Your Moment of Zen

So I have been following the developments in the legal profession about who owns your electronic property after you die. Not so much your computer but your downloaded music or movies and beyond that your e mails and the information that you have saved on your computer. I guess one could argue over value of a download- perhaps there is scarcity and value to downloads though a rare download does seem a bit odd.  

It got me thinking of what else you could leave someone or what else could be valuable property after ones death. I think that I will make a new will, and when I die I would like to leave my wife a sense of gratitude and thanks for putting up with me all these years and appreciation for all she has been and is for me. For my kids I would like to leave a sense of wonder, an attitude of gratitude and a deep seeded sense that the world for all its craziness and seeming uncaring attitude is a place full of wonder and love.

What would you like to leave behind you, for you I would like to leave a feeling that the world can be changed in a moment and that the smallest moment may hold a life changing discovery that you may call your moment of Zen.

Your moment of Zen

So, I read a lot of things on line and I read this and I wanted to share it. I wish I had written it but I believe in  what this says  with all my heart. I don't have the authors name but who ever you are I hope you won't mind my passing this on as a moment of zen.

peace.

I know you’re reading this.  And I want you to know I’m writing this for you.  Others will be confused.  They will think I’m writing this for them.  But I’m not.

This one’s for you.

I want you to know that life is not easy.  Every day is an unpredictable challenge.  Some days it can be difficult to simply get out of bed in the morning.  To face reality and put on that smile.  But I want you to know, your smile has kept me going on more days than I can count.  Never forget that, even through the toughest times, you are incredible.  You really are.

So smile more often.  You have so many reasons to.  Time and again, my reason is you.

You won’t always be perfect.  Neither will I.  Because nobody is perfect, and nobody deserves to be perfect.  Nobody has it easy, everybody has issues.  You will never know exactly what I’m going through.  And I will never know exactly what you’re going through.  We are all fighting our own unique war.

But we are fighting through it simultaneously, together.

Whenever somebody discredits you, and tells you that you can’t do something, keep in mind that they are speaking from within the boundaries of their own limitations.  Ignore them.  Don’t give in.  In this crazy world that’s trying to make you like everyone else, find the courage to keep being your awesome self.  And when they laugh at you for being different, laugh back at them for being the same.

Remember, our courage doesn’t always roar aloud.  Sometimes it’s the quiet voice at the end of the day whispering, “I will try again tomorrow.”  So stand strong.  Things turn out best for people who make the best out of the way things turn out.

And I am committed to making the best of it along with you.

Your Moment of Zen

So I have been thinking about forgiveness lately. Forgiveness is not saying, “What you did to me is okay.”  It is saying, “I’m not going to let what you did to me ruin my happiness forever.”  Forgiveness is the remedy.  It doesn’t mean you’re erasing the past, or forgetting what happened.  It means you’re letting go of the resentment and pain, and instead choosing to learn from the incident and move on with your life. If you live your life with hate in your heart you will end up hurting yourself more than the people you hate.   Remember, the less time you spend hating the people who hurt you, the more time you’ll have to love the people who love you.

Your moment of Zen

Your Moment of Zen

“So that’s why I haven’t had any moments of Zen in a long while- I’ve been busy with my job and stuff.”

The universe took a deep drink of its cappuccino and sighed, “You have been busy with job but not your work.   Your job is what you do to keep bread on the table- to keep the wolf from the door as they say but that isn’t your job. Your job is what your soul is here to accomplish, weather that be bringing light to the dark places in the world or finding ways to let go of the perceived boundaries that you are carrying with you. That’s the work that your soul is here to do- not the annual progress report, not the dishes in the dish washer, not even putting on the beautifully tailored suit. Your soul is on a journey and you are the only one responsible for getting it there. That’s your real job.

The universe finished its cappuccino and said, your moment of Zen 

Your Moment of Zen

So I was working from home on my work computer the other day sending e mails and my computer was giving me all sorts of problems and finally I decided reboot my "outlook". I paused as I shut down my e mail program and thought maybe that isn't the only outlook that needed rebooting. Take a moment and think about whats coming into your life, is it what you are looking for or what you want? Remember you find what you look for; perhaps its time for an outlook reboot,
Your moment of Zen

Your Moment of Zen

So I started a new book, I read a lot, and in it a man crosses the country to take a new job as police chief as his live on the west coast has fallen apart. Of course it’s a detective novel and people are either getting naked or shot- both if I am lucky. I was thinking about the characters plight and to him the one thing that he held on to in his emotional free fall was there are things that are right and things that are wrong and which side of that line he had to be on. It got me thinking about the things that hold on to and the things that keep us who we are. If you were in free fall- what would you hold on to- in essence what is there, when the chaff is burned away, that is the essence of you. What is there that keeps you being you when all else is stripped away; your routines? your belief?

Your moment of Zen.

Your Moment of Zen

So we recently moved and I had the pleasure of unpacking some things that I haven’t seen in awhile. One of them is an old map of Africa I bought some years ago.  What I love about it is that in the center of Africa is a place where there is text, the map is Italian and the text translates thusly. “We don’t really know much about what is here but if want information, here is an address you can write to them and ask.” I love that frank admission of what we know and what we don’t know.  The unknown unknown. It got me thinking about the places in the map of ourselves that we don’t know much about. Do you wonder what’s there or are any unknown lands inside yourself? Maybe you are a conquered land with no where left to find.  Perhaps its time to set off to find the source of your own Nile or your own Shangra La.

Your moment of Zen

Your Moment of Zen

So let’s keep it simple today. What if there really are rules for living- what if the universe is a sort of bank that we get back what we put in. What if for every happy good thought we put into the world we get one back. Wouldn’t you want to put goodness out there and wait for it to come pouring back to you? What if all it took to be happy was to see yourself as happy, healthy and full of joy? Would you not make the effort to see yourself that way? What if the only thing in your way was you and the only thing holding you back was yourself and all you really need to do is give yourself permission to be the glorious creature that you are here to be.

What if all this were true and to make it happen you only need to believe. We look for miracles and magical solutions but don’t believe that magic or miracles exist. Give yourself a chance to be the light that you are in the world. Let go of the commitment to the world as it is and give a chance to the world that can be. Really, what do you have to lose?
Your moment of Zen.

Your Moment of Zen

So I was making my daughters bed the other morning and I thought to myself- boy I love that crazy girl. (She is quite mad). Now as some of you may know that she was adopted and it was quite a process to go through. There were so many times that we almost gave up and walked away. Yet, we didn’t and almost three years later here she is. It got me thinking about direction and purpose. Situations conspired to bring our daughter to us and at any moment things could have turned out very differently. This present joy is years in the making and perhaps the present sorrow is only there to water the joy that is growing tomorrow. Our path to the now could be made so different by any number of circumstances. You’re here-reading now due to any number of influences. Is this random? Is there really no purpose to this or has every moment been leading up to this one moment.

A moment of Zen

Your Moment of Zen

So I have been thinking about something a friend in college once said, Time is that which separates order from disorder by keeping everything from happening at once. I like the thought but the more I think about it I realize that this whole idea of time is something that we have come up with to make this life a bit easier to understand. The truth is that this idea of time is a pair of handcuffs we have put on reality- it makes it easier to understand but it has a much to do with real reality as a tiger in the wild has to a tiger in the zoo. Try to think of time as a helpful construct a tool we use to make something easier to understand but not a definition or property of the thing itself. What if there is no time, no before or after, just right now?

Your moment of Zen

Your moment of Zen

So, I read a lot of things on line and I read this and I wanted to share it. I wish I had written it but I believe in  what this says  with all my heart. I don't have the authors name but who ever you are I hope you won't mind my passing this on as a moment of zen.

I know you’re reading this.  And I want you to know I’m writing this for you.  Others will be confused.  They will think I’m writing this for them.  But I’m not.

This one’s for you.

I want you to know that life is not easy.  Every day is an unpredictable challenge.  Some days it can be difficult to simply get out of bed in the morning.  To face reality and put on that smile.  But I want you to know, your smile has kept me going on more days than I can count.  Never forget that, even through the toughest times, you are incredible.  You really are.

So smile more often.  You have so many reasons to.  Time and again, my reason is you.

You won’t always be perfect.  Neither will I.  Because nobody is perfect, and nobody deserves to be perfect.  Nobody has it easy, everybody has issues.  You will never know exactly what I’m going through.  And I will never know exactly what you’re going through.  We are all fighting our own unique war.

But we are fighting through it simultaneously, together.

Whenever somebody discredits you, and tells you that you can’t do something, keep in mind that they are speaking from within the boundaries of their own limitations.  Ignore them.  Don’t give in.  In this crazy world that’s trying to make you like everyone else, find the courage to keep being your awesome self.  And when they laugh at you for being different, laugh back at them for being the same.

Remember, our courage doesn’t always roar aloud.  Sometimes it’s the quiet voice at the end of the day whispering, “I will try again tomorrow.”  So stand strong.  Things turn out best for people who make the best out of the way things turn out.

And I am committed to making the best of it along with you.

Your Moment of Zen

So I seem to have gotten to busy yesterday to send out the zen moment and it got me thinking about time and that of course brings me to one of my idols, Adolf Green. I had the pleasure of meeting him on several occasions and have always been a great fan of his work with Betty Comden. It reminds me of on of my favorite lyrics of his,

Twenty four hours can go so fast,

You turn around the time has passed,

When you’re in love time is tricky stuff,

Even a life time isn’t enough….

Time, maybe Andrew was right about the winged chariot at out back.

We can’t beat it, we can’t join it we can only enjoy it.

Isnt that what our life is about?
Your moment of Zen.

Your Moment of Zen

So it was a long time coming but this weekend it was time for me to place it in the wall. You see we have been building a house and I was waiting for the last moment before the walls were going to be going in to place my statue of St. Joseph that we used to sell our last home. I wanted to place something sacred and blessed in our home and when I was done I found it had really affected me. It took me back to a lesson with a voice teacher in my misspent youth. I was hell bent on singing an aria from an obscure operetta (yes, it seemed like a good idea at the time) and the teacher was kind enough to help me bring life to this simple melody that the character sang three times. I remember him saying how you had to take each thing that the character spoke of; think of the song as digging for gems and each phrase was another gem that the character had found. Here a diamond, here a ruby and this, an emerald. I think of that as I write, St. Joseph firmly ensconced in the wall of our new house. What gems are out there just waiting to be found in your world and what gems are there hidden inside us that someone else is about to discover and cherish forever,

Your moment of Zen.

Your Moment of Zen

So it’s a big world out there and sometimes you need a moment for yourself and to do something just for you. A friend told me about this and I wanted to share it. Try this at least three times a day, it helps and it works. Take a moment and find a place where you can find peace around you (as much as possible). Put your hand on your chest and breathe love into your hand and your heart. Think that the energy that you take in with this breath is pure love and it is going right into you, into your heart. Do this three times three times a day more often if you can.  You give so much out into the world, take a moment and give something to yourself. You deserve love and as you give it to the world make sure you give it to yourself.  Sometimes you are the only person who can give yourself what you truly need.

Your moment of Zen.

Your Moment of Zen

So, I never liked dominos growing up. I am still not sure that I like them but they intrigue me. Something about seeing those rooms full of dominos that someone has carefully set up tumbling over each one hitting the next and falling in a deafening cacophony of wood on wood.  It reminds me of one of the principals that I hope guides my life. We all stand or fall together and while it is so elemental it is easy to forget.  Take a moment to day and look at a significant person in your life. Think about if you were to fall, how they would catch you and how you stand or fall together. Perhaps you can tell them, were in this together- please put away the myth that you are alone. Then if you can take a moment and look out the window at people walking by or crowds of people on TV or in a photo. You are bound to them too. It’s easy to hate a crowd but harder to with a person. A person who has a name, a birthday, a mother and father – scars on their knee from learning to ride a bike – wounds that they carry so deeply that they think no one can see them – hopes that they hold like a handful of water with a goldfish inside.

In short, someone like you.

Your moment of Zen

Your Moment of Zen

So I was lucky this holiday season to be asked to sing in church over the holidays. The problem with performing at this time of the year is that colds are rampant and the stresses of the holidays take a toll on one’s body and ability to perform. Long story short I was feeling not my best and exhausted when the organ started to play and I took a deep breath and started to sing. All in all things went remarkably well and while it wasn’t my best, it wasn’t embarrassing.  The thing that got me was the amazingly positive response from people in attendance that evening. It make me think of a prayer that a friend once said to be before we went on stage together, “May the light that surrounds you now shine through you.”

This is my hope for all of you in this New Year, may you be a vessel for the greatness that surrounds you. I will keep writing; keep shining your light in the darkness and as always, be in touch.

Your moment of Zen.

Your Moment of Zen

So I am not sure when it happened but one morning I woke up and turned on the tv only to find myself watching a televangelist casting out evil spirits out of members of the audience who ( I guess) needed spirits cast out of them. I watched strangely fascinated and listened to the preacher tell the people how “the power of Christ compels them to be healed” .   The phrase has stuck in my head and at times I think of that statement and wonder, what it is that compels us in our lives. What is it that drags us forward, the power of Christ, yes that may be it but if not that then-what? 

Times winged chariot coming near? The thought of a happier day ahead or possibly that we know no other way then forward.  It reminds me of a gay friend in college who while driving would never go straight would gladly go “Gaily Forward”. Maybe it’s not so much what drives us forward as the fact that we keep moving…

Your moment of Zen.