A Few of My Favorite Thoughts

For the most part, I live in the moment. I suppose some would say that I am a few fries short of a Happy Meal, but with three moments in every second, I do a lot of living!

I've been thinking of making a list of my favorite things, but with living in the moment like I do, it would be an endless list filled with the coolness of each and every rush of whatever-it-is-I-feel-at-the-moment. I know you're secretly thankful that I can't type that fast!

So, to put a different spin on the list a bit, I'll try to list only the thoughts that capture me for more than a few moments at a time. These are in no particular order, and they are all far from separate from each other.

Being

I spent a good portion of my life fighting the fact that I was born with an overactive neural system. My mind is overactive, my physical senses are overactive, and so are my emotions. Whatever it is that I feel, physically or emotionally, I feel intensely, deeply and to the core. At first, I figured out it was a lot less complicated to feel what I feel and stay true to those feelings, inside and out. For me to do anything against what I feel throws me into an incomprehensible state of chaos filled with anger and depression. To maintain any kind of internal balance, I finally figured out that thinking and feeling are separate, yet two inseparable aspects of the same thing: me. So now I give both equal air-time and all's well in paradise.

Being in the Moment

Grabbing hold of that sense of being meant that I no longer had to be a slave to it. Taming my brain allows me to experience everything, every little thing, that floats in and out of my awareness. Carl Jung would call this tapping into higher levels of consciousness, which equates to the Ancient Wisdom's tenet of mastering the physical to attain the spiritual. It is an incredibly peaceful and joyous way of being!

Being a Part of Everything

This is perhaps one of the most astounding aspects of life that there is. Acknowledging everything makes me a part of everything! Everything is one! There is no need to suffer loneliness or fear! It is all one!

Acceptance

You've heard it said that an alcoholic or drug addict or overweight person can't "get well" until they accept the fact that they have a problem. That is just the tip of a magnificent iceberg! As you can tell since it's blatantly obvious, I am an introvert, another one of Carl Jung's concepts. I look inside, identify what I feel and navigate through life true to what I feel. Sometimes, I am extremely introverted and it takes more than a crowbar to pry me out of my little world. Since I am a part of everything, it hardly crosses my mind to spend more of my time out in the big world. I accept me for who I am.

The opposite, an extrovert, navigating through life in the big world, will instead seek approval and acceptance from that big world with little to no internal influence or acknowledgment of his own feelings and thoughts. Very social and outgoing, an extrovert's being is symbiotic with others. Being is belonging. When the sense of belonging is present, so is acceptance of self.

Pretty cool, huh? The trick is to be both introverted and extroverted!

Joy

I used to have an incredibly hard time with the concept of "happy." For the most part, I never felt "happy." I still don't! I have surpassed it, threw it out the window, tossed it in the circular file as inconsequential. There is something much more, completely tremendous and worth far more. That is joy. Joy is feelingthingkingbeing all at once and it is infinite!

Joy is the feeling of complete comprehension and understanding.

Joy is how a good book speaks to your heart.

Joy is the music that sends you flying with it.

Joy is the art that speaks of wonders.

Joy is being with another person, an animal, or with yourself so totally that there are no boundaries.

Joy is being in it, but not of it. One foot is on the ground while the rest soars!

Joy is beyond faith and into knowing.

Joy is being.

Joy is being in the moment with everything.

I am amazed by the bond that has developed between my animals and I. I have become "quiet" enough to "hear" Odin, my horse. He communicates so many things to me. His eyes will change ever so subtly to reflect comfort, irritation, wariness, contentment and playfulness. He will nuzzle my nose or cheek (talk about razor burn!) or put his eye right close to mine as his way of saying he is enjoying my company. My dogs stay within feet of me, sometimes making it a bit difficult to leave the center of their circle. Like a litter of pups, they lay with me all night, snuggle up to the crook of my knees or up against my back. Odin and the dogs become pissy every morning as I leave for work, and all come running when I come home.

Out in the big world, whether at work or covering a story, I enjoy every moment, even if it does take a bit of prying to get me out and about. I interact with everyone, from a met eye and smile to an intense conversation. I don't think in terms of liking or disliking anybody, and accept all as they present themselves to me.

There is even a sense of joy in missing my son. He feels confident and capable to build his life. I miss him terribly, but accept my diminished role in his life.

There is a great joy in writing, whether it be to communicate news or share my thoughts and photos with you on my blogs. My hope is to be able to capture or speak of something that gives you a moment of peace.