animal
ˈanɪm(ə)l/Submit
noun
1.
a living organism which feeds on organic matter, typically having specialized sense organs and nervous system and able to respond rapidly to stimuli.
“wild animals adapt badly to a caged life”
Today’s thought of the day and the dictionary’s definition of the word “animal”, make me remember what I’m grateful for.
Freedom.
Thought of the day:
“Where our deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet, we hear a further call.”
I love all kids of “animals”, however I have a deep connection to wales and dolphins.
The fact that wild animals adapt badly to being imprisoned doesn’t surprise me.
In fact, we can see how being imprsioned by our own minds can drive us to mindlessness. All we have to do is look around us to see how mindless can have ramifications of our deep hunger and longing for compassion.
Dr Martin Luther king comes to mind when he said,” we can either live as brothers or perish as fools.” All beings want love and freedom from suffering.
Dolphins have taught me how joyous freedom can help me surf the waves of unknown territory. Wales teach me wisdom of peace and the profound depths of courageously going deeper beyond fear.
Together, they teach me how swim through any wave and dive into truth where love never dies.

Like the thought of the day and the photo actually suggest, I need friends and others around me to help support me during this challenging time.
I love the photos of the dog holding the other dogs tail! Sometimes we need to be able to have others hold us during times of crisis! When my son or a friend hugs me or touches me I feel like I know I’m going to be ok. The ” this too will pass. ” comes flooding into my body.
I also need to be a friend to myself by using wisdom and listening. My inner being knows what’s best. I’m able love whole wholeheartedly by slowing down and opening up to what life is showing me.
Living whole heartedly when I have fear and sometimes feel like a danger zone!
But my current challenge is to slow it all down when I’m right in the think or that hot scary freak place.
It’s right there in that moment that I must learn to remember!
Remember what? Remember to love through he heart. Stop in the.rawness of it all and become aware.
Wake up and tip into the watcher, the one inside who knows. This is where being a friend to yourself lives. Beiness is always with us, it’s me who falls asleep with what ever wave comes my way and distracts me.
I can live wholeheartedly by tapping into the truth and love always available in me by being awake.
Play the ball whereever it’s dropped. Love and compassion will be my guide.

Joy is connected to awareness.
It is pleasantly surprising that all we have to do is be openly connected to love and truth to feel joy.
I felt pure joy during meditation and I was surprised by how the depths of meditation can open up a whole new landscape of beauty which has helped me begin to understand wisdom.
Like the quote of the day by Eckhart Tolle tells us:
To meet everything and everyone through stillness instead of mental noise is the greatest gift you can offer to the universe.

We become the joy in our stillness and it’s truly a gift.
What’s interesting also is how much the effect energy and magnetic energy works as an active process all around us.
We may notice how people respond to things which literally suck them in towards products and or ideas to sell them joy. Only to find that these things in life create unhappiness or have a very short lived life experience of joy.
The constant need for people to try and rush around finding entertainment of some sort to fill the void or have screens in front of themselves even brings more “noise”, as Eckhart calls it, into into our collective mind.
I find it very interesting when I come in contact with people whether they be my relatives or my students for example, and they often say they are bored.
Students in particular always say how boring something is.
This use to make me almost jump into action to try and “fix” whatever was boring. I felt the need to fill the space with whatever I could to try to be the best at combating everyone’s boredom! My mind somehow felt a responsibility to serve whatever label I was wearing at the time, be it mom, professional teacher, coach, yoga instructor. You get the idea? We as a collective society always want more and want to be the best!
Recently, I have slowed down using mindfulness and become more curious about things.
Apparently, the word bored was not located in literature until 1850!
So why would that be I wonder?
When we look deeper into our cultural story we may find interesting answers.
So now this brings us back to the quote of the day and the question of where we go from here to bring joy into our lives.
We need to really do some deep reflection on what we truly value.
Love is always the true answer and we find it in our hearts.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery Said it best, “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
We offer a gift and service to the universe when we walk in the stillness of love and joy. We offer ourselves and others more space to praise beingness.