Lyrics: Drop your silver in my tambourine Help a poor man fill a pretty dream Give me pennies, I’ll take anything Now listen while I play My green tambourine Watch the jingle jangle start to shine Reflections of the music that is mine When you toss a coin, you’ll hear it sing Now listen while I play My green tambourine Drop a dime before I walk away Any song you want, I’ll gladly play Money feeds my music machine Now listen while I play My green tambourine Listen and I’ll play
“Meditation is simply about being yourself and knowing about who that is. It is about coming to realize that you are on a path whether you like it or not, namely the path that is your life.”
Jon Kabat-Zinn (American Professor Emeritus of Medicine and the creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School; June 5th, 1944 ~ )
“…there are compelling physiological, psychological, and spiritual reasons why we should engage in regular meditation. It is the mortar that holds mind, body, and Spirit together.”
“…meditation is intentional concentration on one thing, which can be either secular or spiritual.”
“In this state creativity flowers, intuition leads to a deeper wisdom, the natural healing system of the body is engaged, our best physical and mental potentials manifests itself and we feel psychologically satisfied.” …Spiritual meditation, on the other hand…”will help you become aware of the presence of the divine in nature, in yourself and in other people. The love and joy that are inherent in Spirit–that are the very essence of Spirit–will begin to permeate your life.”
Dr. Joan Borysenko (Author; October 25th, 1945 ~ )
“…many different ways of meditating, depending on my inner needs: the golden mirror meditation, writing my daily dialogue pages, gazing into the flame of a candle, concentrating on a sacred word in a centering prayer, focusing on a poetic phrase to find deeper personal meaning, or setting out on a walking meditation.”
“…all-time favorite meditation is a small, moist piece of chocolate cake eaten with exquisite attention and tremendous gratitude. Any time we are fully present in the moment we are meditating.”
Dr. Joan Borysenko (Author; October 25th, 1945 ~ )
“I have a meditation practice I follow: 10-minutes in the morning and at lunch with a 5-10 minute Spiritual time-out to reflect on my day before bed. I also commune with nature daily for 30-minutes which consists of a walk or quiet sitting outdoors. Putting meditation in small chunks throughout my day reduces stress and keeps me centered.” (Heather Houston 3-2-22)
“If being present is meditation, then my life is mostly meditation. How magical is that?” (Heather Houston 3-2-26)
–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 68-70 of 501.
I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.
Driving to work westbound, I spotted a beautiful bald eagle perched on the railway wind gauge pole facing away toward the south at the midspan point of the bridge. I feel so blessed and in the “FLOW”.🦅
“I am thankful to give myself grace to put off cleaning the kitchen and instead running out to McDonald’s to get breakfast for us on an Arsenal game day.” (Heather Houston 3-1-26)
“I am grateful Arsenal played a pretty good game against Chelsea and WON!” ⚽🥅🏆(Heather Houston 3-1-26)
“I am blessed to have a husband who cooks such yummy food. Tonight we had Korean Wings and they were the bomb!”💣(Heather Houston 3-1-26)
“I appreciate my husband is so adventurous. I sprung on him my birthday month exploration and he was immediately game!” (Heather Houston 3-1-26)
“I love that my dog chooses to sleep at my feet. He keeps my feet warm all night!” (Heather Houston 3-1-26)
“I am thankful to have had the opportunity to get s college education.” (Heather Houston 3-1-22)
“I am grateful at second…third chances at life and mistakes I repeat.” (Heather Houston 3-1-22)
“I am thankful it is my birthday month. One more trip around the sun!” (Heather Houston 3-1-22)
“I appreciate a soft warm towel after exiting the shower on a cool morning.” (Heather Houston 3-1-22)
“I am thankful to my dog always looking for his morning pet and chat before I leave for work in the morning.” (Heather Houston 3-1-22)
#46 Sweet Sweet Baby Since You’ve Been Gone (Aretha Franklin) 👍🏼
Lyrics: Baby baby, sweet baby There’s something that I just got to say Baby baby, sweet baby You left me hurtin’ in a real cold way Speak your name Ooh and I feel a thrill You said I do Hey, and I said I will I told you to just be true And give me just a little time Wait on me, baby, I want you to be all mine I just get so blue Since you’ve been gone, baby (Why’d you do it? Why’d you have to do it?) Since you’ve been gone (Why’d you do it? Why’d you have to do it?) Baby baby, sweet baby I didn’t mean to run you away It was pride on my lips but not in my heart To say the things that led you to stray But ah, me Hear me now I don’t know what I’m gonna do Got to get you back somehow I’m praying, take me back Consider me please If you walk in that door, I can get up off my knees I’ve just been so blue Since you’ve been gone, oh baby (Why’d you do it? Why’d you have to do it?) Since you’ve been gone (Why’d you do it? Why’d you have to do it?) Well I’ve been so lonely (Sweet sweet, sweet sweet baby Baby, since you’ve been gone (Sweet sweet, sweet sweet baby) I’ve been so lonely (Why’d you do it? Why’d you have to do it?) Since you’ve been gone (Why’d you do it? Why’d you have to do it?) Baby baby baby been so lonely (Sweet sweet, sweet sweet baby)
William Wordsworth (English Romantic Poet; April 7th, 1770 ~ April 23rd, 1850)
Restoring Serenity to Your Daily Endeavors
“God give us the grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed;
Courage to change the things that should be changed;
And the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.”
Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (American Reformed Theologian, Ethicist, Commentator on Politics and Public Affairs, and Professor at Union Theological Seminary; June 21st, 1892 ~ June 1st, 1971)
“…the time has come for us to stop associating serenity with things that cannot be changed. For we can dramatically change the quality of our lives when we consciously seek to restore serenity to our daily endeavors.”
“Sidetracked women, who scatter their energies to the four winds, never achieve serenity.”
“What we will gain from this exercise is the inner peace that comes from living fully in the present moment.”
Iceland’s Kirkjufell Mountain and waterfall at sunset.
“Before my story began…” (Heather Houston 3-1-22)
1972 Me…at my Aunt Carrie’s Baby Shower
“I am usually a six-trick pony. However, I am learning to focus on 1-task at a time to create more ease, efficiency, pleasure, and satisfaction when my mind, body and spirit is focused on one task at a time.” (Heather Houston 3-1-22)
“Happy month of my birth! I am embracing to be in less frenzy and more in flow.” (Heather Houston 3-1-26)
–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 67-68 of 501.
I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.
My Distilled Life 