Tag Archives: gratitude
A body speaks its mind to free and heal you
I felt free for the first time in a long time today. Dr. Jodi Schwartz-Levy conducted a Somatic Therapy session for four practioners, and each walked away with all expectations met. And then some.
Or Should I Say “Soma?”
Remembering the Greatest Time of my Life
What does your first memorable kiss, scoring a break-away touchdown and opening to your Higher Self all have in common?
Miracle copies manifest at Philly VA Center
Does the Universe conspire to create minor miracles on a given day? Yes. But only if you believe in modern-day miracles.
I experienced several on February 16, 2010, with the last manifesting over a two-day period in the history of miracles for Contoveros. (For the series, see Rooster helps open path to miraculous day)
Cat’s Meow: ‘Thank you, I Love you too!’
I’m a “Cat Person.” Always been as far back as I can remember. Grew up with the felines rubbing up against the legs, “meowing” their concerns for the next meal or a friendly pat on the head and neck.
Let the sun shine with all our appreciation
(Cont’d from Sun shines to make up for snowed in winter)
Sun Shines Bright with Only One Eye Opened
On and off clicks the light from the sun. On and off, on and off, and so it goes. The sun winning this playful skirmish with tall objects on the Earth below. Light to dark, light to dark flashes before my eye. (Got an eye patch “over me left eye, young Mr. Hawkins,” like Long John Silvers from Treasure Island, but mine’s from a detached retina, and not from pirating!) Something is causing some effect on a part of my brain as my good pupil enlarges and decreases like a strobe light at a Heavy Metal concert with me thrown into a mosh pit.
Sun shines to make up for snowed in winter
Played “peek-a-boo” with the sun and shade this morning. On the road from Ambler to Conshohocken, PA, I engaged Old Sol in a game the Almighty must have created for mankind’s appreciation. Why else would God — who caused the sun to come into being from some huge cosmic explosion — have invented shadows? It’s all part of His Love for us humans!
A shower can bless me today, if I but let go
Running water. Somebody designed a way to allow it to flow from a water way directly into our houses. And not just to one spot in my Conshohocken, PA, home, but at least four: the kitchen, two bathrooms and a spigot for hosing plants outdoors.
International greetings shared back home
Went “international” yesterday. Had breakfast near my home in Conshohocken and greeted 11 people from five countries as I “table-hopped” brandishing my All-American smile, learning you don’t have to travel the world to find your Self. The world can find you right where you live. If you open your heart.
Tibetan singing bowl aids a goddess & me
Kneeling on my knees, I hold the bowl out with one hand, while placing the other hand on the wooden floor, crawling from one side of the chair to another.
Buddha guides me thru VA PTSD path
Possibly Cont’d from Trappist monk helps veteran ‘awaken’ me
Buddha came in the shape of a dark-haired, dark-skinned attractive yoga-practicing woman, smiling upon me in a dream.
Continue reading‘First Love Found’, never lost a Heartbeat
Orginally Cont’d From Love’s First Kiss) 12-2-09
What was it like to be a pre-teen, meeting a person who’d, maybe one day, be the Love of your Life? And what did you do when someone turned down the lights in the cellar party . . . and you were alone . . . finally. Your hands touched, and your eyes melted while looking at the other’s face, their smile, their warm and inviting eyes.
* * * * * * * * *
Dream helps guide me back to Paradise
Originally Cont’d from Dream Reveals Key to Paradise 12-2-09
I realized that I was in Paradise.
No, not the Paradise mentioned in our religious books about an Adam and Eve in a Garden of Eden. My Paradise was within, existing immediately before I had eaten from the fruit of the Knowledge Tree, the source of later intelligence, the later development of the mind and its control of my life.
A new tutor learns a lesson from real life
I hope to start to tutor Natalka about the English language. And, at the same time, learn more of life than I ever could from any book.
Natalka needs to improve her language skills as a teacher of 2 and 3-year-olds at a pre-school outside Conshohocken, PA, here in the USA. She came from the “Old World,” the one behind the notorious “Iron Curtain.” And while she obtained a master’s degree in Chemistry while in Ukraine, her school “directors” want her to speak and write our language more fluently.
Awakening from the Winter Storm of 2010
I slept in today. It was the third day in a row that my son was off school because of the great snowstorm of the Winter of 2010. How many of us can recall a time in our lives that school closed for three straight days due to snow?
Snow chore brings father closer to a son -2
Snow chore brings father closer to a son -3
‘Love you Take’ Equals the ‘Love you Make’
Being ‘in the moment’ beats being ‘on time’
A vehicle knocked a utility pole to the ground Tuesday morning, causing an accident that pulled down “live wires” and tied up the north side of Conshohocken, PA, the entire day.
Meditation energizes Meet-Up Group
The 11-year-old boy misses the shot on the basketball court, and the coach takes him out of the game, benching him in full view of family and friends who came to watch the group of youngsters play Thursday.
Steroids Pushed as Far as the Eye can See
I’m hooked on steroids. And no matter what I do, my doctor won’t let me get off of them.
Can Eye Movement Still a Body or a Mind?
I can see!
Just a little. A small section at the top of my eye. Through the peripheral vision of my left eye.
Seeing is believing in ‘letting go’ process
Where are those spectacles? I carried them with me for nearly two weeks. Kept them in my jacket pocket, the right pocket all this time. Now that I need them, they’re gone.
‘Les We Forget’ names called our soldiers
No one’s ever called me “baby-killer.”
I never was “spit on” upon returning home to the United States following a year at war in Vietnam.
And, while friends and co-workers I met through the years may have thought it, none have said to my face they believed I was one of those “Crazed Vietnam Veterans.”
Common Sparrow flies as high as he dares
(Part IV in Totem Series, cont’d from ‘Common’ Ground )
To become as “Common” as an Ordinary Sparrow, does not sound like much of an aspiration.
Joy Found in Everyday ‘Common’ Ground
Part III in totem series (Hawk, tiger & sparrow)
There’s nothing quite as common as a cracker, one of those Saltines, that is . . .
Hawk, Tiger & Sparrow send Wake-up Call
Part I in the Totem Series
Three animal totems appeared to me in the past few days, and I am putting the world on notice, that I plan to pay attention to what messages might be coming my way.
Eye still on the 30-day writing finish line
Surgery was completed on eye yesterday. I have to return today for an exam. Boy, am I drowsy.
Have had to urinate constantly. May have to cancel afternoon meeting to learn how to be “calm” and find “peace.” It’s a free workshop, and if you know anything about me, you’d know I can’t stand to pass up anything that’s free.
Continue reading
Yucky moment leads to ease of suffering
Ever have one of those “yucky” moments? Like, when you put your hand in a box, feeling around for some specific item only to come upon something gooey, wet and, of course “yucky.”
A Post A Day Brings Peace All Day
Eye surgery burns the bravest resolve
I prayed I wouldn’t show any fear, but I did. I couldn’t help it. I pulled my head away from the laser burning into my eye like a mare pulling away from a wrangler trying to break in a unridden horse.
Bubble battles detached retina’s blinding
A green wrist band announces to a Good Samaritan that, should I fall ill or be rescued from some accident, that I have a “Bubble” in my eye.
‘Letting go’ provides a better ‘vision’ in life
Psychedelic green bursts of light pulse across my eye. It’s like a strobe light flashing over and over, as I “see” a colorful cascade of a lime green pigment appear before me as if it’s penetrating the eyeball itself.
Highly Sensitive People get Highest Grade
I feel I have just awakened from a dream. I see a mother, a father, as well as a brother and sister smiling at me. Each one is new to me. Each is the member of a family I have wanted to belong to all my life.
Can’t A Guy Get A Break Around Here?
What am I doing with this wet rag in my hand? The woman at the meeting hall gave it to me, told me to “wipe down” some wooden box up on a stage with others cleaning and organizing for this Buddhist “event.”
My ‘Right Speech’ May Have Wronged You
You did it again, Michael.
Women Know the Help Boys Need in War
1917 – “Through a Glass Darkly” Continue reading
Macho man marvels at mistaken miss
I’ve been shooting the bull the past several weeks with JhanaJian, of whom I thought was this “Asian guy” from Vietnam.
Turns out I was wrong. Dead wrong about everything I thought I knew about JhanaJian.
Flowers still brighten up my new ‘home’
A spectacular combination of yellow and purple graced my eyes as I traveled yesterday to America’s first home, the City of Brotherly Love, in Philadelphia. There, on a counter with cups and a large “coffee” pot with hot water for my tea-toddling friend, were a bunch of flowers that greeted everyone and spiced up a small corner of the room at the Chenrezig Tibetan Buddhist Center of Philadelphia.
They were the only flowers anywhere in what was a fresh, near spotlessly clean art studio converted each week for spiritual services.
Boy, did they cheer me up. I was thinking about stopping and getting some myself, remembering the joy I felt the previous week, gifting the Buddhist Center with my small offering. The flowers were nicely arranged on what I later found out was what they call an altar, just like most churches and some temples.
“They look good,” I say to the artist, Susan Simmons, whose abode I just entered, and immediately noticed her flowers. “Yes,” she said with a big smile. “They held up nicely.”
(What? Is this the same batch I bought last year?
(Which was just the last week of 2009, remember?)
“I cut them and added fresh water,” Susan said, touching one of the petals.
I saw care and compassion on her face. Or was that something emanating from inside of me? Or maybe both. In any case, I felt welcomed, I felt at home here.
“You want to place them?” she asked me, nodding her head in the direction of the altar where a few candles and a large picture of the Dalai Llama rested on what looked like a “mantle.”
“You don’t mind?” I asked, feeling something inside of me saying, “Go for it, Mike, go for it.” Not at all, she indicated. What happened next lifted me higher than I have felt in years and years.
Please see Part II:
Flowers offer a heartfelt homecoming
Gratitude Given Freely Can Grow on You
Want to feel good? Pick out five things each day to show your gratitude. Write ’em down. But, don’t try to fake it. You really gotta look for some thing in your life, some person, some reason that, deep down inside, you can say “makes me grateful.”
That’s a message I got from a fellow named Bill Stauffer who addressed a group of like-minded people who were seeking some spiritual insights this morning. Continue reading
Love’s ‘First Kiss’ Lasts . . . For Ever More
Thanks for a Path that Preserved my Life
Ever wonder what life would have been like if you made different choices years earlier?
Choosing a Different Path May Have Hurt You
I was 19 when I felt “separated” from most of the people I hung out with and called friends. I wanted to be so much like them; not to care about such things as “love,” “compassion,” other people’s “feelings.” That was “sissy” stuff; stuff that only a “wuss” would think about. I saw these aspects of myself as a “weakness.“
— Why Must This Path Purt So Much? —
Pain: What Good Is It?
Sometimes, it works. But sometimes it tears into my psyche, bringing with it a fear that this discomfort, this thorn will continue to haunt me, raising its head more and more as I feel the aging process more keenly and with it, an unwanted sense of my mortality, my deterioration and the inevitable end that I will someday meet. When the pain increases and I can’t steer my mind away from it, I know deep inside that the end is not so very far away!
Veterans find joy in their own backyards
You can’t know how much pleasure there is in feeding a squirrel until you open yourself to the wonders of nature . . . and of course . . . feed a squirrel . . . daily.
Contoveros 