Samurai Teaching ~ Sensational Living: Return to Innocence

I came across these pictures taken last spring. They were from a Date-Night-With-Daddy where I remember still being very tired from the previous day and stressing about all I had to do the next.

I even remember saying to myself, "I don't have time to do this" (meaning these Date Nights). But as I sat and watched my girls having the time of their lives I began to feel better, and was drawn back into the energy of the present moment by their smiles and laughter.....(Sofia just came over seeing this picture, put her head on my shoulder, and let out a happy little sigh).

Then, as we were leaving we opened the door for an elderly lady coming in. We asked if she was going to have a good game. She said, "Oh, I'm not as good as I used to be but it's all about having fun now."

As we walked to the car I thought, "That's funny...It's the same message my daughters were trying to teach me. We know the simple answers to life when we're young and old.

It's in the middle of our lives that we make it messy with stress, worry, finances, ego, pride, and pain....

Instead of learning from our mistakes and creating a brighter future....

We fill our present moments with the problems of the past and the potential problems of the future.

This is what saps our strength and prevents us from enjoying life right now, and being filled with the INCREDIBLE LIFE-CHANGING energy and power of the present moment."

"Hey girls, do you mind going back and asking Billie to take a picture with us?"

Since I took this picture I've always wondered when I'd have time to share it. I think it's beautiful.....and I think it shows the truth that happiness is not out there in the future or somewhere back there in the past.

And I hope my girls read this again when they're adults and caught up in their own mental messes......

Return to your innocence ladies. You were perfect back here in this moment........You ARE perfect right now in this moment.....Just go back to living in each one.....choosing to retake control of your thoughts and appreciating this very moment for what it is...

The Time of Your Lives.....

(And a big "hello" to Bernie, who also taught me something this morning while the kids and I were out buying flower seeds for them to plant.)

I've been struggling to stay positive for the past couple of weeks. My rent was late and I paid my electric bill less than an hour before the letter said it was going to be shut off. But I could not pay the tuition to finish my thesis.

Every morning since then I've woken up feeling like I've been kicked in the stomach, having to consciously retake control of my thoughts to what I can do v. can't.

Today I woke up with my all my children sleeping next to me, and I chose to fully appreciate this rare moment by focusing on what I could afford to do, which today was teaching them how to create a mini-greenhouse.

I have so much to share because I have so much to learn from everyone around me. While standing in line listening to Bernie talk about his long life, I asked him what his secret was. He said simply, "Wear a smile as your umbrella."

Sounds like pretty good advice to me....think of all the things you do have to smile about, allow yourself to be completely drawn into the moment you are in, and use that happiness and energy to think of what changes you need to make within yourself to overcome any problem that has temporarily stopped you.

Do this, and you return to your original state of innocence, where you can begin all over again, and all the rain in the world can't keep you down and make you frown.

A very special thank you to my children, and Billie, Bernie, and Grandma Bette, for helping me see this wisdom now, while in the middle of struggling with the mess of my middle life.

"Return To Innocence"

Love - Devotion
Feeling - Emotion

Don't be afraid to be weak
Don't be too proud to be strong
Just look into your heart my friend
That will be the return to yourself
The return to innocence