Gratitude;What are you grateful for this holiday?

Today I've been thinking a lot again about gratitude, especially during the holiday times. So I chose to repost this little thing I wrote.  It really is true what is said that the more things you are grateful for in life, the more good things in life just seem to come your way, more awesome things to be grateful for.

I think in our busy lives we forget this. We spend so much time worrying about what we don't have yet, asking God to bring us more, and more, and even more stuff.. but when was the last time we said, "thank you" for what we already have?

I don't care if you want to call it law of attraction or just plain luck or whatever, I do know that the things we think about, let our minds dwell on, what we give our energy too...is exactly what we get more of. It doesn't matter even if  it's "stuff" we don't want. I think God and the universe are going like, " well, you sure put a lot of effort into this, you must really want it... so here you go, take it." :-)  Yet, what so many think about and spend their energy on are the things they DON'T WANT!  A lot of my friends I think found out the hard way and ended up with a President they did not want... mostly, I would say, because instead of focusing on the candidate they wanted, all they focused on was how much they hated the other one... well bingo, you get what you focus on!

The same goes for what we all fear. I wrote a piece about fear and how it's good to break out of that, go meet new people, because you could find some brand new, wonderful friends. I got an email not long ago about supporting our country in the fight against terror.  Well, while I am not against trying to end violence in any form... I have to wonder at all the attention we give over to our fears of terrorists. Especially when that fear has led to us causing the deaths of a hell a lot of inocent people along the way. Never mind the fact that the idea of a war on terror is insane. I mean  war is terror.. so doesn't that mean we are fighting a war on war? Wouldn't a better idea be to start trying to focus on what in the world will bring us peace and not more fighting? The more energy you give to fighting, even for a good cause, is only going cause you to have to fight even more. All these two wars have done is to create even more people to fear, more people who hate us for what we are doing. I say spend at least half that energy on finding people in these regions to care about, to love, to help, and to be grateful for. How many of you know anyone from these parts of the world? Would you go out of your way to learn anything about their culture or to find friends there? To find worthy people, who are mostly just like you wanting to live their lives well and care for their families? I've been reading lately about all sorts of people who have gone out of their way to find ways of helping others. I'm not talking about just free handouts, I'm talking about people who give things like education, who give others a helping hand so they are better able to help themselvs. I'm talking about people like my friends in Rotary who are helping build schools around the world. They are helping bring clean water to communities, and better health care and education to poor cominities. These are the people that I'm grateful for and the more "energy" I give to being grateful for these friends, the more friends like these I make... Life is wonderful! The more positivity that can be spread, the less fear can keep a hold... the less fear there is in the world, the less we have to be fearful off. 

So again, I think if you could take half the energy it takes to hate the terrorists and invest it in learning what there is to love about our fellow human beings in the world... you would go a long way to creating even more people to love. I know for a fact, despite all the fear mongoring that goes on, that for every one person out there bent on hurting you, there are thousands, if not millions, who would like nothing better than to be your friend. There are far more loving, kind people in the world who just want to live their lives in peace and harmony. 

I loved the quote from Mother Teresa about anti war rallies... she said something like, "I will never attend an anti war rally, but invite me to a peace rally and I'll be there."  She knew the only true way to peace is to make your focus peace. The only way to change anyone's heart is not to curse them, but to pray for them... to pray that God will show them the way... She was pretty special. Too bad the world doesn't have more like her. She was awesome too in that even though she was a Catholic nun, she never insisted on only helping Christians. She cared for all alike. She said she only wanted a person to be the best they could be, even if that meant the best Hindu they could be or the best Muslim, or the best Budhist... to her all were children of God... it didn't matter what you wanted to call him.  When I was in Jerusalem last year and I prayed at the Western Wall, that was the answer I got. We are all really the same, God does not love anyone more or less, he only wants us to be good to one another. There was a sadness though at that wall, mostly because there wasnt that love for each other. I felt that the message I was getting was, "I don't love you who pray down here at the wall (mostly Jews and Cristians) any more or less then those who pray above at the Mosque, or the Dome of the Rock (mostly Muslims)... I love you all, why can't you see that? Why can't you stop fighting and learn to love each other, because I do". Yes, you may think I'm crazy for getting  messsages, but that's ok. :-)  The point is, the more effort we put into learning what there is to love about other people, the less we really find in them not to. I know I certainly found people there to love... I didn't expect to, but I did.

So, it is my goal to try and remember more things to be grateful for every day. To pray for those who would want to hurt me and to only wish good for anyone. For the more I have te be grateful for, the more in life I will get to be grateful for... the best of these are friends. I find the best thing in life is to get out there in the world and make friends... the more friends you have, the fewer enemies anyone can have. And that is not just a good thing... it's a great thing! :-)

So thank you to all of my friends, even to those of you who live on the other side of the planet and who I'm not sure when I will see again... you are all a blessing and make me smile.

On the Slopes; A Cowgirl Goes Skiing

I love skiing and I love this quote, “When it comes to skiing, there's a difference between what you think it's going to be like, what it's really like, and what you tell your friends it was like.” ~Author Unknown

I love it because it’s so true. There is the anticipation of the day, what you are hoping it’s going to be like. You are looking foreword to great snow, or at least not dreadful icy stuff that makes your teeth chatter almost as much as your skis. There is the hope of either hanging out with good friends or meeting new ones. I enjoy going skiing by myself because I never know whom I’m going to meet. Skiing is also a way for me to break out of my own closed in little world. I love my horses and doing the cowgirl stuff, but everyone needs a break once in a while, a vacation away from every day. I know my horse loving friends may not understand this one, as their vacation away from the every day is to be with their horses. However, I work at what I love, I work with my horses. I don’t lack for what they call “horse time”… that’s my everyday life. So ski days are days I look foreword to every winter. I think fall is my favorite season of the year because it brings with it the hope of the upcoming winter and snow in the mountains. I love thinking about all the, hopefully good, ski days ahead in the next season. I like that wondering what the ski season is going to be like.

Then there is the reality of the ski day. It may be great, fresh powder that swirls past your face like angel fluff that makes you feel like you are flying. Or there is what we like to call here in California, “sierra cement”. It looks wonderful as those giant flakes fall and the snow builds up foot by foot, but it turns to goopy, goo the minute you try to turn your skis in it. Either way it’s skiing and we who take to this crazy sport love it all. Ok, yeah, we don’t love the cement stuff, but we put up with it and thank God for snow grooming equipment that will turn that goo into perfectly groomed, while loveliness. Skiers call it “corduroy” because the grooves left by the machinery leaves the hill looking like it’s been covered with a nice fine wale corduroy fabric. Very cool stuff that is.

There is the reality too that you may be stuck going skiing alone because everyone you know is either working or busy with their families. Me, I’m single, so a lot of the time it means I go it alone and the reality is that I don’t always meet fun, new friends on the day of skiing. (though I still enjoy days on my own, because again, sometimes you do meet cool new friends) But the ski day is still fun, even if it’s not what I expected it to be.

Lastly it’s what you tell your friends it was like. “Awesome !!!” That’s usually the answer when asked about your trip or how the snow was. I have found most skiers always tell you how fantastic their day was, even if it was anything but. Family friends have long since given up on asking my father about the snow conditions. They stopped because you can never be sure what he tells you is accurate. He would say the day was fabulous and the snow was great even if it was not. He could tell you that it was the best ski day ever even if he was skiing on a sheet of gleaming ice or if it was raining, or if there were giant rocks grinding your newly tuned skis into pock marked planks if junk. He loves skiing, so it’s always great in his book. He will always say, (with a smile on his face) “it was great!” because to him it was.

It’s funny though as I get older I find I’m more like that though. I realized after this last ski trip to Tahoe where there isn’t much snow this winter that I never talk about a bad day skiing anymore. I think, to be honest, it’s because I don’t think anymore that a day skiing can be a bad day. I can say that because there is more to skiing than just the conditions and who your ski buddies happen to be. It’s a day to be up in a place that’s only a little removed from what God made. I know some who wont go skiing on Sunday because they have to go to church…”can’t ignore God”… but I can’t see any more fitting a place to remember God then when I’m in the mountains. Yes, take all the trappings of a ski resort out of the picture. The snazzy high speed chair lifts and million dollar lodges aside with their inhabitants lounging around in thousand dollar jackets, there is a lot to behold. Snow clad mountains with their craggy faces bearded in white. The way the evergreen trees look after that latest snow, like someone covered them in whipped crème and it’s all there for you to enjoy. Taking a break on a run to watch a crow fly lazy circles above the treetops. I wonder what he’s seeing. What does this all look like from his vantage point?

That is as close to God as any other place I can think of. So yes, when I tell someone I had an “awesome time” even if the day hadn’t been great, I’m not lying. It was awesome because a day on skis is always a good day! That is why what you tell your friends about skiing can sometimes be so different from reality.