#6 & #7

Nothing real exciting...but I have done something new each week.  Last week I cut trees and hedged with a power tool thing for my Grandma.  It was kind of theraputic.  This week I baked for Thanksgiving.  Paula Dean's Lemon Blossoms.  I didn't come home with any.  They were a hit.  If you know me...I don't bake or cook!

Next time hopefully there will be something more exciting to discuss and a longer blog!

#5 To Shift or Not to Shift

My new thing number #5 was to learn to drive a stick shift.  My roommate, Hannah, graciously offered to teach me using her PT Cruiser.  I have been driving for a "few" years, but I must admit I was nervous.  I was scared I'd break the car. Hannah was very patient with me and taught me the basics.  She made me start the car going up a hill. I must admit, I stalled out ALOT.  Apparently, I pull my foot off the clutch alittle too fast.  I was about to start the car and make it go, without crying.  I even got up to 3rd gear!!!  I drove us home, and over a ton of speed bumps.  I'm also very good at parking.  I don't think I'll make it to the "real" road without a few more lessons, and one day, maybe the interstate!  Fun times! THANK YOU Hannah!!!

#4 Happiness

Everything we do is in pursuit of ultimate happiness.  It is our innate desire and motivates our every action.  The purpose of meditation is to make our mind peaceful and calm and to free ourselves of worry and stress.   If we eliminate mental discomfort we should experience true happiness.  My 4^th new adventure took me to the Deprung Monastery to take a class in meditation. When I entered the meditation room, I immediately felt a sense of calm.  Geshe Ngawang Phende was the monk who led the session.  When he started talking about our journey of happiness, I knew I would enjoy the class. He seemed like one of the most enjoyable people I’ve ever been around.  I would love to befriend him.  I wonder if he has a facebook? 

He spoke about our desire for happiness and how everything we did was in that ultimate pursuit.  He spoke about how we tend to “buy” ourselves unhappiness, in work or relationships.  We always complicate our lives by not being able to control simple emotions.  If we experience the feeling of unhappiness, we tend to show the world that feeling and the negative feeling is contagious.  Therefore, it’s like a roller coaster affect of unhappiness.  By learning to meditate we are about to gradually train ourselves to become more peaceful and experience a purer form of happiness.  Eventually, we will be able to be happy to be happy even in the most difficult of situations.  Phende explained that it’s okay to have a wandering mind.  That instinctively our mind focuses on ALL aspects of life, good or bad.  Learning meditation will help alleviate some of the worries and insecurities.  I find it very difficult to concentrate on one topic for very long.  He called this a monkey mind.  It is a consciousness that jumps all over the place  and is driven by external circumstances. By training in meditation, we create clarity that enables us to control our mind regardless of the external circumstances. Gradually we develop mental equilibrium, a balanced mind that is happy all the time, rather than an unbalanced mind that fluctuates between the extremes of excitement and depressions.  “If we train in meditation systematically, eventually we will be able to eradicate from our mind the delusions that are the causes of all our problems and suffering. In this way, we will come to experience a permanent inner peace, known as “liberation” or “nirvana”. Then, day and night in life after life, we will experience only peace and happiness.”

I learned that happiness is the key.  Life is simple and short.  It’s true that we shouldn’t sweat the small stuff.  We live to be happy and to be good.  I will definitely go back and try to train my monkey mind a little better.  Today, I am happy.

http://www.drepung.org/

"Cause this is Thriller..." #3

"It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark
Under the moonlight, you see a sight that almost stops your heart
You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it
You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes
You're paralyzed"

Adventure #3:  I took a dance class.  In celebration of Halloween, and in the spirit of look for a new adventure, I thought it would be hilarious to learn Michael Jackson's Thriller.  As a little girl, I loved Michael Jackson.  In fact, as a teenager I found these old cartridges in my parents room called 8-tracks.  My mom showed me the two that the had bought me, when I was obviously really young.  One was the soundtrack to Annie and the other was Michael Jackson's Thriller.   We all remember the video.  Micheal on a date, the Zombies, the dancing...It's a classic.  My side kick bestie Kim graciously joined me at the Street Studio (aka Pole dancing) on Halloween along with about 20 other strangers- including one entire family- including a dad to learn this famous routine.   For the most part, we kept up.  There is the shimmy, shimmy move that was very good at faking.  I kept thinking about the movie 13 going on 30...life just doesn't work with everyone KNOWING the moves to dance...but it SHOULD!  It turned out to be a great day!!  I even got my picture taken with "Michael Jackson" himself!

"And though you fight to stay alive
Your body starts to shiver
For no mere mortal can resist
The evil of the thriller"