Liberties.

   We know that there are many freedoms accorded us because of the sacrifice of those who came before us. Today is Veterans Day and we show thanks to the many women and men that have served to keep us a free people.  People who have certain rights and privileges.

I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.
Voltaire

   There are a lot of quotes that can easily show support for what blessings and freedoms are ours because of the service of those that have come before us and for those who serve today to preserve it.  Whether we agree with the current political leaders or not, their service is just as honorable.  It would be a shame and disgrace for us to forget the blessings that most of the world today enjoys because of those who fought for causes greater than themselves.  Most great countries around the world have lost many generations of men and women to establish and protect the rights of others.

   To them, all of them, whether here or elsewhere, I raise a salute of thanksgiving and admiration.  Thank you for your service, your sacrifice and for your examples of being willing to do what was required of you.  Even when you yourself would not be able to partake or enjoy the fruits of your efforts.

   Thank you.

   May peace and brotherly love reign.  May man overcome his need to enforce his ideals with violence.  May we, as a species evolve beyond violence and strife.  One day, I pray, children will grow up, grow old and pass on never knowing the horrors and tragedy of war.

   This is my prayer and salute to all who have, do and will serve to protect the rights and liberties of others.

Billy B

Sunsets.

   I'm not sure the exact reason.  I have always loved a great sunset.  When Colette (my wife) and I lived in Texas, we would sit out in the evening just to watch the marvelous crimson sunsets that happen in western Texas.  That was one of the blessings of living there.

   I know that there is beauty all around.  I also know that there have been times in my life when I failed to appreciate the miracles around me or the beauty that predominates just because I was lost in thought or worse, familiarity.  Perhaps that in and of it'self is why the practice of watching one's breath can bring so many benefits.  Just letting go of thought and forgetting about the familiar habit of breathing to experience each breath and appreciate it for the miracle that it is.

  Today, I will keep it simple and short.

   I challenge each of you to notice something that is a constant in your life, forget what you know or think you know and just appreciate, whatever it is, for the blessings or beauty or miracle that this one things is.  It does not matter if this is a person, an object, a scene or any tangible item.  Just chose one, appreciate it and admire it as if it were new to you.  Take a moment and be present with it.

   If you dare, take a moment and tell me what happens.

   May you experience the miracle that is you!

Peace,

Billy B.

Meaningful conversations with a brick wall.

   My wife for years has teased me about what she calls my ability to have a conversation with a brick wall.  I am gregarious and find it easy to speak with most people.  It is rare that people intimidate me.  It has always made sense that every person I meet is a people too!

  I had a conversation with a good friend the other day and he made the suggestion that a good topic might be to ask people how hard it would be for them to stand in front of a mirror and ask "Do I like me?"

  While at a meeting with the local writers guild last night (what an amazing group of people) I put the questions out there.  The un-edited version of the question drew many laughs and some fun responses.  Many people are hesitant to have a frank conversation like that with themselves and those that are, were quite comfortable with with answers even though those answers are not what you would expect many times!

   Back to the topic at hand, by willingly approaching just about anyone and starting up a conversation, I have had some of the most meaningful conversations of my life!  Isn't it surprising that some of the greatest quotes we have all heard are more true than we ever give them credit for?

"The only thing to fear is fear itself."

Franklin D. Roosevelt

  So the question begs to be asked, why do we fear others or engaging others?  Do they deserve our fear?  Do we have any real need or justification for not engaging everyone as an equal.  I'm not saying the we should all be extroverts, it's the many flavors and personality types out there that make all of this living thing more like art and fun than just being part of the herd.

   No one has to try and be me and probably not recommended as the world may not be ready for that.  Know though that you are exactly the individual you should be.  Make the most of it and share with others the glorious you, that you are!

   The end point or goal of this is,  the only real fear is within.  Not outside of us.  People should be engaged.  You will never know the marvelous conversations, relationships or wealth of perspectives to be had until you do!

   May you love engaging others today!  May you make a new meaningful conversation and friend this day.  May you be the positive influence that someone else really needs.

Peace and mighty conversations to you and those you engage.  ;D

Billy B

 

Interconnectedness.

   Knowing that there is nothing that is not part of the whole.

   I had a really great topic planned out for today's entry.  It sounded good, it felt good.  I got up at 3 AM this morning with a really foul belly and now, whatever that marvelous topic was is gone.  Oh well, Sometimes inspiration needs a good plan to get out of the way first.

   I have really been enjoying Siddhartha from Hermann Hesse.  A marvelous read and interesting in that the first half of it focuses on traditional Indian philosophies and the second half seems to seek balance between western thought and eastern tradition.  I like it.

   I tend to be of the same piece of cloth.   Interconnectedness is a teaching of the Dalai Lama and part of traditional Tibetan Buddhism.  The basic principle is that all things are of the same stuff (science tells us this is true) and that there is, in the big picture, no real separation of things.  It takes real humility to consider this teaching.  One must then accept that even the lowliest of things and creatures in creation have equal intrinsic value.  Even thought we may be at the top of the pyramid, spiritually speaking.

   I am not here to convince or persuade.  I am here to get your gears moving and perhaps allow you to, for just a moment, broaden your horizons of perspective.  To consider, that we are very small parts of the enormity of the big picture.  That, even though, immensely small and unimportant in this big picture, we play a very very significant role in the grand scheme of things.  It is the smallness of your being, that can gives us the perspective to see what we are really capable of and can free us from the idea of importance that keeps us from doing it.

   Our bodies are just temporal shells for our beings, our souls if you will.  Just as a temple is built to be a physical representation of a home for a god, so our bodies are a physical representation of our being, a home for us during this temporal existence.  As expressed by the saying that we are spiritual beings have a physical experience, not the other way around.  And just as the temple does not define the god, it just defines what the people who built the temple thought the temple should look like, not to sum up or define in finite details what or who the god is, also our bodies do not define the being within.  It is our temporary home for the duration of our human lives.

   Our beings are not defined by the proper or improper function of our bodies, by their appearance or by their capacity.  A man without legs is no less a seed of the eternal than a child with no speech or someone that might be a classical beauty in every sence.  We are not our bodies, they are the temples we reside in.

   The being within is defined by the fact that we are here.  If we are here in this life, then our life is justified.  Creation / God determined the value is already and placed each one of us here.  If it were not so, we would not be here.  Simple!  Hard to grasp perhaps for some, yet still very simple.  To grasp this now leaves us the freedom to make the most of the time we are granted in this temporal form instead of passing time trying to define or justify something that already is.

   Each and everyone of us have an immeasurable value as compared to what our minds can comprehend in our current "human" state.  This value is present in all of us.  Part of the understanding or the realization that we get from this principle is what gives our lives clarity and joy.  Perspective.  Our responsibility is to recognize it in each individual that we encounter.

   May each of us "see" this value in ourselves and in those we meet today.  May each one of us bare record of this sacred teaching by giving a smile to all as we move among everyone this day.  May we find that significance bares far greater joy and clarity than importance every can.

Peace, clarity and vision be yours this fine day!

Billy B

Life is a Ride...

   Life is a ride.  The day will come for each of us when we must look inside ourselves and realize that it is not about us.

   Ask anyone who has truly lived, they will tell you that the moments of greatest impact in their lives, the moments of greatest joy and love have all occurred when they where focused on doing something greater than themselves.  Whether it is a simple act of kindness or being part of some greater cause or assisting someone else to believe in them self or to helping them to see the bigger picture or even helping them take care of their basic needs so that they no longer have all of their attention on poverty of spirit or means.  This is when fulfillment happens.  When we become what we are created to be.

   The greatest gift you can give to anyone is being completely present when you are with them.  Presence is a marvelous thing that defies the laws of physics and fulfills the laws of spirit.  The more you give it away and share it with others, the more of it you have!  The more it grows the more it becomes contagious and blesses all who experience your presence, even if they themselves are not yet ready for it.  It's like planting seeds. The seed is now there until the day that they are the fertile ground for it to grow and develop in.

  That is the beauty of being on this ride.  There is a song that Garth Brooks sings called "The Dance".  Some of the lyrics of the song expresses for me how much of an incredible ride this life can be.  Being a ride, we cannot know the outcome or where it will lead us, we simply choose to either enjoy it or not.  I know which I choose.

And now I'm glad I didn't know

The way it all would end the way it all would go 

Our lives are better left to chance I could have missed the pain 

But I'd of had to miss the dance 

   This particular song was at the top of the charts when our first daughter was born.  She did not stay with us for the whole day before she left.  I still have a hard time listening to this song in public.  I am sure glad that she came and blessed our lives with her presence, no matter how brief.

   Some of the greatest blessings of my life have come from her visit.  I began my path to greater awareness of  presence and inner peace because of her influence and the not always gentle nudges that life has given me.

   I am thankful for every breath!  I am grateful to know presence!  I love life and could not, not live it having the perspective I do now.

   May you live a fabulous day!  May you be grateful for all you meet this fine day and may you share this gratitude with someone who needs to feel it.

Grace and love to you,

Billy B.

Stress is....

Hello There!

Got this from a friend on facebook. ;D

   Stress = worrying, spending energy and thought on something for which you can do nothing about.  Do what you can do and be at peace. 

   I know that I am not alone in this matter.  It is said that the last great hurdle to enlightenment is detachment.  Taking nothing personal, not having any "self" invested in the world.  It sounds boring, yet at the same time, that too could be a self defense mechanism of the ego.  I imagine if you could participate and fully enjoy, appreciating without any stake in the outcome the same as accepting blessings without the need to keep something going beyond it's time or trying to create permanence out of the temporary.  Acknowledging what has been added to your joy and experiences without seeing it's passing as sad, bad or anything but "as it should be".  

   Ok, sounds great! Except, I will be the first one to admit that I am not anywhere near there yet.  It doesn't mean that I cannot see it as a possibility, just that my personal evolution does not yet reach that far.  Right now I am reading (along with many other books at any given time, of course) Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. It's a novel he wrote that very closely, not exactly, follows the life of Prince Siddhartha, the man we now call Buddha.  I admire that one can seek as Buddha did, yet I seem to fall short of such lofty reaches.  I have read many works on the subject of Enlightenment and would in many ways consider myself a seeker.  I also understand that I am a husband, father, brother, neighbor and friend.  I am a professional with a career.  All of these things, titles, roles, if you will, are part of who I am.  The responsibilities that I have taken on during my life up to this point.  

   Some of these roles are ones that "If I knew then..... what I know now" types of situations.  However, that does not excuse me from the responsibilities I have accepted.  There have been many different motivational speakers and I cannot remember which one that said it,  here goes in my own words.   You must decide in your life which relationships are good for you and assist you in living your life on purpose and those that do not.  For those that do not, you must look at them and decide if it is worth the consequences of keeping that relationship (IE; a friend who's influence only creates negative action, thoughts or influence.) and if not create and execute an exit strategy for that relationship.  So that you may use your energies and focus on that which adds to a life on purpose.

   Now in my romanticism (being very much a romantic by nature), I felt for years that this was unacceptable thinking.  Since acquiring some experience and wisdom from said experiences, I now see the bigger picture and potential drama, heartache and such from not following this wisdom.  Some relationships, cannot be "cancelled or exit-ed".  I doubt I need to go into this to deeply, be wise and consider the consequence when you think about such things.  I do not want critical relationships (IE; marriages, etc.) broken up over poorly thought out decisions or when the real catalyst to a better relationship lies within.  

   What I am saying is, we all need some perspective, some "enlightenment" at times and as for me.  I am doing my best to walk The Razors Edge (a very good movie by the way, look it up.  Bill Murray) of living a life that is enlightened yet, fulfilling that which makes life worth living.  My marriage as an excellent example.  It is the most rewarding relationship with anyone in my life.  I would not want to walk away from this relationship for some esoteric feeling when I know that my marriage adds greatly to the overall quality of my life.  I believe that there must be balance in all things.

   Perhaps, stress really is the lack of balance.  In perception, understanding or even action.   Imbalance is the one thing that seems to exist in some area of my life or at the moment when I am experiencing stress.  Balance is the one thing that seems to bring peace and end stress.

   Although, I believe in evolving to the point of true enlightenment, I also understand that I am not willing to do it at the cost of some critical elements of my life.  I hope this makes sense for those of you reading this.  Balance for me is being able to have a big picture view of the world around me, keeping in perspective all humans, relationships, attitudes, actions and otherwise.  Remembering the sacred natures of all men, doing what I can to see everyone without judgement, accepting what is, enjoying what is without demands or expecting something other than what is.  Then, it seems as if the creator within comes into his own and has real power to influence, to create real enduring value for those around me.  Only when, I give up the need to self serve or justify.

   I guess that is the real trick to balance, to stepping a way from stress.  Letting go of the need or desire to have what is not or not "seeing" what is already.

   May you find that balance in your life that allows you to be free of stress.  To have quality relationships (only a healthy inner relationship can allow healthy outer relationships) in your life.  May you see beyond judgment and know real peace that wells up from within and flows outward.

Billy B

Life has challenges.

   I know that we have all heard the saying "Stop and smell the roses."  I wonder though how often we take time to marvel at the beauty around us.  I find it immensely humbling to see everything that goes on around me in nature.  The picture above was taken about 7:30 last night just a couple miles from our home.  It was a marvelous full moon sunset!

   My wife and I have had are share of challenges, when we were young in our marriage we lost our second child at birth.  We named her Alexis because one of the meanings for her name is "little angle", we had some very expensive medical bills to go along with our loss and of course, as young parents, we questioned if it was our fault in some way that our daughter did not remain with us.

   Not even six months later we received a call at just after 1 AM to find out that a close family member had taken his life to compound our heartache.  This particular year was very hard on us.  We dealt with dramatic financial challenges, we hurt deeply over the loss of a child and the loss of another close family member, my lovely bride was emotionally very confused and lost.  I stumbled on as best I could.  Last of all, I was still quite young being in my early 20's so I was not the most skilled or prepared to help console my wife while she mended her broken and troubled heart.

   We went through an a lot that year, both as individuals and as a couple.  Personally, I can share with you the lessons that I learned.  First, love the one you are with.  Yes, I love our daughter that came into our lives for such a short time however, once she had left, her needs were meet and it was my wife, best friend and wonderful companion that was still by my side, who needed my love and support.  Secondly, never, ever forget to show and express your love, every single day!  This one lesson is probably the one that saved our marriage from certain disaster.  Lastly, true love's value is immeasurable.  Don't forget this lesson and in the words of Winston Churchill "Never, never, never give up!"  True love is beyond the value of any career, possessions, worldly titles or perceived opinions of others, it's value is beyond anything that you can imagine.

   I acknowledge how incredibly blessed I am to have true love in my life.  I can tell you that true love is worth fighting for.  My life would be much poorer without it.  I also learned that we must all go through moments in our lives that test our metal.  My wife and I now understand much better that the short time our daughter was here, she was to bless us and yes, because of the challenges of that year and her brief stay with us, we have been blessed in more ways that we can count.

   It is so easy to judge a situation "good" or "bad" and we probably shouldn't.  The situation we call good today will most often lead to some of our greatest challenges and those times we call bad will bring us our greatest blessings.  Developing the faith and courage to accept life as it is can be one of our greatest and most powerful assets in having a marvelous life!  Appreciating every moment will give us clarity that we would otherwise miss out on.  Failing to step back and breathe can give us cause to take life as a personal affront and miss the grace and bliss that is life it'self.

   It is probably the strength and bonds our marriage gained from that year of heartaches and blessings that we have been able to survive as a married couple through the many other challenges that have come our way.  We are in our second decade of marriage and have three beautiful children that have growth to be healthy, happy and active parts of our lives.  We still remember and carry in our hearts the one that visited us twenty years ago and most of all, the beauty she gave us by allowing us to see that some blessings are to valuable to overlooked, even if their visit seems way to brief.

   Every morning the last couple of years, I have taken to the habit of being available to watch sun up and "greet the new day".  It has proven to have a very powerful positive effect on my life.  I would recommend it to anyone looking for more clarity and positive energy in their lives.

   Don't forget to stop and smell the roses.  Even when you do not feel like it.  Remember, smiling sends endorphins to the brain that help you feel better especially when you don't.  They can also give you perspective to see the blessings that might not be so obvious.  Most of all, never forsake the value of love.  Love takes effort, grace under pressure (ie; focusing on your partners concerns and not your own) and a willingness to go the extra mile whenever, wherever.  On the flip side, love will return to you blessings that you simply cannot find anywhere else.  Love creates synergy that returns blessings to you that are much greater than those that come from the efforts of one.

   May you remind the ones you love, just how much you do love them and appreciate them in your life today.  May you smile when you don't feel like it.  May you feel the bliss of being loved, this fine beautiful day!

Thank you for reading.  Peace be unto you and yours.

Billy B