Joy In Your Arms

Joy in losing weight

2012-02-04T07:43:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is painful to watch the person at the table with you pigging out on lots of yummy stuff when you are on a diet. I crave artisan bread smothered in whipped butter....

But! This extreme diet I've been on for the last five months has me down two clothing sizes AND feeling a lot better about myself.

Dieting and exercise are worth the effort. The secret to surviving the other person slurping the yummies in front of you is to look at that person's waist line. Odds are, that will cheer you :)

Joy in Living

2011-12-31T09:26:00.000-08:00

Doing it Right
doesn't mean
Making No Mistakes--
It means:
When you finish,
People smile :) ~kc

Good luck in the new year, my friends.

Joy in Peace

2011-08-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

The news this weekend is horrific.

There will never be peace
In this divided world.
There will never be understanding
With offenses so great.

I mourn what
I cannot understand:
Killing that never stops,
Offenses without end.

If you too have a need to find Joy in Peace, see this link: Tolerance.org

Joy in MUFAs

2011-08-05T10:10:00.000-07:00

Found another notch in my belt!

Credit due to the MUFA diet. It's really easy to remember: your body wants to eat fat, and it needs it! So--choose Good fat instead of Bad fat. That's easy too: Bad fat comes from animals: bacon, ice cream, cheese, sausage, etc. Good fats come from plants: avocadoes, nuts, olives, bitter chocolate, etc. Just include a MUFA in a moderate sized meal INSTEAD of the bad fat. I'm not losing weight fast, but it is coming off!

What's your diet secret?

Joy in eating

2011-07-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

Hey, even if you're on a diet, you can still appreciate food...just not as much of it--LOL.

With the weekend coming up, I'm sure you've already thought of at least one thing you want to eat in the next few days. Do tell, please.

Here's a poem I wrote a month ago, but it fits well here:

Oreo, Oreo, oh how I love thee
This diet I’m on…says we cannot meet
So we’ll have to do it secretly:
Oreo, Oreo, oh how I love thee!

Joy in Identification

2011-07-26T07:38:00.000-07:00

Who Are You? I love to play that song and wonder: Who am I today?

Who are you? Do you identify yourself with your career, with your family, your religion, friends, hobby? Race? Gender? Sexual orientation? Age group, social class, or political party? Your car? Or a famous person who you strive to be like? Maybe you define yourself by all the baggage of circumstance you carry around with you. Now I’ve done that, and those bags weigh a lot! Got too heavy to carry, actually—had to dump them. Some people identify themselves with a goal, and that’s good to a point. I did hear a true story once, about someone who suicided when said goal did not perform as planned. Expectations can kill you.

Have you examined your Identifications lately? Amazingly, they can change without telling us. Even then…how healthy are they? Is our current definition of self really benefiting us? Or handicapping?

Be honest with yourself. Find out!

Joy in weirdness

2011-07-25T08:38:00.000-07:00

Monday morning blues
In reflection—
Sunshine & cicadas.
~

Why are Mondays so difficult? Could be the weekend didn’t turn out as planned. Or life isn’t what we want either. Maybe the week/month/years ahead don’t look too bright. Whatever the reason, for some of us, Mondays are where all this garbage crashes.

This morning, while doing the “beginning of week” chores, I chatted to self until the blues went away. Discovered a depth of Being previously unknown. Feel better.

OK—so, it’s weird to talk to yourself. If you have a shrink who helps, I’m happy for you. I’m especially glad if you have a friend who understands and responds with your best interests in mind. Some of us, however, need self-talk to get back on track. If you do this too, please don’t call yourself names. That’s not healthy.

Coincidentally, in my POWER OF NOW read yesterday, Mr. Tolle told me I need to dispense with self as best friend. Hmmm…I’ve always believed there are exceptions to every rule –LOL- and I’m sure Mr. Tolle would argue this with me, but I think that if we don’t take care of ourselves first, then we are unable to then be stewards of humanity as the highest of ideals dancing in our heads would have us be.

Be kind to yourself today, but don’t indulge either. It doesn’t matter if you secretly dip into a bad habit; you will know in your heart whether or not you live up to your own standards. But go easy, too, on those expectations. Deep inside, we’re all weird. There’s truly no such thing as “normal” when speaking of human behavior. Set goals that can be reached, then reach for them.

And it does help to know yourself. Go for it! Life gives us permission to be weird. As long as you’re kind to others too, smiles will follow you through the day.

Joy on Friday

2011-07-22T08:28:00.000-07:00

Some Fridays are better than others. I sure am glad this week is nearing an end!

One of the issues around here is the heat. Our county is suffering the worst summer ever. We're used to the heat here in Texas, but the drought is killing us. Water is so precious, and this year really brings home how much we depend on it to survive.

Upside-down squirrel--
hind feet on tree,
drinking from bowl at base.

One of the joys of my life is my pets. I've had cats, dogs, birds, fish, even a mouse once. But I fell into rabbits back in 2000 and haven't come up for air yet. I currently have a bonded pair of mini-rex, age 8 1/2. They're incorrigible! Yesterday, for example, I was doing my morning stretches before getting dressed. I bent down to touch my toes, and came nose to nose with a four pound bun. "I'm still hungry, mom," she seemed to say.

Rabbits are like
Hobbits
Don't you see!
They want breakfast,
More,
And three!

What puts a smile on your face?

Joy on Monday

2011-07-18T08:35:00.000-07:00

Now that’s a challenge! Back in December of 2008, one of my “Monday Poems” published on Every Day Poets This is it:

Monday eve
Watching sunset
Trying to remember
Who I am.

Yes, the mind is a jumble, stretched between weekends and day-jobs. Though I have written other “Monday Poems”, this is my most recent:

The sun shines through the
Ragged edges of my life—
Yet still it’s Monday.

Mondays wrench us sideways. This morning I counted my blessings. Just knowing how many people in this world are starving …no, my problems pale in comparison.

This past weekend I did have a moment of Joy. Let me share it with you:

Reclining in the hammock under two huge sycamores
Reading, luxuriating in sunshine—
Deciding to tease the squirrels by smacking my lips,
Being surprised instead by a flock of small birds.
Tufted titmice, chickadees, cardinals, blue jays…
All came to see what the smacking was about,
Discovering instead a human
Trying very hard not to laugh.
My, the fuss!
Birds, birds, birds.

Hope your Monday is sweet.

New Blog

2011-07-16T09:09:00.000-07:00

I’m starting a new Blog. The last post I made to the old one was July 17, 2009. Time to reinvent myself…. This is where I’m coming from: Escape Time! with KC Heath
And this is where I’m going:

Imagine
Let It Be
Whispering words of wisdom
To me.

What would Mother say?

The past is poison,
The future’s fractured,
Only the moment matters…

Only the moment matters.

I was sick for over a year, and have spent the last six months getting my strength back. Of course I never stopped reading. Steven Erikson’s Malazan Empire held me in thrall for months. Among other lovely choices as well. But I never stopped writing poetry either. The things are scattered all over my home. Time to start submitting again, though I expect more rejection slips. You see, I don’t “Fit” into any definition anywhere.

I defy definition!
It’s no fun playing inside the box.
If the cost of originality is loneliness,
So be it—
It’s more fun playing outside the box!

An incredible thing happened to me this past spring. I was re-reading Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way and doing a first read on Ekhart Tolle’s The Power of Now simultaneously. The very day I took Ms. Cameron’s “Reading Deprivation” as an assignment, I also came down with an infection that had me bedridden for a week. No reading while abed? That was a challenge! Persistence paid off, however. I spent the week zoning out with my iPod, and fell in love with Bon Jovi –LOL. I also learned that reading is an addiction, and have since cut back on it, dipping in only when I admit to myself that I’m avoiding NOW.

“Why dream of heaven, when you could have joy in your arms?” Thom Lane, White Flag

I don’t have “joy in my arms.” Yet—I’m learning to appreciate each day for what it is. If you have also realized that Escaping Time can be a hindrance to really living, please feel free to comment on this Blog. It is my goal to post as frequently as my job will allow. I would love to meet you here!