Personal Meditation no. 200

“Can you smell the Friday?”

Embrace the Within.

I don’t know about your Mays BUT my Mays are always hectic and full of activities. Last night we got to celebrate the work of Logan and Sophia at an awards ceremony for the county and, with the school year winding down, there is always something on the calendar to celebrate. This year most of those celebrations focus on Sophia and her imminent graduation a few Fridays from now.

And with so much going on in our lives, especially in May, sometimes I can get too caught up in what is next and, like our welcome speaker addresses last night, forget about the now. And I get caught up in this all the time. I am a planner. If you looked around this keyboard and my study you would find many notes to myself. I google-chat myself. I email myself. I write myself notes on index cards and notepads. I am always talking to myself about the plan. And that can lead me to sometimes neglect the now.

And that is a struggle. I can get so involved in what I need to do tomorrow that I can forget about the importance of now. And that is a struggle I think a lot of us share. And as I go out and smell the Friday today, I am going to focus on embracing each part of my day. I am going to focus on right now and not tomorrow. I may write some notes. I may shoot myself a message. BUT I am going to strive to work in the present.

There are a lot of things we never get back. And if you don’t take the time to enjoy them right now there is no guarantee you will get the opportunity to remember how great they truly are. So take some time today and enjoy the Friday. Smell the Friday! Taste the Friday! Enjoy the Friday! You only get one.

Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyBodyMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #EmbracetheWithin

Personal Meditation no. 199

“No one’s death can set you free.”

Embrace the Within.

We live in such a violent society and that is nothing new. Violence against man starts in Genesis and moves on to this present day and into the future. Folks have some of the worst qualities that they can choose to embrace. This preoccupation with death and violence and murder and suicide and abortion and war and rioting and revolution is just the basest way that people can act. And it is everywhere.

Public schools running recruitment campaigns for soldiers with youth programs and recruiters, news coverage of the worst actions of people taking center stage, the internet posting click bait about the worst people doing the worst things, television programming recreating the horrible actions of people in prime time, and so much more. There is a never ending parade of violence and death and destruction out there in the world. It is almost as if the entertainment of society is at the maturity of an adolescent struggling to control the emotional and physical thunderstorm swirling and twisting inside it.

And most days I see a lot of parallels between adolescent behavior and the maturity of society. I see a lot of destruction and violence created by folks that can only see to the tip of their nose. I see folks that would rather kick something you dropped than stoop to help you pick it up. I see folks racing to get around in life with no real sense of what to do when they get there. I see folks fighting to be seen and loved. I see folks that are empty and broken and damaged and hurt and suffering and taking that pain out on everything and everyone around them.

And I know that there is hope on the other side of all that. I know that hurting others is never going to bring me peace. I know that being nasty and horrible is not going to bring me peace. I know that destroying something beautiful is never going to bring me peace. BUT I still see folks out there destroying the world, destroying each other, and destroying themselves. And it isn’t going to set you free. You are never going to get yourself free through violence. You are only going to enslave your spirit.

There is always a lot of talk about people dying for your freedom. Folks die far away and long ago to set you free. Their sacrifice is there to set you free. And I hate to break the news to you but no one died to set you free. You can’t outsource your freedom. Your freedom is something you have to work on personally. You have to invest in your own freedom. And every day we get to choose to enslave ourselves to the violence and destruction around us or adopt the spirit of service and joy. We get to choose. No one’s death gets you free. You have to take the responsibility to get yourself free.

No death can ever set you free BUT a resurrection can.

Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyBodyMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #EmbracetheWithin