Learn how to let your light shine.



 

Watching the rain pour down on my newly seeded lawn makes me very happy, but, most everything makes me happy. I appreciate everything in my life, including all the times I have cried for things or people I have lost along the way. I realize that "things" cannot make me happy as they come and go from my life.​I also realize the people I have lost are not really gone. I have memories and messages from them all the time. A day rarely goes by when someone I love doesn't comes through loudly and clearly, especially when I am very busy doing the work I believe I was placed on this earth to do; sharing the practices I have learned from some of the greatest healers of all time.
             
I put a few more things in the "Maine Box" located on the floor of one of my closets this morning. I find it is so much easier to pack things slowly than to try to throw things together days before we start our journey. My mother taught me to set out a suitcase well before it was time to leave on vacation and it really does make packing easier for me. We will be leaving our Florida home to head for our summer cottage in Maine at the end of May, as we do every year, somewhere around my birthday. I have many good habits I learned from my parents. As I age I recognize and appreciate the lessons I learned from my obsessively clean and organized folks. Yes, I admit to being obsessive, compulsive and having attention deficit disorder, and am proud of these traits. I have always tried to put the tendencies to good use accomplishing more in a day than most people do in a week (according to friends who can't believe how much I can get done in a very short period of time).
             
Last fall, after we returned from the most wonderful LoveBug vacation, I listened to the voice in my head that kept saying, "Do something with the community building at the trailer park." I brought all my books and posters to the building and started a group called "Tuned In Tuesday." We met on a weekly basis beginning in October, some Tuesdays there were more than a dozen of us doing the on the shuffle board court overlooking the pond. The 9 Minute Miracle is an exercise I created while working on a labyrinth I created while healing and grieving after the sudden death of my 3rd husband. I have been sharing this exercise in nearly all of my classes since 2005.  Next week's "Tuned in Tuesday" will be a field trip to De Leon Springs State Park and the following week we will head to the ocean to do our exercises on the beach where the monks created a labyrinth.
             
We have a lovely group of women who are all trying to enhance their lives with ancient practices and "new" ideas.​In addition to our classes in Yoga, Qi Gong, Jin Shin Jyutsu and more we have created an organic garden at the Lakeside Village Trailer Park. I began this a couple of years ago in 5 gallon pails with a little help from residents at the park. The plants did fairly well and some residents enjoyed the bounty so I decided to take it a step further this season by placing straw bales in a rectangle around the area, emptying the pails into the center and adding an organic garden mix. With the help of the "Tuned in Tuesday" group and Michelle Nocerino's attentiveness to watering it when needed it is currently bursting at the seams with greens. I have been trying to encourage people to grow food not lawns for years and am excited to see my dreams becoming reality! We have people eating kale who never knew what it was before this year.
             
My Marvelous Mondays group of students at the Glenwood Presbyterian Church in De Leon Springs is so enthusiastic. For me to be able to teach Eastern Traditions and "far-out" energy exercises at a Christian based church pleases me beyond words. They are open to learning about the healing powers they have within them. Jesus tells us in the Bible He is not the only healer, that each of us can tap into God's pure energy to help others. I am going to miss seeing their smiling faces and hearing their heart-felt "Thank YOUs" at the end of each class. I look forward to returning for another 9 week session in the fall.
             
Everything I have ever dreamed of is present in my life. I have no worries, and when something comes up to upset my apple cart, I simply take a deep breath and take the steps to either make the situation right, or, accept what has happened and move on to my next moment. This would be a good time to quote the Serenity Prayer, "Give grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." When I researched the exact wording of the prayer on Wikipedia I found some interesting information I would like to share. First, credit for the prayer is given to Reinhold Niebuhr who believes he wrote it in 1941. A few lines from his extended version,"Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time, Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace..."
             
I especially like this rhyme written for Mother Goose by W.W. Bartley in 1695;
For every ailment under the sun,
There is a remedy or there is none.
​If there be one, try to find it.
​If there be none, never mind it.
             ​
As you can see, the sentiments we teach today, about living in the moment and accepting things we cannot change, have been around for centuries. The ideas are fundamental and I preach them often BECAUSE they truly are the best way to be, I am living proof.​ When I encounter something I "think should be different" I meditate on where my thoughts are coming from, is my ego interfering or am I really trying to change things for the Highest and Best. If I deem it is for the Highest and Best, then I search for the remedy. If I find none, I never mind it, I let it go. I know the only thing I control is my attitude and I choose to be happy and mindful, or neverminding-ful!

Make today a great day!