Tag: Thoughts

It Starts with Me – It Starts with You

~ Lenore Diane ~ Leave a comment

Someone asked me the question, “Where did you get this idea from?” The response was simple, “Me.”

However, it is rare I provide one word responses, so I went on to say, “I am literally sick of all the negative crap. Rather than complain, I’ll do something. I’m on a mission. And, I am just barely 1/2 way through.”

What’s my mission? I am posting a positive thought or a kind remark to each and every one of my Facebook friends, via my status. I average three people per status update. I have over 170 friends, and I started this project 5 days ago. I still have about half of my Facebook friends left to mention. And, you know what? I am getting some nice feedback.

Please understand, I did not start this project to get positive feedback. I started this project, because I want to make a conscious effort to make a change, even if it is a small change. I wanted to try to make folks smile on a daily basis. Perhaps, if I send them a smile, their day will go a little better. Better yet, perhaps they will pass their smile along to someone else. At the risk of sounding corny (too late?), perhaps the receivers of my positive posts will ‘pay it forward’. (Though, if you’ve seen the movie Pay It Forward, please avoid scuffles on school grounds. Really. What a horrible ending for an otherwise uplifting movie. I digress…)

Oh, you know what else? I am having a great deal of fun posting positive things; I am. And, I am having a bit of a challenge. I don’t truly know all of my Facebook friends. I accepted their friend request and/or sent out a friend request for various reasons, including the fact that s/he were friends of friends. So, though I may not share a personal note with my FB acquaintances, saying a kind word about anyone and everyone is really not a hard task. Plus, you never know what kind of day a person is having. Your kind words could potentially uplift an otherwise sad spirit.

Sometimes, like on days when you pick up your child from school and the teacher tells you that your child did not have a good day, and he unscrewed the spicket on the faucet creating a watery mess, and he said ‘Never’ every time he was asked to do something … yeah, sometimes on days like today – er those days – a random kind word is appreciated.

George MacDonald, an author, poet and minister, said “Instead of a gem, or even a flower, cast the gift of a lovely thought into the heart of a friend.” I suggest you take it one step further, and cast a gift of kind thoughts to a non-friend, a stranger, etc. Going back to my post yesterday, Just Another Opinion, as negativity and browbeating are seeds that grow into ugly trees, creating an ugly forest, positive thoughts and kindness are seeds that grow into beautiful trees, creating a beautiful forest. So, will you join me? Help me plant a beautiful forest.

My View Today

~ Lenore Diane ~ Leave a comment

Tolle writes, “When every thought absorbs your attention completely, when you are so identified with the voice in your head and the emotions that accompany it that you lose yourself in every thought and every emotion, then you are totally identified with form and therefore in the grip of ego.”

Because of the overwhelming awareness of emotions within me, the voice in my head rattles on most of my waking hours. And today, there is frustration and sadness within me. My heart aches for my nephew, and my heart aches for one of my very best friends, who just found out her Mom is battling Cancer. And, as I read Tolle today, the frustration within me increases.

Living in an unconscious state is sometimes a blessing. Generally speaking, drug addicts, alcoholics, bulimics, anorexics, etc. aren’t trying to find their conscious state; rather they are trying to find a state of unconsciousness. Yes, I understand the concept of the mind – the ego – telling you that your life is lacking for whatever reason. I understand the concept of using food to avoid the labels of the ego. But seriously, I am wondering if I am too in tune with my emotional state. I am wondering if I am too in tune with a conscious state. I analyze too much as it is now; reading Tolle seems to encourage further analysis which is overloading the circuits in my consciousness.

One of my Facebook friends had this as her status: ‘In the 60’s, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.’ There is humor and truth to that thought. Humankind is constantly searching for something else. If that statement weren’t true, books would not be sold, and spiritual teachers would not have pupils attending their classes. Even living in the state of consciousness creates a desire to find an even deeper sense of consciousness. Seeking a deeper sense of consciousness risks falling into the trap of always wanting greater fulfillment.

When frustrated or sad (or experiencing any emotion), Tolle suggests one should express the feeling as ‘there is frustration in me’, rather than saying ‘I am frustrated’. Tolle suggests that the emotion has nothing to do with who you are. Honestly, I do notice a difference within myself when I say, “I feel frustrated” vs. “There is frustration within me.” One of those statements seems to remove me from the situation to the point that the frustration seems less intense. However, even though there are tendencies within me to stew on any given emotion at any given time, I don’t recall feeling as though any given emotion was my identity. Unless ‘crazy’ is an emotion.

Seriously, this book is dangerous territory for me. I need not be encouraged to observe my thoughts instead of listening to my thoughts. Listening was never a strong suit of mine, anyway. In the meantime, the frustration and sadness exists within me. My thoughts are consumed with my friend and her Mom. In fact, after reading this, I ask that you take a moment to say a prayer, send a positive thought, or whatever the spiritual side of you does – please send support to my friend and her family. Her brother, while battling a brain tumor, kept these words beside him during his struggle: Strength, Perseverance, Determination, Hope. Those are good qualities on which to hold tight.

And to my friend, I raise a glass of Guinness to you and your Mom. Guinness for Strength; Guinness for Health. I love you.

Friday: an end to another week.

~ Lenore Diane ~ 2 Comments
Rob and the boys in 2007

This week, Friday ends Father’s Day week. Many shows focused on Dads, including CBS Sunday Morning. During an interview with Bill Gates, Bill said, ‘I aspire to be like my Dad.’ Based on Bill’s comment, I believe it is common boys want to be like their Dads, and girls want to be like their Moms. Makes sense.

Well, I am so very glad I had boys. Moreover, I am so very glad I married a good man. I think I am a good Mom, and I believe I have some admirable qualities. Still, I can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, because my boys are more likely to aspire to be like their Dad than they are to aspire to be like me, their Mom. That’s not to say I don’t have to worry about my actions or the example I set before my kids.

The more I think about it, my boys (assuming they are heterosexual, of course) will probably look for girlfriends that have qualities mirroring me. Hmmm . . . interesting. Oh, and the fact that I will one day – possibly – be a mother-in-law?! Mwahahaha . . . Oh the power!  She better do her best to make me like her.

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Fireflies. Yes, this past week, my boys and I went hunting for fireflies. With the agreement the fireflies would be let go the next day, I told the boys they could keep the fireflies in their room for the night. (Safely contained in a cup with a lid, of course.)

The next morning, the boys woke up and sat around with their fireflies. At some point in the morning, Charlie went to get his milk out of the fridge. While we were eating breakfast, Joe went to the fridge to get his milk. “Why is this in here?” He asked, as he pulled Charlie’s cup of fireflies out off the fridge.

“Charlie!” I yelled, fearing the fireflies met a cold demise. “Why did you put your fireflies in the fridge?” Apparently, when he went to get his milk, he had too many things in his hands; so, he put down the fireflies (in the fridge) in exchange for his milk. I opened the lid and I noticed that most of the fireflies were not moving, though one large firefly was moving slightly.

Because the container had been in the fridge for at least an hour, I was not optimistic; still, in an attempt to ‘defrost’ and save the fireflies, I took the cup o’flies outside and placed it in the sun. Happily, within 30 minutes, the fireflies were active again. And, later that day, the boys let the fireflies go – all still alive and flying.

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Joe and his pet slug

This week, as I drove through various subdivisions, I noticed several kids outside selling various things from their driveway. I saw kids selling water and lemonade, and I saw a group of kids having a mini-garage sale. I remember lemonade stands from my childhood. Seems a rite of passage, trying to make a little change by selling something from your driveway.

As for me, I’ve always been a strange kid. And, my attempt with a sales stand was a pretty good indication of how strange I was as a kid. What did I try to sell? Worms. Yeah, um, I didn’t make any money that day. Hmm . . . I wonder where Joe gets is fondness for worms and bugs? Perhaps he’ll have a bug stand in our driveway one day. May he have better luck with sales than I did.

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Charlie went to the doctor for his 4yr check-up, this week. The poor kid had to have five shots. Five. Before he received the shots, he was asking everyone he saw, “Are you going to give me a shot today?” And, because he was asking the wrong person, the person could answer honestly, “No.” However, when the last nurse left us in the patient room, Charlie became increasingly nervous. “Why are we sitting here still?” He asks. And, then I broke the news to him.

The crying started as soon as he received the sad news. And, he was still whimpering when the nurse walked in the room. My heart ached for him. I remember my childhood shots. I remember starting the tears as soon as I saw the doctor press the button for his assistant. All he had to do was press. the. button. WAAAAAAAH!!!!!

During the shots, I held his hands and tried my best to reassure him he was going to be OK. Seeing and hearing Charlie cry and scream broke my heart. Like selling things from your driveway, seems getting shots is another type of rite of passage. I believe in the immunization practice, and I believe I am doing what is best for our boys. Still. Shots suck, and watching your children get shots sucks more than getting a shot.

Thankfully, the boys won’t get shots again (baring any unforeseen incidents and accidents) until their 11th birthday. Coincidentally, Joe asked me this morning, “Mommy. Will the shots hurt as much or less when I am 11?” Poor kid. His next shot is in 6yrs, and he is already concerned. (He takes after his Mom.)

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While driving to the Optician’s office to pick up Joe’s new lenses for his glasses, we stopped at a red light. Apparently, Joe was admiring the trees along the side of the road.

“Mommy!” He exclaimed. “Guess what I just saw?”

“What?” I asked.

“A caterpillar.”

“You were able to see a caterpillar in those trees?” I asked, wondering how he could see something so small from across the way.

“Well,” he began. “I have eaten alot of carrots this week. Can I have more tonight?”

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