The wisdom of children

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?"

The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca- age 8
"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy - age 4
"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other." Karl - age 5
"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." Chrissy - age 6
"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." Terri - age 4
"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." Danny - age 7
"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss" Emily - age 8
"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." Bobby - age 7
"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate," Nikka - age 6

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday." Noelle - age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." Tommy - age 6
During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore." Cindy - age 8
"My mommy loves me more than anybody . You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night." Clare - age 6
"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." Elaine-age 5
"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Brad Pitt." Chris - age 7
"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day." Mary Ann - age 4
"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones." Lauren - age 4
"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." Karen - age 7
You really shouldn't say I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget." Jessica - age 8

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry".

Hope you find love in your world today.

Love Beth

Old Wives Tales

I've been thinking recently about Old Wives' Tales. You know, little sayings, or myths or truths about live that seem to be passed down from generation to generation.

Some examples would be:
Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
If the clasp of your necklace is facing downwards, someone is thinking of you.
Give your loved ones a pinch and a punch for the first of the month (I think it's meant to bring good luck)
Say 'rabbits' before anything and anyone else on the first day of the month (that was one of my granny's).

I feel there is an inherent truth to some of these tales and want to know if you've got any that you think are really good.

So, please share!

Thanks and I look forward to hearing them, no matter how wacky!

B

How smart is Your Right Foot?

Try this. This will boggle your mind and you will keep trying over and over again to see if you can outsmart your foot, but, you can't.

1. WITHOUT anyone watching you and while sitting where you are at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.
2. Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand.

Your foot will change direction. I told you so!!! And there's nothing you can do about it!

You and I both know how stupid it is, but before the day is done you are going to try it again, if you've not already done so.

Every woman should have

This is a beautiful poem by Maya Angelou that is brought to you from one of our lovely readers. Thanks, M!

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .... enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own even if she never wants to or needs to...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .... something perfect to wear if the employer or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ... a youth she's content to leave behind....
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .... a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age....
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..... a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .... one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..... a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .... eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal that will make her guests feel honored...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .... a feeling of control over her destiny...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... how to fall in love without losing herself..
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... how to quit a job, break up with a lover and confront a friend without ruining the friendship...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... that she can't change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... that her childhood may not have been perfect...but its over...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... whom she can trust, whom she can't, and why she shouldn't take it personally...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... where to go... be it to her best friend's kitchen table... or a charming inn in the woods... when her soul needs soothing...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW... what she can and can't accomplish in a day... a month...and a year...

How do you feel loved?

Find out what is your preferred language of love, by taking this lovely quiz.

http://www.afo.net/hftw-lovetest.asp

If we know what we need, want and expect, we are better able to communicate and/or transcend it!

Happy days

Beth

Relaxation deficit

I think I've just stumbled across something major. No really.

OK, so I was thinking about how I seem to be tired all the time. It's winter. No amount of sleep is enough, and I can't sleep all the time. I've got to do stuff like work, eat, you know, do stuff. And it's not really about being tired. I feel like I am exhausted, but the thing is, as soon as I start doing stuff again, I find my threshold for stress has declined.

I was talking about this with a friend of mine. We're not burnt out burnt out as in need to sit in the foetal position on the sofa for a month eating chocolate and watching inspiring films. At the core, we both feel knackered and like we want to have a break. She wants to just stop working for 6 months. I want to just have a few months off to just Be.

I feel like after 10 years of my job, I have built up some kind of deficit. It's true that I have had (and am working on healing) a rather stressed out body. I don't feel stressed but the body is. If that makes sense.

I feel that at a cellular level, deep within me, is tired. And I don't think a few more sofa days will fix it.

I realised that I don't have that much relaxation time in my life. Time to just relax. I tend to associate relaxation with doing nothing, but it doesn't have to be. It's when you let go, get some head space, relax the body and let it rejuvenate.

I feel like I have a relaxation deficit.

So, I got on the internet and typed in 'relaxation deficit'. I don't think anyone much has talked of this except in science experiments with rats or mice, or in relation to some phenomenon with the heart. It is physiological, but it feels psychological and spiritual.

You heard it first here, folks.

What do you think?

Could there be such a thing as a relaxation deficit? I think I am going to try and find out more...

After a cup of tea that is!

Looking at the positive

I'm reading a great book at the moment called: Secrets and Mysteries: The Glory and Pleasure of Being a Woman by Denise Linn. It really is such a special book. One of those books crammed with gems and really helpful stuff where just reading it makes one feel empowered, loving and peaceful.

Anyway, in the book, I discovered the most wonderful revelation the other day. She says, when all seems lost and hopeless, it is our attitude to a situation that can turn it around for us. She says, ask yourself this one question and see how the energy changes.

The question is: What is good about this situation?

How simple is that, but incredibly, it changes everything. In the darkest moment, in the grimmest of settings, it is I believe possible to find something good. Even if it is something tiny, it gives us hope to carry on.

Like in the movie Life Is Beautiful. Being in a concentration camp must have been unfathomably awful, but the Dad managed to make it into a game. He created beauty in one of the darkest places imaginable. Really such a wonderful movie.

Luckily for most of us, the things we get caught up in are not so horrendous even if they feel like it sometimes.

So today, I want to make this my mantra. What is good about this situation? The tricky bit is
remembering to ask yourself this in your darkest hour.

Maybe we can ask each other and remind ourselves that there might be another way of looking at a situation?

Thanks to Denise for coming upon this and sharing it.

Here's to your own peace and positivity.

Beth

5 minutes for yourself

Famous last words on the routine concept in my last entry. My life is never in a routine and hasn't been for the last 10 years. As soon as I try and establish one, it gets out of whack. This tells me a) I am very disorganised or b) the nature of my work is erratic and therefore inconsistent from one week to the next or c) I am one to get bored easily so sabotaging any chance of routine or d) I am addicted to drama and chaos.

I think I know the answer, but anyway, I am here now and do apologise for the delay in writing.

I have, however, managed to have a couple of days 'on the sofa' (or what you might call down time) since last here, which I have to say has been utterly blissful and exceptionally good for my soul.

Here is the thought for today for all of you out there whose lives are busy, chaotic, stressful, never a minute to sit down -ish. There is time for 5 minutes for yourself. There really is. So why not take it.

Light a candle and ask that it connect you to the Divine Source of all that is good and peaceful and loving (or whatever you want to call it). Then sit (a nice cup of tea may help get you in the mood for this one). Just sit and be grateful for this moment.

Be at peace
Count your blessings
Sit quietly
Let inspiration fill you

Graceful moments
Of nothing-ness
Of Be-ing

Let it wash over you
Let it wash you clean

Smell the gentle fragrance of
vanilla mixed with lilly (or whatever your candle or flowers or house or place you are in smells of)

The candle quietly
dedicated to peace, love and inspiration.

Let me know if you feel better after a few moments of relaxation. You deserve it.

PS If you claim you cannot make 5 minutes for yourself, then let me know and I will light a candle for you!

If you don't have any flowers in your house, maybe today is the perfect day to buy yourself some.

I hope you have a beautiful day!

Love Beth