dear world,

*via quote book

"There is such an opportunity to grow in life.

To learn and spread your wings, to journey to exotic destinations

far, far away.

Dont let fear hold you back.

Unfurl your golden wings and take flight!"

The wise see all

*via thresca

Wise butterflies

Observations

Some people take things too seriously. They think that everything is a huge deal. They stress too much and complain and make life harder - not only for themselves but also for everyone else around them. These people used to annoy me a lot more than they do now. I still have my moments though. But generally as my compassion has increased I have tried to see things from their point of view. I have started to look into their lives. Maybe they are rude and abrupt because they are in a hurry to get home to look after their sick child. Or maybe they just received a huge bill and they cant afford it and so are taking it out on me. Sometimes people see my laid back nature as me not caring about things. I do care. Sometimes I care too deeply, infact.

Opening up the world of Buddhism has helped me in many ways. It has given me a unique perspective on certain situations and it has felt like home. I am currently reading 'Stages of meditation' by the Dalai Lama. I'm up to page 50 and so far there hasnt actually been anything on meditation. It is quite indepth and interesting though, and it is taking me a while to absorb. But it is the recommended reading before attending the Sydney talks, so I'm hanging in there.

I dont know all the answers and I would never claim to. I do know that when I am lost it helps to talk to someone, and that we are not alone in our struggles. If you sat 50 people down and asked them about their lives and their childhoods I can guarantee that the majority of them will have had regrets. Maybe they got bullied at school. Maybe they never had a father growing up. Maybe they never really had any friends. Or maybe a hundred other situations. There comes a time when you realise that yeah maybe life was pretty crappy, but I am grateful for what I did have, and its time to put all that stuff in the past and stop using it as an excuse for not moving on.

I'm of the mind that everything I went through has led me to where I am today - and I wouldnt change that for anything. All the pain and tears and loss of hope had a purpose. They were lessons I was meant to learn and by going through that I have grown. Now I can honestly say that on the whole I am happy and content. Yeah, there are certain things that I would have liked to have done or had by now but I realise that none of that has any real bearing on my happiness. And THAT is the key.

wise words, MRAZ

"Don’t let anyone get the best of you.
Another year is fast approaching. Go
be that starving Artist you’re afraid to be.

Open up that journal and get poetic
finally. Volunteer. Suck it up and travel. You were not born here to work and
pay taxes. You were put here to be part of a vast organism to explore and
create. Stop putting it off. The world has much more to offer than what’s on 15
televisions at TGI Fridays.

Take pictures. Scare people. Shake up the scene. Be
the change you want to see in the world.
You’ll thank yourself for it. "

Want more? Then go here.

Native Wisdom

One of my favourite books is a non fiction novel entitled 'Bury my heart at wounded knee'. It is factual documentation of how the Native American Indians were displaced and forced to give up their land in the 1800's- and the battles and speeches that accompanied that time. If you havent read this book then you should definitely try and source it and check it out -if only for the incredible historical importance. Native American Indians have always held a special place in my heart and I'd like to share some of their wisdom, in the form of quotes, with you. It is incredible to think that these words are nearly 200 years old and still (if not more so) appropriate today.

-Below are exerpts from Chief Seattle, some from a statement presented to the American Congress in the late 1880's.

We know the white man does not understand our ways, one portion of land is the same to him as the next, but he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs.

The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it he moves on.

He leaves his fathers' graves and his childrens' birth rights are forgotten.

He treats his mother the earth, and his brother the sky, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or beads.

His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert.

I do not know.

Our ways are different from your ways.

The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man but perhaps it's because the red man is a savage and doesnt understand.

There's no quiet place in the white man's cities, no place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring or the rustle of insects wings.

Bu perhaps it's because I am a savage and do not understand.

The air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath.

The beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath.

The white man doesnt sem to notice the air he breathes, like a man dying for days, he is numb to the stench.

So we will consider your offer to buy our land, and if we decide to accept will make one condition; the white man must treat the beasts of his land as his brothers. I am a savage and do not understand any other way.

I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairie, left by the white man who shot them from a passing train.

Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves. This we know. The earth doesnt belong to man; man belongs to the earth. Man didnt weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it.

Change and I are friends.

As life changes and friendships evolve or fall apart it's nice to look upon these words of wisdom and maybe not feel so lost. It has helped me many times.

-------

A Reason, a Season, or a Lifetime

People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When you figure out which one it is, you will know what to do for each person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON . . . It is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend, and they are! They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrong doing on your part, or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realise is that our need has been met, ourdesire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered. And now it is time to move on.

When people come into your life for a SEASON it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn. They bring you an experience of peace, or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons; things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person, and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

----

I'm not really religious but if I was anything I'd be a buddhist. I'll never forget a few years ago I went to a community festival in Mordialloc. They had brought some buddhist monks out from Tibet to do some ceremonies for the 3 days. Over this time, amongst other things, the monks made a Mandala from colored sand. This thing was intricate and beautiful and I had never seen anything like it before. It took skill to create it, and lots of time. Then at the end of the ceremony they threw the sand away and destroyed the mandala. I think this was to signify our dependence on materialistic things.