The weather is just the weather…

Has our summer been sweltering, oppressive, scorching, or just hot?

Just like Calvin, we often describe our weather as “too much!”

Let’s refuse to listen to weather reports. Weather reporters this past winter often described the weather as being gloomy, dismal, or miserable rather than just saying it was cold, rainy or windy!

The weather changes all the time, but no matter how bad it gets, it cannot harm the sky in any way. The mightest thunderstorm, the most terrible hurricane, the most severe winter blizzards – none of these can hurt or harm the sky.

And no matter how bad the weather, the sky always has room for it. And sure enough, sooner or later, the weather always, always changes.

We are not the weather. We are the sky. Our feelings will pass and we will remain. We can outlast them. We’ve done it countless times before in the past. The feelings will dissipate and we’ll be fine again.

We can choose how we feel regardless of what the weather is like.

We are not the weather. We are the sky. We are not our circumstances. Our circumstances will pass and we will remain. We can outlast them. We’ve done it countless times before in the past. The circumstances will change and we’ll be fine again.

And we can remember that…

We may not be able to control events around us (or sometimes even our feelings about them) but we can choose our response to them. So let’s remember that we are the sky!

Don’t let the tail wag the dog…

So, what does that mean? It means don’t let the smallest or least important part of something be in control of the larger or more important parts. And this is not just in dogs. The purpose of a tail is complicated. Not just for communication, but also for balance. A retriever in the water (me?) […]

Complaining is easy…

Complaining is easy. It’s as natural to us as breathing. Complaining is describing something (an event, an experience, a person) negatively without any indication of next steps or plans to fix the problem. It requires little thinking and zero action. Whether it be whining about God, the government, the universe, slow Wi-Fi, the authorities, or […]

How do YOU respond?

Learning to respond rather than react can provide us with many benefits, especially peace of mind. I share three thoughts for you to ponder. Thought #1 Somtimes the water gets murky and the mud that is churned up happens in a way that is heated. We might express anger or others may express agression. But […]

My guru for today!

The ever-so memorable Dr. Seuss has shared lots of life lessons that make sense to me! Here’s some of my favorite quotes! (And I love how succinct he can be. After all, he did write “Green Eggs and Ham” with only 50 different words when challenged by his publisher!) “Writing for children is murder. A […]

Words are fun(ny)…

Words ARE fun and often also present a challenge… Which letter is silent in the word “Scent,” the S or the C? If you replace “W” with “T” in “What, Where, and “When” you get the answer to each of them. The word “swims” upside down is still “swims.” Why is the letter w, in […]

A favorite Zen parable…

The apprentice was always complaining and his aging Hindu master grew tired of his complaints. So one morning he sent the apprentice to get some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. “How does […]

Will you say yes or no?

According to Aristotle, “We are what we repeatedly do.” More directly, we are what we say yes to. Every second of every day, we are saying yes to something. Every time we do something, we say yes to that thing. Every time we hop on Facebook and begin scrolling, we’re saying yes. Every piece of […]

The power of your word…

Remember the old saying about “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”? We do know that it is not true, don’t we..? We all have been hurt by the words of others, be they parents, partners, teachers, bosses, friends. And we all have hurt someone else, even our loved […]

Love the sun!

Summer has arrived, and to me this is a time of celebrating Life! Recent graduates are beginning their new lives and we’ve just recently experienced the summer solstice. (And it’s not yet too hot as we revel in the current warmth and sunshine.) I remember reading an article that talked about the power of one […]