This Is All You Need

There's a soft rain in Boston while I'm writing this. Having seen so many parts of the country with drought, I can feel how precious this water is. I love simply sitting and listening to the rain drops. They are one of many ways that I can focus on the topic of the quote this week ...

"When we consciously breathe, pay attention to our breath, we settle into the present."

I have learned a LOT throughout my life and the lessons keep coming. I believe there was a time in my life when I thought I would reach some magical age and "know" everything! It's actually quite the opposite ... the older I get, the more I realize how much I don't know and how much I continue to learn. One thing I do know is that the best thing I can do is return over and over to the present. If I'm sad or worried or angry, it usually means I'm wallowing around in the past or trying to pretend I can be in the future. Floating off into space also keeps me from truly enjoying all the sources of wonder and delight around me. When I'm not present I'm missing out. I can also bring on unnecessary distress when I'm not available to the here and now.

What's the best way to get grounded, to connect with my Soul, to find my center? It's so simple ... maybe that's why we don't think of it or even discount it ... it's by breathing and being fully aware of each breath, in and out. Our problems and issues seem so big and overwhelming. Our Egos want to make them/us seem more "important". We get hooked on the drama until we finally realize we don't want or need our lives to be so tangled, convoluted, or cumbersome. When we start to crave simplicity we open up to our breath. We pay attention to the life force that comes in and goes back out, only to come in again and so on. This was how it was for me, when I was miserable and making everything complex and complicated. I was ready for my teachers and they appeared and told me to breathe. It was as if I hadn't realized that's what I was already doing for so many years before. I took it all for granted and didn't appreciate the connection. Now, it's my comfort, my support, and my mainstay and this is what I wish for you. If you're having trouble connecting with your breath, contact me -- I can offer some assistance. Life is meant to be lived fully. And, by the way, notice the latest in my evolution ... what I post on Mondays (and called the MQ), is now "A Seed". More and more I have been feeling like I'm planting a thought or idea at the beginning of the week and then, cultivating it and making it bloom a few days later. We are all constantly growing and developing. What I offer you is a reflection of my expansion. I'm so happy to have you along for the ride.