Gotta Dance!

I've always thought life should be a musical, and now it seems the idea is catching on. First, YouTube lit up when a handful of U.S. soldiers produced their music video rendition of Lady Gaga's Telephone; then Israeli soldiers countered with choreographed "man"euvers to Kesha's Tick Tock. Cool... I get it! See an adversary? Think: DANCE PARTNER! Nice shift.

When I was at Miramar, I often found myself daydreaming that my co-workers and I suddenly burst into song and started tripping the light fantastic. Think I'm crazy? Bet you'd pay to see it at the Theatre! My view of The Office, or, Top Gun II - The Musical. Picture this: the scene opens with pilots in flight suits and combat boots, dancing onto the set (very MANLY dancing, mind you), stomping and leaping from government-issue desktop to desktop. They're joined by a few good SME's (Subject Matter Experts), in white shirts and ties. Then the ID's (Instructional Designers - that's what I was), come twirling and high-stepping along, smiling in their skirts and heels. Finally...the government contract liason (looking suspiciously like Snidely Whiplash), oozes onto the scene, and we have our villain! Can't you just see it? Wouldn't the whole day have been SO much more fun! Wouldn't we have gotten along that much better? After all, the villain wasn't really a bad guy; he just provided a handy foil for the rest of us.

What would Dudley Do-Right be without Snidely? Admit it; you love Snidely. Don't worry; we all do. At heart.

It's something to think about.

No bad guys. Just DIFFERENT guys. With different ideas. If there weren't people whose choices make us cringe, how would we ever clearly define what we want for ourselves? We make them cringe, too! We learn from each other, what we like and what we don't. That's how we change and grow. We really are all in this together; and life would be boring without contrast.

Love is in you. Love is in me. So is PEACE. So is HARMONY. We can't find it without - because that's not where it lives. We must accept that it's within. And then live it like we mean it.

Let's all blow someone's mind today. I dare you. Put on a BIG SMILE, walk boldly up to your worst "enemy" and plant one GIGANTIC KISS, smack on the face (cheek, lips, you pick). Then just keep on walkin'. How much FUN would it be to shock a person like that?

Deep down (maybe waaay deep down, in some cases ), it would remind each of us that we are actually the best of friends - in Spirit.

Life's a dance if we swing it. Swing on, Spirits! You're eternal.

Keep it twistin'.

All is well.

The Gift of the Present

Much has been said about "staying in the moment," but most of us can benefit from frequent reminders. We may even wonder HOW to "open" (or receive) the "gift" of the present. Let’s start with a quote from contemporary spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle’s modern classic, The Power of Now:

"Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry —all forms of fear— are caused by too much future, and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of non-forgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence. Time is the cause of your suffering [and] your problems."

If we think about it, we realize that we have always coped with what is happening in the Now. One way or another, we make it through to the other side. After all, we’re still here.

The beautiful TRUTH is that when we are fully conscious and fully present in each moment, we discover we can cope very well in the Now. The reason we haven’t always coped well is that we’ve rarely actually been fully present in the Now of any given situation. When we are angry or fearful, it’s virtually always fueled—at least partially—by something that has happened in our past. Rarely does any single situation merit the measure of fear or anger or any particular pain we may evoke. Instead, our reactions are cumulative. Typically, in any given moment, we are either lamenting (or missing) the past, or we are anticipating the future – either with hope or concern. This preoccupation with what is in our minds, rather than with what is in the Now, causes us to respond out of balance.

We do not have to live this way. We can Stop. Right. Now.

If we drop our fears and concerns, if we stay present in the moment, we discover that we can actually ENJOY the vast majority of "moments." It doesn’t matter what we’re doing; we can find pleasure in all but a rare few situations. We need only choose to do so. Do you doubt this? When we’re driving, we can delight in the scenery; the trees, the sky—has there ever been anything more lovely? Put simply, we can LOOK. Or, we can LISTEN; to the birds, to the music floating through the speakers in our cars. Even traffic makes a melody. When we wash… be it dishes, or our bodies… we can take pleasure in the water, the scent of the soap. We can delight in cleansing.

Where are YOU Right Now? Look and Listen. Feel and BE.

Beautiful sights, harmonious sounds, softness to touch… wondrous gifts surround us at all times, in all places. We need only give them our attention to RECEIVE. Life is a game if we PLAY it; and the more we play Notice the Now!, the more joy we will experience. Delicious PEACE will find its way into our hearts; our minds will at last BE STILL; and torment will fade away… as if it never was.

Keep it fun.

All is well.