Author: Anne

RULES FOR BEING HUMANRule #1:  You will learn lessons.Rule #2:  There are no mistakes - only lessons.Rule #3:  A lesson is repeated until it is learned.Rule #4:  If you don't learn the easy lessons, they get harder. (Pain is one way the universe gets your attention.)Rule #5:  You'll know you've learned a lesson when your actions change. This list is attributed to Dan Millman, author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior.REFLECTION:What have been your biggest life lessons?Are there mistakes you can re-label "lessons?'What lessons did you need to repeat?  Continue to repeat? What actions do you need to change to ensure you've learned the lesson and no longer need to repeat it?

'The whole world could praise Sung Jung-Tzu and it wouldn't make him exert himself.  The whole world could condemn him and it wouldn't make him mope.  He drew a clear line between the internal and the external." - Chuang TzuWe cannot live without being affected by others.  We are only real when we let truth and love shape us from within. Our want to be liked, our want to avoid conflict, our want to be understood - all these traits tease us away from taking the voice within seriously.FROM:  THE BOOK OF AWAKENING Having the Life You want by Being Present to the Life You Have by Mark Nepo.REFLECTION:Do you listen to your own voice?Are you able to draw a line between your internal voice and the external voice of others?Which do you act on most readily?  Observe and adjust as needed!

LostStand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside youAre not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,Must ask permission to know it and be known.The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,I have made this place around you.If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.No two trees are the same to Raven.No two branches are the same to Wren.If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knowsWhere you are. You must let it find you.POEM By David Wagoner titled LOSTREFLECTION:When was the last time you took a walk in the forest?Where is HERE for you right now?Are you present ... HERE now?Do you need to plan a walk in the woods ... to find you?  Maybe a way to spend some time this weekend?