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More than Divides Us

More than Divides Us –

Last week I made a political statement on a Facebook post written by a friend. It wasn’t too provocative but certainly made my point. I am always wary of posting political opinions on any social media platform because of how toxic these places have become. It didn’t take long for someone to respond and then another. The second one grabbed my attention and I considered deleting my original post because I didn’t want to be responsible for one more argument about politics on social media. However, to my surprise and joy, the first responder bowed out of the conversation gracefully not wanting it to turn into something nasty and then the second one did the same. It was amazing! Two people expressed their differences of opinions and no one lost their temper, started cursing, accusing, blaming, they simply tipped their hat to the other and that was the end of it.

I still believe that there is more that unites us than divides us. Too often it is forgotten in the heat of the moment, the political battle where one side has to win at the expense of the other. We can have different opinions, worldviews, beliefs, and still be kind and considerate. We just need to listen to our hearts instead of the voices who tell us otherwise.

For more posts, reflections, poems and other writings please visit:
http://www.thewannabesaint.com

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)

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Unexpected Places

Apr 28

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Unexpected Places –

Bikers that live in our area are not the most subtle folks around. You can hear their loud, screaming engines coming from miles away and can’t hear yourself thinking when they whiz by. The noise plus the obnoxiousness which comes from that “look at me, hear me, acknowledge my presence” of some who choose to ride these cacophonic bikes, amplify their exhaust systems, spew black smoke from their diesel engines gets on my nerves. There’s a part of you which wants to put all these drivers in the same negative category and be frustrated with the whole lot!

However, I came across this video today of motorcycle riders helping an elderly woman cross the street. None of the other drivers stopped to help her, some in factory normal vehicles were speeding past her on their way to someplace important. These guys decided to make sure she arrived safely at her destination. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I7XUW4Co_c)

The video was a great reminder that categorizing, generalizing, labeling, putting everyone in the same basket is foolhardy and certainly not wise. Be slow to judge, we never know what’s happening “under the helmet.” After all, a lot of good in this world comes from mysterious and unexpected places.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mindfulness

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Tags: #acknowledgeme, #amplify, #arrived, #blessings, #categorizing, #category, #certainly, #decided, #destination, #drivers, #folks, #foolhardy, #frustrated, #generalizing, #good, #greatreminder, #happening, #hear, #hearme, #helping, #important, #judge, #labeling, #lookatme, #loud, #motorcycleriders, #mysterious, #MysteriousWays, #normal, #obnoxiousness, #onmynerves, #otherdrivers, #places, #putallthese, #safely, #samebasket, #screaming, #slowtojudge, #stoppedtohelp, #subtle, #thewannabesaint.com, #thinking, #underthehelmet, #unexpected, #wise, @BrianLoging, my presence" of some who choose to ride these cacophonous, Negative, Noise, video, World

What’s on Your Plate?

Feb 20

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image result for full plate

What’s on Your Plate? –

This afternoon, at a county health council meeting, a speaker from Vanderbilt Hospital gave us a lecture on the importance of heart health. February is Heart Health Month so it was certainly appropriate. He talked about healthy eating even stating; “If it tastes good it’s not good for you!” That certainly got everyone’s attention. He softened the blow a little by following up with limiting the amount of unhealthy, high fat, processed, high-calorie food and increasing healthy choices. The speaker had arrived late and lunch had been served before his lecture. The food wasn’t what he’d call the best in choices but not the worst either. After he sat down and the meeting dismissed someone mentioned to the attendees that there was plenty of food left over from the lunch and to please take some home. I can only imagine what the speaker was thinking as he watched people make “to go” plates. It certainly is a difficult job to get people to think differently, choose differently.

One of the disciplines of mindfulness is mindful eating. It is the recognition that everything we put in our mouths comes from the world around us. It’s not just consuming but being aware that each piece of meat, every spoonful of veggies, a bite of fruit, is a result of the creation we all apart of, participate in and exist in intimate connection. Too often, however, we just consume. Not only food but almost everything in our lives is used and abused, grabbed and possessed, with no thought of creation or consequence to our consumption.

What’s on our plate is, and is more than, the food we eat but also what we allow to fill up our lives.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mindfulness

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Tags: ##Plate, #abused, #amount, #apart, #appropriate, #around, #arrived, #attendees, #attention, #aware, #before, #best, #bite, #blessings, #blow, #certainly, #choices, #Choose, #connection, #consequence, #consume, #consuming, #consumption, #creation, #differently, #difficult, #disciplines, #dismissed, #eating, #exist, #February, #fillup, #following, #fruit, #good, #grabbed, #healthy, #healthyeating, #heart, #HeartHealth, #high-calorie, #highfat, #hospital, #Imagine, #importance, #increasing, #intimate, #job, #lecture, #leftover, #limiting, #little, #lives, #lunch, #meat, #mentioned, #mindful, #mouths, #nothought, #participate, #piece, #plenty, #possessed, #processed, #recognition, #result, #served, #softened, #speaker, #spoonful, #tastes, #think, #thinking, #Toooften, #unhealthy, #used, #Vanderbilt, #veggies, #watched, #worst, Food, Health, mindfulness, World

Anticipation

Dec 24

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image result for no christmas

Anticipation –

There is a noticeable lack of Christmas spirit in my family this year. It’s been a long year as my dad battled cancer and passed away on the first of December. The anticipation of Christmas coming has been replaced with a feeling of; “Is it over yet?” I don’t think it’s Christmas per se’ but we’re anticipating the end of 2017 and 2018 to begin.

Anticipation can be a dangerous state of mind, emotion, and spirit. For all we know, 2018 will be as rough, perhaps more so, than 2017. It’s not a pleasant thought but it is a possibility. This is why wisdom teachers discourage anticipation. Life rarely lives up to what we think, or wish would happen. It’s almost always different and this can be good or bad, negative or positive. When life fails to fill our desires suffering, pain, confusion can occur.

So, my family and many others wait in this no man’s land hoping Christmas will not be too difficult and 2018 will be a better, certainly different, year.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mindfulness

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Tags: #2017, #2018, #anticipation, #bad, #battled, #begin, #better, #blessings, #cancer, #certainly, #christmas, #confusion, #dangerous, #december, #desires, #different, #discourage, #end, #fails, #feeling, #fulfill, #good, #happen, #hoping, #Isitover, #lack, #life, #livesup, #newyear, #noman'sland, #noticeable, #occurs, #pain, #passed, #pleasant, #positive, #possibility, #rarely, #replaced, #rough, #spirit, #suffering, #teachers, #think, #wait, #wisdom, #wish, #year, Family, Emotion, Mind, Negative, Thought

No Other Choice

Nov 20

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image result for black eye

No Other Choice –

I was greeted today by one of the fathers in my Incarcerated Father’s Class by a resident with a nasty looking black eye. We emphasize choice in this class. Our motto is; “Good choices make good men, and good men make good fathers.” I asked the owner of the shiner what happened and he said he was in a fight. I then asked; “Did you make a good choice?” His answer was yes. He explained sometimes you have no other choice.

I couldn’t argue with him. It would be nice if the world was black and white, clear negative and positives, defined good choices and bad. However, the world offers us a lot of grays. There are times when the choice of going one way or another doesn’t exist. You go forward, with your best intentions and wisdom and hope it works out.

These can be our best or worst moments. They certainly define us or scar us for life. When life doesn’t offer any options, no other choices, we hold our breath and cautiously step into an uncertain future.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mindfulness

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Tags: # moments, #answer, #argue, #best, #blackandwhite, #blessings, #cautiously, #certainly, #choices, #clear, #define, #defined, #exist, #explained, #fight, #forward, #Future, #going, #good, #goodchoice, #grays, #hope, #intentions, #life, #nice, #nootherchoice, #offer, #offers, #oneway, #options, #owner, #positives, #scar, #step, #times, #uncertain, #wisdom, #worst, breath, Negative, Works, World

Essentialist

Essentialist, contemplative, author, advocate, old soul

Blog Archives

Unexpected Places

What’s on Your Plate?

Anticipation

No Other Choice

Essentialist

Essentialist, contemplative, author, advocate, old soul

Blog Archives

More than Divides Us

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Unexpected Places

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What’s on Your Plate?

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Anticipation

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No Other Choice

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