About readiness

As I walked outside in the orchard today, I was so excited to see all these blossoms, ready to burst out.  I am always very happy to see the first hint of color, and the first of the buds burst open.
Today, I saw that not all the buds are ready at the same time.  Depending on the kind of tree, and the position of the tree, and the soil, each of them is at a different stage of readiness.

This reminded me of what Dr. Tae Yun Kim says about readiness, and might I add that nature has it figured out perfectly!  You'll see why when you read the following, taken from Dr. Kim's book "The Silent Master" on page 30:

"The first step to take in the readiness stage of self discovery is to take charge of your thinking.  Every response you make to your environment, and every action you take or don't take is propelled by a decision, choice, or response that you make in your thinking.  And the most important aspects of your thinking to take charge of are will, motivation and attitude."

Nature takes charge in subtle ways.  The buds here never argue or decide they don't want to open up and flower.  But they do respond to their environment and if it's too cold to open up, they won't!

So let's be like these beautiful buds and take charge of our lives, and respond to our environment in positive ways!

There is beauty everywhere if we only open our eyes to it

It is such an exciting time of year!  From torrential rainfall, to being snowed in, to discovering opening buds in the sunshine, we are getting it all.  

And whatever nature has to offer at any given moment - it's all beautiful.  Even a frozen raindrop can be source of great beauty and joy.  

I love what Dr. Tae Yun Kim has to say about such things.  As you know, she grew up in horrible circumstances, not only poor but also very much abused.  All she had was nature and the choice to appreciate rather than be depressed.  But you can read about that here.  

Here are her words which can always apply in your life one way or another.  

"Appreciation and gratitude are ways of acknowledging that something is present and real  When you acknowledge and appreciate beauty, you are making it real in your world.  And making beauty real in your world is another way of taking charge of your life.  Because you can see beauty everywhere, let this perception set you free from being a victim of self-imposed ugliness, gloom and depression."

(The Silent Master, page 154)

So let us celebrate every living breath as if it was our last breath!

The importance of taking pictures

Today's thoughts are a continuation of yesterday's - about living in the present moment.  Life is really a series of present moments.  And while no moment will ever come back once it's gone, we can certainly preserve that moment, with pictures and videos, and even in the olden days people tried to preserve moments through paintings and carvings or whatever means they had available.

I never really thought about this much but after re-reading one of Dr. Tae Yun Kim's books, "The First Elements," it clicked.  Let me share the quote with you:

" During a recent natural disaster, sometimes people had only a few minutes notice to get out of their home.  What do you think was one of the most common items people made sure to escape with?  Not the silver, not the jewelry, but photos!  Memories - irreplaceable pictures of moments of joy, moments of love, of victory, togetherness and so on.  How incredible that those intangible memories of moments were so highly prized.  Those people recognized that their joy could last forever, but that ordinary material possessions could go up in smoke or swept away in floods or buried in earthquakes in a few seconds time."
(The First Element page 32)

Also, moments that we think we'll always remember, can and will fade away, but with the help of pictures we'll be able to remember much more than what you see in the picture!  Ever looked through an old photo album and started to giggle, "oh I remember when aunt so and so got married...and we did.....?

Of course, nowadays the majority of pictures live in the mysterious cloud, just remember to print your most important moments and have something tangible just in case the unspeakable were to ever happen.

Happy picture taking and remembering!

The importance of Charity Work and giving back to our communities

After blogging about choices, New Years Resolutions and all sorts of motivational stuff, why a blog post about a tiny school out in the middle of nowhere?

Well, Dr. Tae Yun Kim, when she was growing up in war-torn post war South Korea, she had to walk for miles to school, and there was a serious shortage of teachers, supplies, food and pretty much everything.  She recalls walking to school in the middle of winter with sneakers that were so much to small that her big toes were sticking out.  Dr. Kim knows what important community communication hubs these schools can be!

Now, more than 60 years later and in the USA, she still thinks about school children and she knows first hand how important it is to keep the doors of local schools open, no matter how small or large they are.
When Dr. Kim heard that the Applegate School needed computers very badly, she jumped right in and donated enough funds to purchase 10 new notebook computers!
Sometimes well meaning people suggest she stop going to small schools and focus on big universities.

Of course I do that too, she says, but these small schools are so vital to local communities.  They are not only schools for the children, but they become community centers.  We need to do everything we can to keep their doors open!
Can you imagine how delighted the children were to have such a celebrity as Dr. Kim come and give a lecture, AND give a big check?

The power is in you, it is your personal choice what you do in your life, Dr. Kim says.  So let's act on it and do good whenever and wherever we can!

Part Three: The Power in Making Choices

And here, as promised, is the last and very important part about choices.  Look at the apple flower above!  What if it had made the choice not to open up?  What if it was too lazy to become the apple it was born to be?  What if it had chosen to remain the bud in the next picture?  Here is what Dr. Tae Yun Kim concludes her page on choices:

"Sometimes we tend to feel that making choices limits our options, and that by choosing a direction, we somehow eliminate all others.  No. Quite the contrary, every time you make a choice, you open up an entire web of possibilities connected with that choice.  If you dislike the outcome, the worst thing that can happen is you make another choice, and this opens up another entirely different number of possibilities adding to all the other previous choices!  There is no limitation in choosing!"

(These quotes came from "The First Element", pages 128 - 129)

This frosty little bud will later in the year open up to become the beauty you see above

So, let's not limit ourselves.  Let's make a choice - and either stick with it, or change it to another choice!  But let's not let our environment or anything or anyone else make choices for us!

One more time, Dr. Tae Yun Kim's powerful words:

The power is in us, it is our personal choice what we do in our lives!

The importance of making your own choices

First, the sun was almost up and clearly visible behind the fog

Yesterday I started sharing about the importance of making choices.  Because it is so important to make the right choices after setting those New Year Goals!

Dr. Tae Yun Kim says it best with one of her trademark sayings:

The power is in you, it is your personal choice what you do in your life!"

Then, the sun was up more fully 

 And to continue with Dr. Tae Yun Kim's wise words from yesterday, here goes:

"One of the reasons we hold back on making choices is because we delude ourselves into thinking we already have chosen something.  Let's say you don't have the employment you desire.  You don't like where you are, but you are afraid to make a move.  So you struggle along making yourself accept the situation, telling yourself you could leave if you chose to, all the while knowing you have no intention of leaving.  You simply go on feeling uncomfortable, unhappy, and anxious.

Then the fog moved in

This is a classic example common to many of use where we say we have made a choice.  But actually, it's pretty plain that the real choice remains unmade, frozen in fear.  Beware of deluding yourself.  Beware of convincing yourself you have made a choice, when in actuality you have only accepted a course of action."

....and the sun was playing hide and go seek

How about that!  Does that sound like you?  It sure sounds a lot like what I used to do all the time and now am trying to change!

And tomorrow, we'll get the icing on the cake regarding change!  Be sure to come back and read it all!