Food for Thought

So many experiences unveil themselves for us to learn valuable lessons. I am sitting in a doctor’s for that fun once a year women’s appointment.  I am sitting across from a woman who has studs in her face by her right eye.  I asked her how the studs stay in and she replied by hooks.  She stated that her body is a temple and she treats as such by getting piercings, tattoos, etc.  Interesting and this is the first time I heard someone say they put body jewelry and tattoos on their body to treat their bodies as a temple. Interesting.  I try to treat mine like a temple by exercising and eating right.  Recently, I was reminded how life can be so short.  I have an uncle who is facing his mortality.  I am only 15 years younger than this man.  I learned about a young person who decided to take his life.  Such a loss.  I want to celebrate each day. 

I like to focus on what’s going right in my life.  Our pets are healthy.  My husband is my best friend.  Our children are healthy and relatively happy most of the time.  I am able to take long walks, go snowshoeing, do 50 jumping jacks, and other exercises.  I am a good cook and relatively good housekeeper.  However, cooking and cleaning is not my life.  Family is considered one of my priorities.  I love spending time with my grandchildren and grown children. 

I avoid negative people who are self serving like the plague.  I know using words like the plague are over used; but I think it fits here.  I have had people in my life who believe they are entitled to more than I am willing to give because these very same individuals have been exploitive and downright mean. 

I enjoy having fun with interesting people. I spent time with people last Thursday who love animals as much as I do.  I chose my second spouse because he loved children and animals.  That was my barometer:  must love children and animals or hit the road.  He lived up to both of those personal expectations.  If he didn’t we would not be best friends today.  I examine my values and question if decisions I am about to make are associated with my personal values. 

My Core Values and Beliefs:

Integrity

Reliability

                Diligence

                Safe and Nurturing Environments

                Creativity

                On-going Learning and Growth

                Respect

                Flexibility

                Sense of Humor

I learned that the Southwest Airline Company have a requirement of the staff they are about to hire, they must have a sense of humor.  We need to be able to laugh at ourselves.  We are all a work in progress and make plenty of mistakes.  I have a saying that I use a lot: Mistakes are only mistakes if you don’t learn from them, otherwise they are lessons. 

I believe we need to put into our communities what we take out of them. We must volunteer for so many reasons from helping others to feeling good about ourselves.  I get a really good feeling when I volunteer at the animal control shelter and I pay attention to so many cats who need attention.  But guess what this fills my tank too. I feel good when an event is well received by the elders of the Lake Superior Elders, a group in which I was elected president. I want everybody to get that good feeling.  It’s like watching the last few minutes of Scrooged with Bill Murray.  I get it now, I really do.  It’s a feeling, a good feeling. 

Please do this for you, make a list of your values and beliefs, explore your sense of humor and try to nurture it, and if you can avoid negativity or people who are not very nice definitely do so.  Do it now.  Make yourself a priority.  You need to take care of yourself in order to help others.  Take time to get to know yourself.  I bet there is a really great person just waiting to get your attention.  Take care of your four selves: spirituality; physical; intelligence; and emotional selves.  Yes your body, mind and spirit need to be treated like a temple.