Duct tape is a handy item to bring on any journey. It works especially well for preventing blisters and fixing fanny or backpacks – or anything else for that matter. As an ex-podiatrist I can tell you that duct tape is just as good as a bandaid – perhaps better since you can cut it to fit any size or shape!

# 2 – Tagalongs Disposable Panties!

We women need to be prepared on our journeys. I love this product: Tagalongs disposable panties! Tagalongs wear-once panties are available in thong and bikini with cotton gussets. Wear’em for a day and toss’em away. They come individually wrapped made from non-woven polypropylene. Visit the website: www.mytagalongs.com

# 3 – Unlock Your Cell Phone!

If you have a cell phone that has a SIM card in it – make sure your phone is “unlocked” before traveling. Then buy a SIM card locally in that country and enjoy their low rates rather than paying international roaming rates.

# 4 – Preserving Your Batteries!

When traveling, take the batteries out of your i-Pod or CD player and put them back in reversed. Just in case something turns on, your batteries won’t go dead.

# 5 – Getting the Best Airline Fares

Consider calling your airline before taking your journey to see if the cost for your trip has gone down in price. If it has, you may ask for a refund for the difference in price and you might just get it!

# 6 – Oops! I left my computer in security by mistake!!!

Tape your name and phone number someplace on your laptop computer. That way if you go through security and forget to pick it up by mistake, they can call you asap!

# 7 – Don’t Get Charged High Luggage Fees!

If you have a lot of luggage coming home from a trip, you are better off sending it in a priority mail carton then you are getting charged high fees for taking home an extra suitcase.

# 8 – Packing the Proper Shoes!

Shoes make a suitcase extremely heavy – especially hiking shoes. Decide on two pairs of shoes in a neutral color and plan your entire wardrobe around them. If you are bring hiking shoes – make sure you wear those and keep a lightweight fold-up pair in your carry-on bag to wear once you are on the plane.

# 9 – Never Travel Without this!

Always travel with a copy of your passport and passport pcitures in a separate location in your bags. It comes in handy when you need a quick replacement overseas. Without these two items it could take days to get a new passport ruining your trip.

Picture of shoe with duct tape thanks to anomalous4

If you’ve been asking yourself this question – don’t feel bad because you’re not the only one. There comes a point in most people’s lives where they look at their life and start to question what they are doing. Sometimes a crisis of sorts precipitates the inquiry and other times it is simply that we are mid-way through our lives and realize that we are not living the life we thought we would be living by this time in our life.

Some of the common questions you might be asking yourself are:

• Is this what I really want?
• Is my life fulfilling and joyful?
• Am I living an old dream or perhaps someone else’s dream?
• Is this going to be my life until the day I die?
• Is this relationship really working for me?

Is this my life?!? Help me!

Good grief! For many of us all we can say is – God help me! I can definitely relate since I was asking myself the same questions back in 1998. The answers were not pretty but they were certainly motivating! The truth was I was not happy, nor was I doing what I wanted in life, my relationships were not successful and I was always bickering with my mom. Yuck.

Unfortunately I did not know what to do so I just bailed out of my life without having a clue as to what direction I was going to go. As it happens, the universe responded and I began my studies with don Miguel Ruiz. I began to unravel the mystery of my mind and heart and began the healing process on my spiritual path.

The most critical aspect of all this is that I asked for help. Now this is coming from someone who would rather drop dead than to ask someone for something (sound familiar?). Thankfully I received help, love, support and encouragement despite myself – all of which I fought tooth and nail. But in the end I surrendered to life and decided that it was time to lay down my sword and be in service to life.

On June 2nd I gave a teleclass in which I asked for a volunteer to be in the hot-seat so I could take them through the process I used to heal myself and to get clarity. I was surprised to receive around 60 emails sharing the most painful and difficult stories. I felt sad to know that there is so much unresolved pain and suffering out in the world – pain that could be healed if folks would take a chance and reach out.

I’m not saying it’s easy to talk about the things that hurt us – but either we work through them, feel the pain and then become happy – or we suffer that pain for the rest of our lives. So what is worse – delving into our demons for a short time and then living a fulfilling life (ultimately uplifting those around us) – or staying miserable every day of our lives (and making everyone else around us miserable too)?

Personally, I feel our new one-on-one Intensives program is excellent for working through these difficult issues – but truly, it doesn’t matter if you utilize my help or your local neighborhood therapist, spiritual teacher or life coach. Just do something, because there will be no peace on this earth until each of us creates peace in our own hearts and minds first. Until that time all we will do is keep projecting our fear-based and pain-filled emotions out into the dream and nothing will change.

I encourage you to be strong and if the answers to the questions above are not what they could be – then take action and know that you are loved and you are worth it. I know I am worth it and I’m no better or worse than you are. If by some chance you are reading this and are awesomely happy – please pass this along to someone you love who is not. Invite them to listen to my Living With Clarity, Leading With Power & Loving With Awareness teleclass – and maybe it will inspire one heart to open.
I hope so…

With all my love, Sheri
Photograph complements of Alanna Ralph

I love a good story and this one certainly fits the bill. After reading it – ask yourself if you allow your “disabilities” from stopping you from accomplishing what you want in life. The key is to find out the best way to utilize your “weakness” and turn it into a “strength.” In that comes a deep acceptance of what you have to work with in life – and instead of facing life as a victim you face it as a warrior.

A 10 year old boy decided to study Judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident. The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn’t understand why, after three months of training, the master had taught him only one move.

“Sensei,” the boy finally said, “Shouldn’t I be learning more moves?”

“This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you’ll ever need to know,” the sensei replied.

Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training. Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match.

Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals. This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened.

“No,” the sensei insisted, “Let him continue.”

Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: He dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion.

On the way home, the boy and the sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind: “Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?”

“You won for two reasons,” the sensei answered. “First, you’ve almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm.”

The boy’s biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.

Published on Sunday, November 7, 2010 by The Age (Australia)

by Vandana Shiva

When we think of wars in our times, our minds turn to Iraq and Afghanistan. But the bigger war is the war against the planet. This war has its roots in an economy that fails to respect ecological and ethical limits – limits to inequality, limits to injustice, limits to greed and economic concentration.

A handful of corporations and of powerful countries seeks to control the earth’s resources and transform the planet into a supermarket in which everything is for sale. They want to sell our water, genes, cells, organs, knowledge, cultures and future. The continuing wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and onwards are not only about “blood for oil.”  As they unfold, we will see that they are about blood for food, blood for genes and biodiversity and blood for water.

The war mentality underlying military-industrial agriculture is evident from the names of Monsanto’s herbicides – ”Round-Up”, ”Machete”, ”Lasso.”  American Home Products, which has merged with Monsanto, gives its herbicides similarly aggressive names, including ”Pentagon” and ”Squadron.” This is the language of war. Sustainability is based on peace with the earth.

The war against the earth begins in the mind. Violent thoughts shape violent actions. Violent categories construct violent tools. And nowhere is this more vivid than in the metaphors and methods on which industrial, agricultural and food production is based. Factories that produced poisons and explosives to kill people during wars were transformed into factories producing agri-chemicals after the wars.

The year 1984 woke me up to the fact that something was terribly wrong with the way food was produced. With the violence in Punjab and the disaster in Bhopal, agriculture looked like war. That is when I wrote The Violence of the Green Revolution and why I started Navdanya as a movement for an agriculture free of poisons and toxins. Pesticides, which started as war chemicals, have failed to control pests. Genetic engineering was supposed to provide an alternative to toxic chemicals. Instead, it has led to increased use of pesticides and herbicides and unleashed a war against farmers.

The high-cost feeds and high-cost chemicals are trapping farmers in debt – and the debt trap is pushing farmers to suicide. According to official data, more than 200,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide in India since 1997.  Making peace with the earth was always an ethical and ecological imperative. It has now become a survival imperative for our species.

Violence to the soil, to biodiversity, to water, to atmosphere, to farms and farmers produces a warlike food system that is unable to feed people. One billion people are hungry. Two billion suffer food-related diseases – obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cancers.

There are three levels of violence involved in non-sustainable development. The first is the violence against the earth, which is expressed as the ecological crisis. The second is the violence against people, which is expressed as poverty, destitution and displacement. The third is the violence of war and conflict, as the powerful reach for the resources that lie in other communities and countries for their limitless appetites.

When every aspect of life is commercialized, living becomes more costly, and people are poor, even if they earn more than a dollar a day. On the other hand, people can be affluent in material terms, even without the money economy, if they have access to land, their soils are fertile, their rivers flow clean, their cultures are rich and carry traditions of producing beautiful homes and clothing and delicious food, and there is social cohesion, solidarity and spirit of community.

The elevation of the domain of the market, and money as man-made capital, to the position of the highest organizing principle for societies and the only measure of our well-being has led to the undermining of the processes that maintain and sustain life in nature and society.  The richer we get, the poorer we become ecologically and culturally. The growth of affluence, measured in money, is leading to a growth in poverty at the material, cultural, ecological and spiritual levels.

The real currency of life is life itself and this view raises questions: how do we look at ourselves in this world? What are humans for? And are we merely a money-making and resource-guzzling machine? Or do we have a higher purpose, a higher end?

I believe that ”earth democracy” enables us to envision and create living democracies based on the intrinsic worth of all species, all peoples, all cultures - a just and equal sharing of this earth’s vital resources, and sharing the decisions about the use of the earth’s resources.  Earth democracy protects the ecological processes that maintain life and the fundamental human rights that are the basis of the right to life, including the right to water, food, health, education, jobs and livelihoods.

We have to make a choice. Will we obey the market laws of corporate greed or Gaia’s laws for maintenance of the earth’s ecosystems and the diversity of its beings? People’s need for food and water can be met only if nature’s capacity to provide food and water is protected. Dead soils and dead rivers cannot give food and water. Defending the rights of Mother Earth is therefore the most important human rights and social justice struggle. It is the broadest peace movement of our times.

This is an edited version of Dr Vandana Shiva’s speech at the Sydney Opera House last night. Pick up a copy of her new book today: Soil Not Oil. Also, please watch the video on the right –> which is number two in a series of three brilliant discussions.

© 2010 The Age
Vandana Shiva is an Indian feminist and environmental activist. She is the founder/director of Navdanya Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology.

I feel privileged to have participated in the wonderful tradition of Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mexico. I say privileged, because I had an insider’s view having joined two families in their holiday preparations. I could share specific details, but I would rather focus on my heart-felt observations.

A Day of the Dead decorated tomb

I was struck by the deep family connections and web of community support that are the foundation of these people’s lives. I imagine that sometimes this might feel intrusive – like everyone knows your business, but knowing that you are loved and cared for seems to supercede most petty issues.

When I was young growing up in Brooklyn, NY, people knew my family and if I was spotted on the streets doing something wrong – my mother new about it. Although I wasn’t happy about that then – I can acknowledge the benefits of our feeling part of a community.

Today it is different in many parts of the USA. You might live in an apartment building for a year before you know your neighbor. You have to join groups to meet other parents and children. The sense of community and belonging is tenuous at best. There is an epidemic of people suffering from loneliness and lack of belonging. It is remarkable to live in a world with over 6.5 billion people and actually feel lonely!

An artist's paper-mache giant skull for Day of the Dead

It was powerful to see multi-generational families gathered around carefully decorated graves of their beloveds – telling stories, singing, sharing and simply being. The cemetery was lit with hundreds of candles sparkling like stars in the sky. Bright marigolds graced the graves and mementos of loved ones glittered in the night enticing the spirits of those who passed. It was a festive atmosphere illustrating the circle of life to young ones in a healthy and supportive way.

Maybe these people are poor, and maybe they don’t have iPads or Blackberry’s, but they do seem to be happier than most people I meet in here in the USA. There is a sense of knowing of who they are in the world, what is expected of them, and the promise that people will remember their contribution to the community when they are gone. People feel acknowledged, honored, respected and seen. How many of us can say the same?

I recognize that I am speaking to the loveliest parts of my experience and there is another side to this that might not be quite as wonderful. However, there is a greater joy and calmness in these people that is undeniable.

We are always searching, often unfulfilled, frustrated, and feeling like we can’t find our purpose in life. But here, the woman who makes home-made tortillas has a big smile for everyone, pride in what she does, and knows with every cell in her body who she is in the world.

And sometimes……that is enough.

With all my love, Sheri

One of the amazing gentleman who came on our Havasupai Falls Spiritual Hiking Journey recently spent some time in the presence of the Dalai Lama – one of my favorite humans. I love what he had to share – a very honest recounting of his experience and I thought you would enjoy it too.
Blessings, Sheri

Dear Sheri,
Yesterday I took off a day from work to go sit in the presence of the Dalia Lama for the first time. I was curious what his field would look and feel like, what I would experience in his presence. I made a few notes and will try to share some of the experience with you.

The morning was a questions/answers session between the Emory professors and students and His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Many questions were poised to him, most of which I have already forgotten. One of the first few questions caused him to sit contemplating his response for a few moments. In those few moments as I sat intently waiting, listening with every part of me I felt the first wave of compassion wash over me and a tear slowly trickle down my cheek.

He had not said anything, but a deep feeling of compassion washed over me lighting up my heart chakra, which seemed to expand outwards in response. My throat tightened a little as fought to control my emotions. Another wave hit and I relaxed into its embrace.

He began talking about the need for spirituality to be realistic. It needed to be grounded to be of value in difficult times. He counseled to approach life with a warm heart, which provides inner strength and a positive spirit making it much easier to connect with others. We become more trusted, a positive influence, which has the benefit to us of feeling more useful.

Then he said something that surprised at first. He said, the present is absolute, permanent – everything else changes. As that sunk into my consciousness I felt a growing respect for the depth of his reflections.

He went on to speak more about the truthful, honest, compassionate attitude that can bring change in others’ attitudes. Someone who is compassionate is more powerful. What?! Huh, what did he say? It struck me how obvious that was and how much it had escaped me in my life. I realized I had viewed my compassion as a weakness, soft, not strong and powerful.

He added a compassionate person is more powerful than a critical angry person. Yes, of course. When I have been attacked by an angry critical person I defend, put up my shields, reject their assertions – even if they are true.

A student asked about how to discover one’s gift and share it. He says laziness is also a gift. What?! Those who are very smart can do things quickly. Laziness requires me to work harder to get things done. I didn’t like to do my homework, so I had to work harder at getting it done. Much laughter!

Someone asked about the distractions of life, Internet, TV, video games, etc.  He spoke of the need to spend an equal amount of time looking at our inner world as we do the outer. We need to allow space/time to integrate all this information coming in, to process the external stimuli – which (I love this) allows our own force to arise. Yep, made a note of that one!

A young science student asked about how to find the Truth and if it were possible to prove it scientifically. His response, beautiful – if one truth must be one person, one ego thinking. Many people equals many truths. Always the search for one truth intimately tied up with individual. Religions, philosophies are just differences in methods – same goal. We can respect and admire other methods. The expert practitioners of methods benefit from deeper understanding and appreciation.

He closed the morning session by speaking directly to the students. You are at the beginning of next century, so have the most influence on how it goes. My generation has lived 80 decades of the last century, but only one of this one. You will live many more decades of this century than we will.

You should refine your minds with a warm and compassionate heart. Doing this will make a difference. You must take care of the environment. If you do these things, you will have a happy life!

Thanks for giving your attention and encouraging me to share this with you.

With warm regards,
Lewis

You might not be aware of this, but bed bugs are making a resurgence and creating an epidemic in many of our big cities in the USA, Europe and Australia! Stubborn little critters, they are as feisty as crabs in college dorms, as pervasive as hair lice in elementary schools, and as eternal as cockroaches in NYC. I am convinced that if humanity goes totally insane and decides to blow itself up – the only creatures left on earth will be bugs.

That said, as wise travelers we need to be aware so we can identify possible issues while traveling. Just be because you are staying in a 5 star hotel that is no guarantee that you will be free of bed bugs. Having the ability to identify potential risks will make the difference between a wonderful vacation and feeling like a flea-bitten dog!

One of the more effective methods of avoidance is by looking. A great habit to get into is leaving your luggage outside the door or your room and going in for an inspection.

By taking up the sheets, you can get a good idea if your mattress is infested by looking for the following signs: squished bed bugs on the mattress, tiny areas of dried blood, an odd kind of sweet smell, and little piles of brownish-red bug poop.

Bed bugs are nocturnal so you may not see them during the day, but you might catch them wedged into the mattress creases sleeping. They are normally brownish as adults, oval in shape and flat. They can be 1/8 up to 1/4 of an inch in length – and they are patient, waiting for a nice warm body to lie down so they can have dinner. Those bed bug bites are pretty itchy, but they are not carriers of disease.

All in all a few bites are harmless enough, the problem is once you open your suitcase in your room you potentially become a transport system for bed bugs into your own home. That is how they have managed to infest NYC, being found in movie theaters, hotels, and even darkened restaurants and clubs. We’re like a free airline ticket anywhere!

As always, prevention is the best medicine – so it is up to you to do your best to check your surroundings. This is nothing to be embarrassed about – most bell-hops are aware of this and know that people are asking for a couple of minutes to check the room. Vacations should be delightful – and this is one way to make sure you don’t take your vacation home with you!

I do really like this story and I hope you do too!

No one, can make you serve customers well – that’s because great service is a choice. Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point. He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey.

He handed my friend a laminated card and said: “Hello. I’m Wally, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk, I’d like you to read my mission statement.”

Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said: Wally’s Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment. This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, “Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.” My friend said jokingly, “No, I’d prefer a soft drink.” Wally smiled and said, “No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.” Amazed, Harvey said, “I’ll take a Diet Coke.”

Handing him his drink, Wally said, “If you’d like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.” As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card, “These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.”

And as if that weren’t enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he’d be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, he would be quiet and leave him with his own thoughts.

“Tell me, Wally,” my amazed friend asked the driver, “have you always served customers like this?”

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. “No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard this personal growth guru, Dr. Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called You’ll See It When You Believe It.

Dr. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, “Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.”

“Well, that hit me right between the eyes,” said Wally. “Dr. Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.”

“I take it that has paid off for you,” Harvey said.

“It sure has,” Wally replied. “My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don’t sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can’t pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.”

Wally was phenomenal! He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I have probably told that story to more than 50 cab drivers over the years, and only 2 took the idea and ran with it; whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn’t do any of what I was suggesting. Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice: He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

Each day you have a choice: Get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day or get up expecting a wonderful day. The old saying, “Smile and the whole world smiles with you” can be true if you decide each morning to make the best of the day ahead. And remember – Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar!

~Author Unknown

“Some people!” snorted a man standing behind in the long line at the grocery store.
“You would think the manager would pay attention and open another line,” said a woman.
At the front of the line to see the hold up was a well dressed, young woman, trying to get the machine to accept her apparent credit card. No matter how many times she swiped it, the machine kept rejecting it.

“It’s one of them welfare card things. Damn people need to get a job like everyone else,” said the man.
The young woman turned around to see who had made the comment.
“It was me,” he said, pointing to himself.
The young lady’s face began to change expression. Almost in tears, she dropped the welfare card onto the counter and quickly walked out of the store. Everyone in the checkout line watched as she began running to her car. Never looking back, she got in and drove away.

Several minutes later a young man walked into the store. He went up to the cashier and asked if she had seen the woman. After describing her, the cashier told him that she had run out of the store, got into her car, and drove away. “Why would she do that?” asked the man. Everyone in the line looked around at the fellow who had made the statement. “I made a stupid comment about the welfare card she was using. Something I shouldn’t have said. I’m sorry,” said the man.
“Well, that’s bad, real bad, in fact. Her brother was killed in Afghanistan two years ago. He had three young children and she has taken on that responsibility. She’s twenty years old, single, and now has three children to support,” he said in a very firm voice.
“I’m really truly sorry. I didn’t know,” the complainer replied, shaking both his hands about.
The young man asked, “Are these paid for?” pointing to the shopping cart full of groceries.
“It wouldn’t take her card” the clerk told him.
“Do you know where she lives?” asked the man who had made the comment.
“Yes, she goes to our church.”
“Excuse me,” he said as he made his way to the front of the line. He pulled out his wallet, took out his credit card and told the cashier, “Please use my card. PLEASE!” The clerk took his credit card and began to ring up the young woman’s groceries.
“Hold on,” said the former griper. He walked back to his shopping cart and began loading his own groceries onto the belt to be included. “Come on people. We got three kids to help raise!” he told everyone in line.

Everyone began to place their groceries onto the fast moving belt. A few customers began bagging the food
And placing it into separate carts. “Go back and get two big turkeys,” yelled a heavy-set woman, as she looked at the man.
“NO,” yelled the man. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. The entire store became quiet for several seconds. “Four turkeys,” yelled the man. Everyone began laughing and went back to work.
When all was said and done, the man paid a total of $1,646.57 for the groceries. He then walked over to the side, pulled out his check book, and began writing a check using the bags of dog food piled near the front of the store for a writing surface. He turned around and handed the check to the young man.
“She will need a freezer and a few other things as well,” he told the man.
The young man looked at the check and said, “This is really very generous of you.”
“No,” said the man. “Her brother was the generous one.”
Everyone in the store had been observing the odd commotion and began to clap.

A great example of why we should be kind and patient.
Kindness is the language the blind can see and the deaf can hear. Never judge a person because you never know what heartaches they are living with. A good saying to remember is *There but for the grace of God (go I) – you should never pass judgment until you have walked a mile in their shoes.

I do not know who wrote this story – but it is a good one! Blessings, Sheri

**John Bradford (1510 – 1555) was a prebendary of St. Paul’s. He was an English Reformer and martyr best remembered for his utterance, “‘There, but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford.” The words were uttered by Bradford while imprisoned in the Tower of London, when he saw a criminal on his way to execution.

<< Back to Sheri’s Blog

Surya and Rosco

In this video you are going to meet Surya an Orangutan who demonstrates to us the way to open your heart and arms to those you don’t even know. Rather than coming from fear – Surya shows us how to show compassion and presence. In this video Surya meets a hound dog named Rosco, and they become fast friends. Notice how Surya is not selfish or jealous. He always gives half his food to the dog expressing generosity and caring.

Best of all, these guys know how to have fun. Look at yourself and ask these questions:

• Do you express the amount of joy in your daily like that Surya does?
• Do you share half of what you have with others?
• Are you kind first or do you judge first when you meet others?
• Can you find your happiness in the smallest of things?
• Do you honor your friends and family?

If you can’t answer yes to the above – then perhaps this is the perfect example of how the human ego mind and it’s judgment can stop us from demonstrating the unconditional inherent in all beings. Take a moment to watch this video and let me know what you think by posting below!

<< Back to Sheri’s Blog