Pure – The Sound of Gratitude
Posted: June 30, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, cycling, exercise, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, gratitude, Grief, happiness, health, hope, kindness, life, love, marathon, meditation, motivation, natural, nature, Omaha, pain, paleo, passion, perspective, pilates, running, sorrow, trail running, whole foods, writing, yoga, Zen 15 CommentsMy expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus-
This past Thursday I walked into a local novelty store in the Omaha Old Market. “Good afternoon – How are you?” A kind worker asked me, a little too enthusiastic for the morning I was having. Life has been dreadful so far this Summer, and facing some stressful moments at the time … I did not shy away pretending all was fine.
I muttered, “I’m OK.” She replied back while stocking gift cards in a display, “Just OK? Not awesome? It’s a beautiful day outside! Cheer up dude, you should be thankful for what you have?”
…
There was no smile on my face this particular day. Although I still had gratitude and joy in my heart. Sometimes, expressing kindness and giving thanks does not require a peppy cheerleading routine.
Daily Meditation:
The message I am sharing today is a touch different from the norm around these parts. Simply put – There are times when we are experiencing difficult moments in our lives, and its hard to be – Awesome. Sometimes, openly telling others to “cheer up” and “be thankful for what you have” is a strategy for avoiding what they may be going through in the moment, the pain, the hurting and struggle.
It’s really easy to tell someone to cheer up. Rather than taking a moment to listen to what is going on in their lives…
All of us will face difficult moments in our lives, piss poor marathon this past weekend, stress at work and whatever else. Grief is a part of life and no matter how hard we try – we will never outrun it. We don’t have to have everything going right in order to be thankful, to express ever lasting kindness, in any situation.
The Swiss Family Robinson
Posted: June 19, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, cycling, exercise, family, freshly pressed, friends, happiness, kindness, life, love, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, passion, perspective, pilates, Poetry, Ron Padgett, running, The Swiss Family Robinson, trail running, writing Leave a comment…
I never quite understood who
the Swiss Family Robinson were.
The inversion of their name
confused me at an early age,
just as the name of Mary Baker Eddy
sounded as though she started out
as a woman and turned into
a guy named Eddy. At Walt
Disney World there is an attraction
called Swiss Family Robinson that
involves a tree house, so I assume
they lived in a tree. Why they did
I don’t know. It sounds rather
stressful to me, the fear
of falling out. I could look up
the Swiss Family Robinson
in a reference book, but
it’s interesting not to know
something that everyone else knows.
However, I would like to know if there
are many people named Robinson
in Switzerland. If there are,
I would know something that
most people don’t know.
: Diferente :
Posted: June 18, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, CWS, cycling, exercise, family, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, Glacial Till Vineyard, gluten free, Gravel Grinder, happiness, health, hipster, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, passion, pilates, running, trail running, writing, yoga 7 CommentsPerhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything, it is because we are dangerously close to wanting nothing-
In our constantly connected – Strava – King of the Mountain – always on the run world, we are expected to perform better each and every day. Faster and farther than the day prior, and in many disciplines, we are rewarded for our speed. However, I have found out that it’s extremely difficult, if not impossible, to achieve the right objectives, if we are not clear on what success really looks like, the dedication and sacrifices required.
The greatest hockey player of all time Wayne Gretzky (Joe Sakic is a close second) once said after loosing in the 82-83 Stanley Cup finals to the more experienced New York Islanders “… They won and they’re wounded. We lost and we are fine …”
…
Sometimes we come up with these grandiose ideas that appear like winning solutions from afar. The temptation to sprint off of the treadmill to qualify for Boston, the enthusiasm of showing up and competing early one morning, and the passion we have for our chosen discipline, can and will get the better of us. It truly is only a matter of time. Being powered by our emotions and energy can be a wonderful time in our fleeting lives, as this energy can launch us to quickly achieve milestones once thought impossible, allowing us to charge through and over the obstacles that were lying on our path.
Invariably, though, emotion can only take us so far in life, we start slowing down, injuries start to visit more frequently, and then these obstacles come along, and stop us dead in our tracks.
Stuck, we might not know how to take the next step, or know even what the next step is …
Daily Meditation:
Like first time triathletes who start too fast, leisurely 5k folks who run at breakneck speeds off of the starting line, cyclist who envision themselves on the podium before half way … We risk running into a wall that is truly debilitating. Although, when we pause to breathe, honor ourselves, smile, embrace the moment instead of the outcome? This is when the obstacles in life, fall off of our path!
Talking in Bed
Posted: June 12, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, freshly pressed, friends, happiness, hope, kindness, life, love, meditation, motivation, musings, nature, passion, Philip Larkin, Poetry, simplicity, Talking in Bed, World Cup, writing 5 Comments…
Talking in bed ought to be easiest,
Lying together there goes back so far,
An emblem of two people being honest.
Yet more and more time passes silently.
Outside, the wind’s incomplete unrest
Builds and disperses clouds about the sky,
And dark towns heap up on the horizon.
None of this cares for us. Nothing shows why
At this unique distance from isolation
It becomes still more difficult to find
Words at once true and kind,
Or not untrue and not unkind.
At Ease
Posted: June 11, 2014 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: Amazing Arthur, blogging, family, gratitude, health, kindness, life, love, musings, nature, Omaha, perspective, Professional Showoff, The Balloon Brigade, writing 12 CommentsBe kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle-
I want to ask you, what I feel is a very important question this lovely morning: When someone does something genuinely nice for you, how does it truly make you feel?
…
I like to believe that life is characterized by the small acts of kindness we do for each other, and not just during Fathers Day, or any other holiday for that matter. Yesterday when I was about three miles into my twenty-mile commute home from work, I experienced a little give and extra suppleness coming from my rear tire. It was flat, and riding a folding tire while flat is not the most prudent idea in the world. But I’m one stubborn dude, so stubborn in fact, I “conveniently” left my spare tube and pump at home – because who needs them anyways?
The first couple who stopped to offer help eased my mind going haywire trying to figure out a plan to get home. Being stubborn, I refused to take a spare tube and instead borrowed their pump for a few fleeting moments. I’m smiling now thinking how kind they were to offer help to a complete stranger on a barren and vulnerable stretch of trail.
The second lady who stopped to offer help, and whose name I forget because I am both stubborn and forgetful … Did the very same as the couple an 1/8 of a mile before. “Here, please take my spare tube.” Was answered with – No way am I taking your only spare out here – Just a little air will get me to the bike shop three miles away in Papillion, NE.
Less than a 1/2 mile walking my bike slowly down the trail, I stumbled upon a friendly dude named Arthur and his daughter riding back from the library a short distance away in town. At this point there was no way I was getting home without help – None! Swelling with pride and being stubborn don’t get you very far do they?!? As we walked back to his house, sharing one of “those” awkward conversations most of us have when we first meet someone, I sensed that this moment had happened for a reason in my life. All of it, the flat, “forgetting” my gear at home, being stubborn, swelling with pride …
When I paused last night to think about how people actually spend their time (the posts I have been sharing of late) – How much time do we spend thinking about the good things we’ve been given and how much time do we spend complaining about the things that have gone wrong? I know that I spend much of my day lamenting about the annoying cyclist and drivers during my commute, the typical Nebraska weather, a poor night’s sleep, how work has been insane of late … What Arthur and his beautiful family shared with me in the fifteen minutes we spent together, is that, perhaps a change in focus from counting burdens to counting blessings is just what I needed.
Daily Meditation:
Over the course of an afternoon, a fortnight, our lives … We are not going to be able to say “thank you” for every little thing someone does for us. Although, when we are able to take a moment, to be grateful for the kindness we often overlook?
Thank you guys – Immensely – for getting me home safely, with my heart and soul swelling with gratitude!
CultFit 