HUNDRED GOALS

Clearing out the in-box on one of my Email accounts - yes, I have multiples.  One for famly and friends, one for work, one for my blogs, one for some E-groups I belong to and the last for the junk mail and other things that want an Email listed.   

Found an link to a blog I sent myself months ago .. always meaning to check it out:  100 Goals  @  http://hundredgoals.com/   -- so went and looked at it today.  I really like how it is laid out and what Steven has to share.

DH and I have been working off and on over several years on a list of experiences we want to try and places we'd like to go.  I've been working on decluttering and purging out the "stuff" that just doesn't mean anything to me any longer.

Hundredgoals re-enforces the concept.

RESOURCES FOR OUR ROUND-THE-WORLD TRIP

DH and I are sort-planning, sorta-dreaming about doing a round-the-world trip when we get done working here. We figure we can explore a lot of Europe while we are here (we go for mostly the cheap places to stay, it's a place to sleep and get clean...only splurge occassionally for a nice place as a treat ...just our way)...we like spending time just wandering around and watching/doing as the locals do. We want to be able to spend several weeks to several months at a time getting more that a surface visit.

Nomadicmatt.com has lots of ideas we are adding to our list (we are still at the gathering info and "where do we want to go" ideas)...one of his links is "Less Than a Shoestring" (nobudgettravel.wordpress.com) and one of her's that I fell in love with today (though she has LOTS I enjoy) is "Life Lessons of a Military Wife" (lifelessonsmilitarywife.blogspot.com).

Got some things to do around the apartment ...want to finish the afghan I am making for our landlords today so I can take it down with the rent check tomorrow.
Later!

"FOUR LIMITLESS QUALITIES" - TIME FOR A CHANGE

Waterlilies are symbols of growth to our higher selves... sprouting from mud and muck rising to water's surface as a clean, pristine flower ...


It's time for a change. I'm tired of the negativity that I have let into my life ... I can choose to continue holding on to the hurts my adopted family inflicted on me ... or I can let them go. It's time for them to go .... will it be easy? Not hardly ... but they need to go for me to heal and be the person I was meant to be.

One way is through the Buddhist tradition of "Four Limitless Qualities." The practice is to aspire to loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. They are as follows:

May all sentient beings enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
May we be free from suffering and the root of suffering.
May we not be separated from the great happiness devoid of suffering.
May we dwell in the great equanimity free from passion, aggression, and prejudice.

The bodhichitta practices is just one way to sow the seeds of well-being, not only for ourselves, but for others. Everyone has to choose the religous belief that is right for them ... I put none down, all have value.

To me this is a way of thinking, not so much a religious practice. But like all things, it will take practice in learning to want for others as much as myself. It's like moving a river ... the channel has been cut for such a long time and now you are trying to get the water to go another way -- creating a new channel. Thus we atay in the patterns of behavior that keep us unhappy. Maybe -- just maybe ... this is a way to start healing my inner self.

First, I must start with myself and those I love the most.

Express the wish that I enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
Next expand the wish for someone I love.
Using the thought that they enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
Continue expanding it to a greater and greater circle of those in my life.

Start with self, moving out to those you love (where love and kindness is already felt) and then on to those that we neither like nor dislike and finally to those we dislike before expressign at long last good wishes for those unknown ... think of what a change could be felt in the world ....

It won't be easy to open my heart and act on my fears. The mediation teacher I had in San Diego warned that these activities had power to cut away useless habits and patterns of behavior. By acknowledging love, compassion, joy and equanimity and nurturing them --- they will strengthen.

Happiness is being free of anger, resentment, guilt, greed, envy, the list goes on. It is through our thoughts that our reality is constantly forming. Learning to train our thinking is fundamental to creating the kind of world we want -- this sounds like a plan. Am I ready for it? I have to be ...

This is a Bodhisattva's vow‏ ... "However innumerable beings are, I vow to save them." A Bodhisattva is anyone who is motivated by pure compassion and love -- seeking enlightenment not only for him/herself but also for everyone. Most people are self-motivated and work primarily to solve their own problems, keeping others a distant second. Should one do an act of kindness, repayment of some type is generally expected be it as a thank you, further praise or other action.
A Bodhisattva is motivated by by genuine concern and love for all living things.

GOALS FOR 2008

I'm not going call these resolutions -- but goals. It's all a journey - I may not get there the way I had originally planned, but at least I have a plan for my ultimate destination. Goes along with the saying that "You are not likely to get anywhere in particular if you don't know where you want to go."
1. To make my house a "home". Not only would I like to take 2008 to try to decorate my home, I also would like it to become more of a place of bliss for my family, rather than a house we reside in. I have lots of ideas that I have collected over the years (many due to spending 21 years dual-roled as an active Navy Sailor as well as a Navy spouse - and now my son is a Naval officer).
2.. Declutter/Organize my house and try to keep it clean so it maintains itself. This has been a long on-going goal for me:) I want to create routines/schedules that I can achieve, rather than feeling let down at the end of the day because it isn't neat and organized. Have been purging madly over the last three years (except for last year when I was reactivated and sent to Bahrain) - at least an hour a day (often more) -- it's been interesting finding things that we acquired throughout our military life. Salvation Army and Goodwill have been the receipants of much of this. However, I found out last week (March 2008) that there will be a new Ronald McDonald House built in San Diego in the near future. That prompted me to focus on books, DVDs and CDs to give to them for the families that use that facility.
I use parts of Flylady (http://www.flylady.net/), Great Clutter Challenge (Great_Clutter_Challenge@yahoogroups.com) and Holiday Grand Plan (HolidayGrandPlan@yahoogroups.com). I seriously need to sit down and block out what is done when because all three of these conflict a bit -- different rooms being done by each plan during the week.
3. To find a new career that goes along with my motto "It's better to do good than to do well". I really enjoyed my time in the Navy ... the last few years as a Navy Career Counselor -- helping people find the job that is right for them and opportunities with that job field was great!! Life is too short to be doing a job that you just don't enjoy!
4. To take time at least once a week and do something I enjoy...whether it's crocheting for Stitches from the Heart, reading or watching a chick flick. This one is easy for me! I read a lot! My adopted mother called me her "book-aholic!" Not really interested in TV for the most part -- there are some programs I like, but for the most part, there are ways to spend my time.
It's St. Patrick's Day 2008 and Spring is almost here. What better time to start this new stage in my life and share my world?
Pam J aka Holly Berry Elf