Friday, April 16, 2010

Awesome Things Volume XIII

Spending last weekend at the monastery. Although I was there for some meetings....not my favorite thing....I did have some good moments in between. The best of them was Sunday morning between the hours of 4:00 AM and 6:00 AM. I actually got up with the monks at 3:15 AM but it was my private time, in silence and solitude, drinking coffee, eating whole wheat toast, and watching night turn into day that was best.

Spring mornings. Although it is still a little cool in the mornings, it is great to wake up to birdsong and be able to come to work without wearing a jacket. I am not missing the cold and dark mornings of winter. I drove to the monastery very early on Saturday and the rural area was quite beautiful with spring bursting forth in all it's glory, especially the purple flowered redbud trees.

Compassion. Last night I watched an excellent show on PBS about the life of the Buddha. One of the Buddha's awakenings was when he understood compassion. According to the book entitled "StrengthFinders", one of my strengths is empathy. Empathy is the ability to intuitively understand how others feel. Compassion takes empathy to the next level. When you are compassionate, not only do you understand how other's feel, you care, and you act accordingly. Compassion is treating others with the same care and concern you would like to be treated yourself. Compassion is the Golden Rule, i.e., do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.

Naps. The last few days have been very busy for me. My weekend was full of meetings and my first day back to work this week was an all day meeting. After working yesterday and going to the doctor, I finally got home and soon afterwards I crashed on my couch and took a much needed nap. It was one of those world class naps where I woke up wondering what day it was, what time was it, and what planet was I on.

Ordinary days. After you have an unusually busy or difficult day, one gains a whole new appreciation for the ordinary days when nothing special happens. These are the days where the rhythm and flow of life are generally smooth and maybe even a little boring. We all have special days and we all have days that test us. Most days, however, are ordinary and are like links in a chain that hold all of our life together. How we live the ordinary days of our life says a lot about us.

Fridays! All Friday's are good but some are better than others. It's been a challenging week so I am more than ready for the weekend. It's also payday and my granddaughter is spending the weekend with me. All is good.

Ipods. I'm still discovering the wonders of my new Ipod. I never thought I would be one of those people who walks around in public listening to their music but I am becoming one. I feel a little stupid doing it and I probably look even more stupid. I'm not sure an off the chart introvert should do this. I am already lost in my whole private world much of the time and this can't help.

Thunder Over Louisville. I don't usually attend this because hundreds of thousands of other people do but I have been several times and it is an awesome sight. If you've never been you should go at least once. It's a long day and lots of work for 30 minutes of fireworks, not to mention the extreme traffic jams when it's over, but it will blow your mind.

Taking a walk by the river. My regular lunch partner had a conflict today so I went out by myself, bought a sandwich at Subway, and sat on a bench in the park. It was a beautiful day, hot and blustery, with a strong wind that created white caps on the river. There was lots of activity in the park as vendors and others prepared for tomorrow's Thunder over Louisville celebration and fireworks display. Later in the afternoon I went out again with a friend. In the afternoon the sky was a backdrop for jet airplanes and sonic booms. They were deafening at times. It was great to see all the activity and happy faces of parents and children playing in the water spouts. Tomorrow there will be so many people in this normally quiet area that you won't be able to see a blade of grass on the Great Lawn.

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