I came across this nice little film called The Butterfly Circus.
At the height of
the Great Depression, the showman of a renowned circus leads his troupe through the devastated American landscape, lifting the spirits of audiences along the way. During their travels they discover a man without limbs at a carnival sideshow, but after an intriguing encounter with the showman he becomes driven to hope against everything he has ever believed.
Great little film! (20 min.)
This song by Nickelback contains some great reminders of why we are here…If Today Was Your Last Day.
This is an article from Diane Sollee of smartmarriages.com,
Daddies Matter
A number of years ago, 60 Minutes featured a show about elephants.
Several decades ago there was a problem with overpopulation on an African game preserve of too many elephants. Limited by the technology available at the time, the solution arrived at was to move the babies to new preserves.
Everyone watched, gravely concerned, but the babies thrived. However, unintended consequences emerged. At the new locations, a decade or so after the transfer, someone was killing off rhinoceros which are an endangered species. It turned out the killers were young male elephants.
At first the game wardens couldn’t believe it, this was uncharacteristic behavior never before seen in elephants. They deduced that the young males had grown up without fathers – without male role models. New technology had made it possible to transport into these locations some large mature bull elephants. There was concern that it would be too late, that the adolescent males had to have grown up with their elders, that bringing “daddies” in now would do no good. But they tried it anyway.
It worked like a charm. The mature bulls arrived and set things straight. The young males immediately stopped their precocious, rampant sexuality, killing and violence.
The conclusion drawn on 60 Minutes was that we had no idea that the social system of the elephants was so complex, interconnected, and so elegant.
And so it goes. Daddies do matter, even in elephants.
Diane Sollee, smartmarriages.com
Transcendental meditation is a relatively new form of meditating in comparison with Yoga and Buddhist meditation. It was developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1957 as a way of developing the mind so that a person can rise above, or “transcend”, beyond the noise and stress of daily life. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was a student of the famous Hindu Guru, Swami Brahmananda Saraswati. From 1958 onwards, he travelled the world teaching his spiritual regeneration and enlightenment.
Transcendental meditation had its beginnings in the Far East and then spread to the western world. After three years of travelling and teaching, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi realized that he needed to train his followers so that they could spread this form of meditation even further.
The first international training course was held in Rishikesh, India in 1961. As more and more people all over the world realized the benefits of this form of meditation, scientists began researching it and by 1970 the first scientific papers were published espousing the technique. Since then there have been hundreds of such documents published, all of which show that transcendental meditation:
• helps to reduce the stress levels in the body leading to overall good health
• helps to increase a person’s creativity
• helps to heighten the intelligence level of the meditator
• brings about self-realization
• could actually help you to live longer
Transcendental meditation does not have any religious affiliation, but it did have a political association in the Natural Law Party. This political party was formed in 1992 with the goal of using the principles of the meditation as a way of finding ways to solve the problems of society – crime, injustice, economics and environmental issues.
A basic transcendental meditation courses are generally expensive and in spite of the high cost, an estimated five million people all over the world have taken these courses. There are also advanced courses available for extra costs. This process of meditation is relatively easy to learn in the seven-step procedure used in the four days of the course. Each day begins with a two hour lecture and the instruction starts with a ceremony performed by the instructor after which the students learn the technique and start practicing.
The principle behind the technique of transcendental meditation is that the source of all thoughts is the deepest level of the subconscious and is far beyond what the normal senses can experience. In this meditation, the practitioner takes one thought or sound and focuses on this so that it can be experienced in the deepest possible way.
The Maharishi compared it to a bubble of water that starts deep in the water and is only visible when it reaches the surface. He said that our thoughts are the same way – they start in the subconscious and rise to the conscious level of the mind.
In January, 2008, the Maharishi retired as the chairman of the transcendental meditation organization. He passed away the following month in Vlodrop, Netherlands, where he had lived for almost 20 years, coordinating his centers of teaching through an organization known as the Global Country of World Peace.
“It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
I know a lot about a lot, but one of the things I probably know the most about is being married. And no, it’s not because I’ve done it many times. I’ve only done it once and it seems to have stuck!
My wife and I have been married for 23 years. Wow! When you say it out loud it sounds so long! In reality it doesn’t seem that long. When I do say it out loud people often remark how amazing that is nowadays.
They’re right. It is amazing. But not because of the time, rather because it has been amazing!
I have spent half of my life married to one person. I’m not trying to brag, it’s just a fact. The amazing part is that with all we have shared over those years, good and bad, we have always wanted to continue on the journey together afterwards.
How have we done it? Heres the secret to it all….RESPECT. We respect each other. We love, understand and support each other, but I don’t think any of that would make it last if we did not respect each other.
We are each others best friends. We really are. That’s the other part that makes our marriage work. We share all our thoughts, dreams and fears as only best friends can. It keeps our relationship strong.
So if you’ve bothered reading up to here you may be thinking, yeah that’s nice! That’s not how it works for me!
I guess I should clarify my previous statement. I know a lot about Marriage. My Marriage.
But in the end, that’s really the only one you need to be an expert on!
Thanks for listening.
Peace
Rick
“I have known many good people who did not believe in God. But I have never known a human being who was good who did not believe in people.” ~ John Lovejoy Elliott
In this blog the other day I was talking about how people can lash out at another for no real reason. Well today I experienced the opposite of that.
My Wife was attending a conference in Vancouver during the week and our Boys and I came along for a 2 night get away. While at the conference my Wife’s wallet was picked out of her purse. We hoped it would be turned in at a lost and found, but of course that did not happen. She contacted all the credit card companies, credit bureau, etc. and reported it to the Police.
We arrived back home yesterday. My Wife received a phone call this morning from a woman in Vancouver…she had found a wallet on the sidewalk in one of the busiest downtown areas in the city! She was leaving on a trip tomorrow morning and had the wallet with her at her place of work. She wondered if someone could come and get it.
I drove to where she worked as a salesperson in an extremely high-end Women’s clothing store. She returned the wallet, saying that she found it laying on the sidewalk near a bus stop and thought my wife would probably be looking for it!
I thanked her many times over and explained how the wallet had disappeared and how the convention centre had said that at least four more wallets had been reported missing.
I turned to leave and then turned back to ask for her business card, which she gave to me. I said goodbye and thanked her again. She suggested that if my Wife was in the area shopping that she should come see her sometime.
When I returned the wallet to my Wife, she went through it, only to discover that the only thing missing was a small amount of cash!
As far as the Woman who found it, we intend to repay her with some sort of gift of appreciation. She did not have to do what she did, but she did. Not because she was looking for a reward or payback of some sort, but just because she thought it was the right thing to do.
So if you are feeling a little disheartened by the stories about all the “Bad people” in the world, remember this one.
The one about the “Good People”!
Peace
Rick
photo by Jon Sullivan
I think (my opinion again!), that often people that are attacking others are in reality trying to protect a part of their ego that feels threatened by others opinions or actions. I know that I have been guilty of attacking someone’s comments or opinions because I perceived them as a threat to who I was and my way of life.
The hardest thing to do is to separate yourself from your ego and stop defending it from these perceived dangers to it.
I’m still working on it. I hope others do to.
Peace!
Rick
“Peace starts with me.”
Many of us would like to see World peace but find that the whole idea of doing something about it totally overwhelming! But Peace of any kind has to start at the beginning. We have to first feel at peace with ourselves before we can find peace anywhere else. If we are going to fight with our neighbour over leaves from his tree falling in our yard, how can we expect to make peace in the World?
The frustrations and anger we express to others come from us lacking peace within ourselves. We must find peace inside before we can express it outside. In order to find that peace within you need to discover what is causing turmoil in your life.
If you are able to devote a few minutes of your day to being quiet and still, you will start to find that peace within you. At first it will be difficult and may actually make you feel slightly uncomfortable, but like anything in life if you remain committed it will become habit.
You don’t have to become a monk, but allowing yourself time to discover who you are inside and what you really want in life will give you that inner peace that will translate into outer peace.
Peace! :~)
Rick
Deepak Chopra, the incredible best-selling Spiritual Author, is featured on a biofeedback software adventure which combines the science of biofeedback and the life-like graphics of state of the art software. The product is called The Wild Divine Project. Using finger sensors, you are able to use your body, like your breathing, to affect changes on the screen and in the process learn how to better use your mind to achieve enhanced states of meditation, rest and mind-body balance.
Check out a video sample here!
Wild Divine – The Passage
This man in a Ford Granada pulls up next to a guy in a Rolls Royce at a stop sign. Their windows are open and he yells at the guy in the Rolls: “Hey, you got a telephone in there?” The guy in the Rolls says, “Yes, of course I do.” “I got one too… see?” “Uh, huh, yes, that’s very nice.” Then the man in the Granada says, “You got a fax machine?” “Why, actually, yes, I do.” “I do too! See? It’s right here!” “Uh-huh.” The light is just about to turn green and the guy in the Granada says, “So, do YOU have a double bed in back there?” And the guy in the Rolls says, “NO! Do you?” “Yep, got my double bed right in back here — see?!” The light turns and the man in the Granada takes off. Well, the guy in the Rolls is not about to be one-upped, so he goes immediately to a customizing shop and orders them to put a double bed in back of his car. About two weeks later, the job is finally done and he picks up his car and drives all over town looking for the Granada. He finally finds it parked alongside the road so he pulls his Rolls up next to it. The windows on the Granada are all fogged up and he feels a little awkward about it, but he gets out of his newly modified Rolls and taps on the foggy window of the Granada. The man in the Granada finally opens the window a crack and peeks out. The guy in the Rolls says, “Hey. Remember me?” “Yeah, yeah, I remember you. What’s up?” “Check this out — I got a double bed installed in my Rolls.” And the man in the Granada says, “YOU GOT ME OUT OF THE SHOWER TO TELL ME THAT?!”
me2everyone
