie I've been wanting to see for a long time!

I talked to John this afternoon, around 5, and he said he'd been in bed all day because he woke up feeling really rotten this morning. Dang. So, he may be coming home tomorrow where he can have some TLC, homemade chicken noodle soup and oranges juiced by the dozen. I'll do my volunteer shift on Saturday at the Breadroot, then meet with a prospective doula client on Sunday.

And again, I'm NOT getting sick. No, no, never, never uh, uh, uh! Wait, I think in LoA terms, I would say, "I'm healthy, I'm so healthy! I just love my healthy self, thank you Universe for bestowing the Gift of health onto this Grateful mama!"

All is Well...

The Yucks

We've (or rather, I've) spent the last week tending to ill children. And it's not coming at an ideal time either, darnit! John was out of town last week, and is again this week. We spent some time at the opening weekend of the Stock Show, where I'm pretty sure we picked up some nasty bug. Why, oh why do they have a large gathering like that smack dab in the middle of the season of YUCK? Well, I learned my lesson!

Stone, Sage and I (Saylor opted to hang out with Grandma) did get to go watch some bull riders on that first Saturday of the show, which I want to keep saying was 'last Saturday', but in reality, it was the Saturday before last. And it's significant, because the day after the bull riding, the boys and I traveled to Hot Springs (about an hour away) to attend a chicken pox party. Yay! Good times, right? Well, yes. Except for Stone feeling crappy for two days last week, and Saylor picking up where he left off, and he's still feeling like sh**. So much for my plan to have healthy, vibrant boys before catching the pox. No signs yet, but we're nearing the estimated incubation stage of 10-21 days, we're at day 9 today. I ordered a slew of homeopathics to help if we do indeed become a pox household in the near future.

And PLEEEEAAAASE let it happen when John's back home with his extra set of hands! The boys have kept me hopping, trying to be near this one, play with that one, and fix the other one something he's craving. Whew... no wonder we're all sleeping in every day! And (knock on wood!!!) I'm healthy. And I'm staying that way, so there!

I've gotten myself on both districts substitute teacher lists around here. It's a financial necessity at this point. Wonder how that's gonna look? The far-out radical free thinker spending my days in ---the system---. It's all good! I'll most likely be doing my bulk of subbing at the school that I taught at; so I'm just there to socialize! ;) oops...

John's flying to Portland, Oregon on the 12th to interview for a Supervisor position with a milling contractor there. Just not sure where that will all lead, so I won't even try to speculate.

Much Love and Blessed Be...