Capricorn Tales

Mahatma Gandhi once said, "Be the change you want to see in the world".  Perfect words in a not so perfect world.  On a daily basis many struggle to maintain a calm and peaceful demeanor.  Some people don't care how their actions affect others, but then they complain about the world around them.  This is life.  It's not that we don't care, it's that we don't stop to take time to stop and look around us.  My dad told me a great customer service story the other day when I was in San Diego visiting.  "Give'em the pickle" he said.  Well of course my less than perfect mind said, "what did dad just say to me?"  Then he explained.  A man was dining at a restaurant. After his check was closed out, he still had a hankering for a pickle, so he asked for one more.  The server said he would have to be charged for it.  Well of course this didn't sit well with the man, understandably, since he was just a patron of the restaurant,...

I'll be honest, today has been one of those days that makes finding something to be thankful for hard. Admittedly I haven't been in the best of moods today, so tonight I am just kind of winging this as I type, because I know that the more I write, the better the odds are of me finding something to be thankful for. Have you ever had one of those days that didn't seem so bad, but then it all seemed to fall apart in a split second and you're not sure why or how?  That was today.  I have recently had butterflies and every time I have felt these particular butterflies, something in my life had changed.  Lately it has been for the good, but as someone who is increasingly becoming less resistant to change, and learning to step out of my box, these feelings can be subconsciously overwhelming as I continue to navigate through this journey. That said perhaps what I am grateful for is my new found ability to adapt to these changes, big or subtle.  Sometimes you have to...

I have 25 days left to be grateful for the beautiful and wonderful things and moments in my life, so today I am taking a moment to be grateful for...wait for it...The randomness of Twitter and it's collection of intelligence, creativity, and something's I don't get that make me scratch my head.  It's an outlet for people to be a 140 character version of themselves, or less, if you post a pic.  It's kind of like a people buffet, you can sample their mind and then move on to the next when you're ready.  Until tomorrow...don't facepalm too hard, it hurts.  Don't roll your eyes too much, you might get dizzy.  And don't judge other people's Tweets harshly, because you never know what someone might think of yours.  Be Random. Be you.  Yep, that's it. Shortest Shellymarie blog ever.   Be grateful for that.  

As with anyone, sometimes life gets in the way, so my blog is a smidge late, it's only one day, and that's better than two right?  This blog will be short, because (in short), I am grateful for my dad.  Yesterday was his 70th birthday and as I have pointed out before, he always taught me to celebrate the zero years and celebrate he did last night. For those who read my blog on a more regular basis, you already know that Dad and I take our birthday's more seriously (in a fun way).  My mama never did, she said she didn't like the attention, and that's okay too, and although I can't speak for dad, for me it's not about the attention.  I have spent birthday's alone (when it fell on a weekday) and celebrated the heck out of them, because for me it is about another year.  It's a gift.  As I mentioned yesterday, tomorrow is not guaranteed, so if you're going to be grateful for each day, then why not celebrate the marker of 365/366 days passing. ...

Well, I am sure Bob Dylan meant something completely different when he sang those lyrics, but from day one until yesterday, I really found that my times, well they were a changin'.  That is what I am going to focus mainly on during this blog, as well as giving my opinion on the meditation challenge.  I went back through the thirty days and I picked my favorites.  Including the staying in the moment meditation. It was short, but for me, it is a way to re-find my balance and center myself.  For instance, if you are having one of those days when you just need step away and breathe, do it literally.  For those moments when you are feeling "less than", do the love meditation, or the self-confidence meditation.  There are so many and I am grateful for the J Bittersweet meditation challenge.  In some cases I edited, for lack of a better word, the way the meditations were done, as I found so many variations of the same thing.  So, if there is somet...