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Exactly As It Is

Exactly As It Is –

A few moments ago I sat outside on the edge of the porch and watched my Siberian Husky sniffing the ground. We have three families of rabbits, including little ones, and he has been stopping and smelling the area where they have been. The sun is out today. Its been hidden most of the week. There’s a nice breeze, blue skies with thick white clouds, the grass is an emerald-green. An almost perfect day. As I sat there I felt a splash of water on my leg. I looked to see where it came from and noticed a puddle and drops of water falling off the roof. For an instant, the moment was perfect until I noticed it. I sighed, not because of the splash but because my focus became what bugged me, not on everything else.

Wisdom teaches us to accept each moment exactly as it is; what we judge good and not so good, positive and negative, perfect and less than. The truth is; my moment on the porch was perfect with the drops of water, the splash, and the puddle. It was perfect because it’s what it was and my idea of perfection was what got in my way.

Life is a series of imperfect moments because we decide they would be better; “if…” Acceptance is one of the hardest yet most crucial lessons we must learn if we’re ever to know awareness and contentment.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: # moments, #"if", #accept, #acceptance, #ago, #almostperfect, #area, #awareness, #better, #blessings, #blueskies, #bugged, #contentment, #crucial, #decide, #exactly, #ExactlyAsItIs, #focus, #good, #gotinmyway, #grassgreen, #hardest, #hidden, #idea, #imperfect, #instant, #judge, #learn, #lessons, #lessthan, #life, #looked, #nicebreeze, #noticed, #notsogood, #perfect, #perfection, #positive, #series, #sighed, #sun, #teaches, #thewannabesaint.com, #today, #truth, #whiteclouds, #wisdom, @BrianLoging, moment, Negative

The Little Things

Apr 24

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

The Little Things –

A few moments ago I walked outside to put the cover back on the fire-pit. I was burning debris on Saturday then Sunday and Monday it rained so today it has been drying out. It was a spur of the moment decision and took me less than 3 minutes. While outside I noticed it looked like rain was coming. Back inside I let the dog out to do his thing and brought him back in just as the clouds opened up and the rain began to pour. I couldn’t have timed it better if I had tried. The soaking rain will be good for the trees in our yard that are sprouting new leaves, the gorgeous green grass, and the blossoming flowers.

I sat at the front door as the storm swept through and listened to rhythmic drops of rain on the roof. In the span of five minutes little, ordinary things made my day.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Life

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Tags: # moments, #ago, #better, #blessings, #blossoming, #Clouds, #decision, #drops, #drying, #flowers, #good, #gorgeous, #listened, #little, #littlethings, #noticed, #opened, #ordinary, #pour, #rain, #rhythmic, #soaking, #span, #sprouting, #spur, #storm, #swept, #thewannabesaint.com, #timed, #trees, @BrianLoging, Grass, moment

Cracked

Apr 13

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image result for cracked eggs in carton

Cracked –

This morning I went grocery shopping. As one who doesn’t care for shopping, it’s odd to find me roaming the aisles. However, Beth hasn’t been feeling well so it was my husbandly duty. On the list was eggs so I found them and as I was putting them in the cart I remembered to open the carton and check to make sure none were broken. There wasn’t any so I gently put it into the grocery cart and went to find the next item on my list.

When Beth and I were first married we went grocery shopping together one time and were buying eggs. I picked up a carton and placed it in the buggy without checking to see if any were cracked. A kind elderly man standing near us said; “You might want to check those eggs to make sure none are cracked or broken.” We did and there were several that were in bad shape. We thanked the man, retrieved another set of eggs, and from that day forward haven’t forgotten to check the eggs or think about the man who taught us this valuable lesson.

The encounter with the older gentleman might many years ago changed the way we did things. His advice helped us look beneath the surface and double-check what we were taking home. After finishing shopping today I wondered; “Have I done anything this week to change anyone’s life longterm, for the better?”

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Life

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Behind the Eyes

Feb 22

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Behind the Eyes –

I saw a picture of me from several years ago today. As most people, I don’t care for my photo to be taken but when it is I “grin and bear it.” Looking at the picture today the smile was there but it wasn’t genuine. There was also something missing in the eyes. There was no light behind them. They were hollow and sad. I was surrounded by friends in the photo, good friends. It should’ve been a time of stories, thankfulness, and memories but I can tell in my eyes it wasn’t any of those for me, only a blank stare and pasted smile. This was about a year before I was diagnosed with a Chronic Major Depressive Disorder.

The journey over these last years has been a hard one and there is still far to go but looking back I can see where I’ve come from and this does bring me relief. I’m not stuck in the same place even though sometimes it feels that way.

I’ve been watching a documentary titled; “The Kingdom of Us.” (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/oct/08/the-kingdom-of-us-review-netflix-teenagers-lucy-cohen) It is the story of a family recovering from their father’s suicide. They listen to recordings of his voice, often in song, and watch videos of him and the family. They ask each other repeatedly, “Look at him! He’s so sad. Why didn’t we see it?” I know the answer; “because he didn’t want it to be seen.” We’ve all been there and done that; plastered on a smile when our hearts are breaking inside. We’ve pushed on even though everything feels broken inside.

Too often we take people’s word when we ask; “How are you?” and they reply; “Fine’ or ‘Good.” The key to discovering the truth is asking more than once and keep at it until they feel you might actually want to know.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in #depression, Mental Health

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What Do You Smell?

Feb 9

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image result for smell people

What Do You Smell? –

Yesterday morning I ironed a shirt for Beth to wear to work. This particular shirt was given to my wife by a friend who passed away several years ago. However, even after all this time, the shirt still smelled like our friend. The fragrance immediately brought back nice memories of her kindness, joy, love and grace-filled life. It’s amazing what smells can trigger. I have another friend who had a rough childhood and the smell of certain foods triggers terrible memories. Scientists say smell is one of the major components of remembering the past.

I’ve thought about the shirt Beth wore yesterday and I ask myself; “What would someone think of if a smell triggered a memory? What smells would remind others of me?” One of the central lessons of wisdom is that everything we do leaves an imprint upon another. Good or bad, negative or positive, our lives leave a fragrance to those around us.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Life

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Tags: #ago, #amazing, #another, #ask, #away, #bad, #blessings, #central, #certain, #childhood, #classes, #components, #filled, #foods, #fragrance, #friend, #given, #good, #grace, #grace-filled, #immediately, #imprint, #ironed, #joy, #kindness, #learn, #leave, #leaves, #lessons, #life, #major, #memories, #Myself, #particular, #passed, #past, #positive, #Remembering, #remind, #rough, #scientists, #sessions, #several, #shirt, #smell, #smelled, #smells, #terrible, #think, #time, #trigger, #triggered, #triggers, #wear, #wisdom, #work, #years, love, Negative

Grounded, Simple, Generous, Controlled, Joyful, Present

Jan 28

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image result for taoist thought of the day

Grounded, Simple, Generous, Controlled, Joyful, Present –

The contemplative life isn’t hard to understand. Most of the teachings can be learned in a day but they offer a lifetime of wisdom.

A few moments ago I was sitting on the porch basking in the sun. It was wonderful. I had brought my phone with me but not sure why. I laid it down beside me and closed my eyes. It’s warm for the month of January. Yesterday it was cloudy and cool but in that present moment of sitting on the porch, the skies were a brilliant blue. Our Siberian Husky was sprawled out on the driveway, not a care in the world. As I embraced the beauty and warmth my attention kept going to the phone. I knew there wasn’t anything on it I needed to read or respond to but the fact it was there distracted me.

This is why simplicity is important in the contemplative life. Everything we own, invest our ourselves in, give our passion, energy and time takes a piece of us. The more we have in our lives the less contemplative we are able to be. Letting go of all that is superfluous allows us to focus on what’s important while the fluff floats away.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Contemplative

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Tags: # moments, #able, #ago, #allows, #attention, #basking, #beside, #blessings, #brilliant, #careintheworld, #closed, #contemplatives, #controlled, #distracted, #embraced, #eyes, #fact, #floats, #fluff, #focus, #Generous, #give, #going, #grounded, #hard, #Husky, #important, #invest, #Joyful, #laid, #learned, #less, #lettinggo, #life, #lifetime, #month, #more, #needed, #offer, #ourselves, #own, #passion, #phone, #piece, #present, #read, #respond, #Siberian, #simple, #Sitting, #skies, #sprawled, #superfluous, #teachings, #time, #understand, #warm, #wisdom, #wonderful, beauty, Contemplative, Energy, moment, simplicity

Don’t Resist

Jan 20

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Don’t Resist –

This afternoon I stepped outside and the warmer temperatures wrapped me like a blanket. The sun shone on me and the warm breeze stirred my soul. It’s been cold the past few weeks. Only a couple of days ago the ground was covered with snow and ice. Today, there is little snow to be seen and the remnants are being chased away by the balmy weather. The kicker is I didn’t have anything to do with the high and low temps, the sun or the clouds filling the sky, the wild difference between now and the near past. All I did was stay warm on the cold days and breathe in the warmth this afternoon.

Life is mostly filled with things we have no control over. We want the ability, the power to make things bend to our will but this is an illusion. If we pursue this type of control our lives will be filled with suffering. The secret to contentment and peace is to allow life to progress at its pace and accept what we think is good and bad, wanted and unwanted, desired and abhorred.

When we are able to practice this discipline we discover the ever-present now is exactly what it needs to be and so are we.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mindfulness

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Tags: #abhorred, #ability, #able, #accept, #afternoon, #ago, #allow, #bad, #balmy, #bend, #blanket, #blessings, #breeze, #chased, #Clouds, #cold, #contentment, #control, #couple, #covered, #desired, #difference, #discipline, #discover, #ever-present, #exactly, #filled, #good, #ground, #high, #ice, #illusion, #life, #lives, #low, #needs, #now, #outside, #pace, #past, #power, #practice, #progress, #pursue, #remnants, #resist, #secret, #snow, #stepped, #stirred, #suffering, #sun, #temperatures, #temps, #think, #unwanted, #wanted, #warm, #warmer, #wild, #will, #wrapped, breathe, Peace, Soul, Weather

Secrets

Dec 29

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Secrets –

Secrets can destroy lives. Secrets can make enemies of friends. Secrets have a way of eating at us, not giving us any peace and taking over all we say and do. Yet, most of us still hold on to them for fear the secret being found out is worse than the misery it causes each day.

Several years ago I had a friend who was ready to leave his current job for a “better” one. We went out to eat and he laid all his grievances out about his current job. He disliked his occupation, didn’t agree with his boss about the direction of the company and was sick to his gut every day he came to work. To others, he was the model employee but secretly he desperately wanted to go somewhere else. After he finished making his case he took a breath and we talked about the new opportunity and I told him I would be happy to give him a recommendation.

A few hours after our lunch my cell phone rang and it was my friend. We chit chatted a few moments and then he said; “I forgot to ask you, what do you think about me leaving?” I told him it sounded like a good job, the move on his family would be disruptive but manageable and to remember wherever he went he was taking himself with him. I went on to explain that some of his unease and difficulty with his present position was not just the job but were the secrets and burdens he carried with him. “No matter where you go,’ I said quoting one of my favorite wisdom teachers, ‘there you are. “

Don’t carry your secrets and burdens with you.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Life

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Tags: # moments, #after, #ago, #agree, #blessings, #boss, #burdens, #carried, #carry, #case, #causes, #company, #current, #desperately, #destroy, #difficulty, #direction, #disliked, #disruptive, #eating, #employee, #enemies, #explain, #favorite, #fear, #finished, #forgot, #found, #friend, #friends, #giving, #grievances, #gut, #hold, #laid, #leave, #Leaving, #lives, #manageable, #misery, #model, #move, #occupation, #opportunity, #position, #present, #quoting, #ready, #recommendation, #remember, #sayanddo, #secretly, #secrets, #several, #sick, #sounded, #takingover, #teachers, #unease, #wanted, #way, #wisdom, #worse, #years, Family, breath, Peace

Cleaning Out

Dec 8

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image result for cleaning garage floor

Cleaning Out –

The last two days my mother and I have been working in my dad’s garage. It may be mom’s house but it will always be dad’s garage. We’ve been going through a lot of stuff which needed to be sorted. By the time we finished I had things to throw away, to keep and the garage was clean and organized.

It was a sad and enjoyable time rummaging through dad’s things. He loved tools and one could tell as we tried collecting them in one place. There was paint from projects long ago completed and recent work. Other items hadn’t been opened yet and we wondered; “What project was he thinking about when he bought this?”

The garage was a sacred space for my father. None of us would’ve dared gone in and rearranged it before his passing. My mom said this morning; “I know it needs to be done but I don’t want to do it.” I understood what she meant. There was a sense of invading another’s domain, eery and holy at the same time. There were items we kept not because they were important but because we just aren’t ready to part with them.

I think this best describes our walk down the path this week. We know we must go on without dad but we just aren’t ready to part with him.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Life

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Tags: #ago, #always, #aren'tready, #before, #blessings, #collecting, #completed, #dad'sgarage, #dads, #dared, #describes, #domain, #don'twant, #eery, #enjoyable, #finished, #garage, #goingthrough, #him, #holy, #house, #important, #invading, #kept, #long, #loved, #mother, #mustgo, #neat, #needed, #needs, #nice, #now, #one, #opened, #part, #passing, #path, #place, #projects, #ready, #rearranged, #recent, #rummaging, #sacred, #sacredspace, #sad, #sametime, #sense, #sorted, #space, #stuff, #thinking, #throwaway, #time, #tools, #tried, #walk, #week, #with, #without, #wondered, #work, #working, father

Continues

Nov 24

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image result for raking leaves Continues –

I spent most of the day raking leaves and mowing the grass in the front yard. Raking isn’t my most favorite thing but it did get me out of the house on this beautiful, cool, day. As I raked I thought about a couple of things. I thought about my friend, who’s in the hospital right now fighting a losing battle for his life. I reflect on the leaves, now brown and shriveled were green and beautiful not too long ago. Time passes so very quickly and it catches us by surprise no matter when it runs out.

The wind was also blowing as I raked today and it was frustrating at times when it would catch a group of leaves I was trying to make go one way and send them scattered the opposite way. I noticed if I could collect a large group of them together it made a difference in getting them to the spot I needed them to go. The larger the group the better it worked. As I used this strategy I was thankful for the help and support of others as my friend battles an ominous disease. He doesn’t fight alone.

A quiet day, a somber day, a beautiful day with a reminder that even as life ends, it also continues.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Life

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TheWannabeSaint.com

…..a place for sojourners on this spiritual path called life

Blog Archives

Exactly As It Is

The Little Things

Cracked

Behind the Eyes

What Do You Smell?

Grounded, Simple, Generous, Controlled, Joyful, Present

Don’t Resist

Secrets

Cleaning Out

Brian Loging, OSBO

@BrianLoging

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TheWannabeSaint.com

…..a place for sojourners on this spiritual path called life

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Brian Loging, OSBO

@BrianLoging

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