Anyone with pets knows that they are filled with unconditional love. They can teach us about ourselves - to develop a sense of humor, being flexible, patient, living in the moment. They can help us feel better when our life is down or we don't feel well.
They know - we can't hide our feelings from them.
If there is something we need to learn about in life - animals can often teach us about that too.
What a wonderful resource - filled with love and joy.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Learning from LIfe: Spiritual and Inspirational Experiences
This is a blog to share experiences that have helped us to grow and gain a better understanding of who we are. Naturally there are experiences that can be shared only with those closest to you and need to remain private.
I believe that everyone has a mission in life and mine is to learn about love -from divine love to that of loving family, pets, jobs, and anything else I may enjoy and not always enjoy in life.
I also believe that all of life is spiritual.
For starters, do you have a mission in life? Anything that stands out in your world above all others and keeps you on track in life?; something you are passionate about and will not let go of you?; something that helps you to grow as a person?
We each have our own belief system and that's what makes life so interesting. We can learn from each other without being judgmental.
One thing I have learned that I cannot force my beliefs on anyone else, and that is how it should be because our individual experiences are unique. I am here to learn about my own lessons as well as from the lessons of others. There is a saying "if we don't learn from history we are bound to repeat it."
We also have freedom to make our own choices (one of the reasons we are here), but along with that freedom comes total responsibility for those choices. Once made they can never be recalled. We will live with each of them good, bad or indifferent and learn how to resolve them.
We can get into self discovery, through hard times, grief, death, relationships, love, fear, finances; why life is or is not working for us and so on. Life is not easy as each of us know. There are always ways we can make it better for ourselves.
One experience I had as head of human resources in medium sized company involved a woman who applied for a job opening. She was looking for a day job as her night job as a security guard was not working for her.
When she arrived for the interview she had just come off her job and was worn out. I could see that she had lived a hard life and her self-esteem was about zero. I hired her because she had the skills and more than enough experience for the job.
As time went by we developed a friendship and she started sharing bits and pieces of what her life was like. One thing she said caught my attention. She had a problem with her hearing and had spent thousands of dollars on doctors who could not find anything wrong with her.
I had had a similar experience and explained what had happened to me - it was an inner experience (something within myself) that required attention in outer life.
By the time I finished my story, her eyes lit up. She realized her problem was not physical, it was spiritual.
This little bit of awareness turned her life around. Her self-esteem went up dramatically and became a totally new person. Her old self disappeared. The transformation was miraculous.
She was a much happier person. She started dressing like an executive. The confidence in her self had grown tremendously. She had become someone who could have taken over the company and run it successfully if she had wanted to.
She was able to make this breakthrough because I listened to her. The hearing problem was a metaphor - she could not find anyone who would listen. She only wanted to be heard, and there I was listening.
She began to show other qualities that made her stand out such as her love for animals.
She and I would often go to lunch in a nearby park. There was a family of swans living there and she developed a friendship with them. Swans are not the easiest birds to be with and are usually avoided by most people. If they are in a bad mood one might experience extreme pain when jabbed by a powerful beak.
My friend was amazing. She not only made friends with the swans, but she became so highly trusted by the parents they would allow their babies to come and visit with her. I had never seen that happen before.
My friend was like the swans. She was able to let go of the darkness that had surrounded her for so many years and swiftly blossomed like a beautiful flower.
She left her job after a short period of time. This was not to be a career for her, but simply a stepping stone for her next experience in life.
Small acts of kindness can mean so much when someone is going through hard times.
I believe that everyone has a mission in life and mine is to learn about love -from divine love to that of loving family, pets, jobs, and anything else I may enjoy and not always enjoy in life.
I also believe that all of life is spiritual.
For starters, do you have a mission in life? Anything that stands out in your world above all others and keeps you on track in life?; something you are passionate about and will not let go of you?; something that helps you to grow as a person?
We each have our own belief system and that's what makes life so interesting. We can learn from each other without being judgmental.
One thing I have learned that I cannot force my beliefs on anyone else, and that is how it should be because our individual experiences are unique. I am here to learn about my own lessons as well as from the lessons of others. There is a saying "if we don't learn from history we are bound to repeat it."
We also have freedom to make our own choices (one of the reasons we are here), but along with that freedom comes total responsibility for those choices. Once made they can never be recalled. We will live with each of them good, bad or indifferent and learn how to resolve them.
We can get into self discovery, through hard times, grief, death, relationships, love, fear, finances; why life is or is not working for us and so on. Life is not easy as each of us know. There are always ways we can make it better for ourselves.
One experience I had as head of human resources in medium sized company involved a woman who applied for a job opening. She was looking for a day job as her night job as a security guard was not working for her.
When she arrived for the interview she had just come off her job and was worn out. I could see that she had lived a hard life and her self-esteem was about zero. I hired her because she had the skills and more than enough experience for the job.
As time went by we developed a friendship and she started sharing bits and pieces of what her life was like. One thing she said caught my attention. She had a problem with her hearing and had spent thousands of dollars on doctors who could not find anything wrong with her.
I had had a similar experience and explained what had happened to me - it was an inner experience (something within myself) that required attention in outer life.
By the time I finished my story, her eyes lit up. She realized her problem was not physical, it was spiritual.
This little bit of awareness turned her life around. Her self-esteem went up dramatically and became a totally new person. Her old self disappeared. The transformation was miraculous.
She was a much happier person. She started dressing like an executive. The confidence in her self had grown tremendously. She had become someone who could have taken over the company and run it successfully if she had wanted to.
She was able to make this breakthrough because I listened to her. The hearing problem was a metaphor - she could not find anyone who would listen. She only wanted to be heard, and there I was listening.
She began to show other qualities that made her stand out such as her love for animals.
She and I would often go to lunch in a nearby park. There was a family of swans living there and she developed a friendship with them. Swans are not the easiest birds to be with and are usually avoided by most people. If they are in a bad mood one might experience extreme pain when jabbed by a powerful beak.
My friend was amazing. She not only made friends with the swans, but she became so highly trusted by the parents they would allow their babies to come and visit with her. I had never seen that happen before.
My friend was like the swans. She was able to let go of the darkness that had surrounded her for so many years and swiftly blossomed like a beautiful flower.
She left her job after a short period of time. This was not to be a career for her, but simply a stepping stone for her next experience in life.
Small acts of kindness can mean so much when someone is going through hard times.
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