Life: a birthday reflection

I realize I haven't told you exactly how or why but please know that on this 45th year on this planet, if I stepped out of my body, I would break into blossom. The wings of the butterfly would unfold revealing the most magnificent of prisms, emitting a kaleidoscope of life's lessons that have transmuted into all that is beautiful.

To those who have honored my birth by graciously wishing me good tidings, please know that my soul is warmed.

And, for those who have asked what I wanted for my birthday, I will tell you this: all I truly want is that you do something nice for someone unsuspecting today--someone other than me.

All that I have in my life is all that I need.

However, there are many in this world who could use an unsuspecting gesture of kindness or a helping hand, a simple smile, or a door held open for them. The key is to do this without a need for recognition--do it spontaneously and without an expectation of return. You must not tell anyone of your deed. 

Do it from a center of LOVE and RESPECT for the LIFE that has been granted unto you. 

Give back to humanity that which you take in this lifetime. When you throw that kind of positive energy into the universe not only does it make all of humanity better, but it brings to you a return far greater than the physical self could ever imagine.

As always, thing have to flow out to make room for something else to flow in.

Life is truly what we make of it. We are the captains of our own ships and each individual moment is a gift to us. A gift that allows us to choose how we shall embrace it, whether we welcome it or push it away. 

Today, the day of my birth, the day that my mother worked so hard to bring me into this world, the day that my father wept when he first held me, is another day along my eternal journey. And, for that, I am grateful beyond measure.

It is not I who should be celebrated on this day. It is all the moments that came before me that brought together the man and the woman who LOVED enough to bring me into existence. 

Today, the celebration goes to that utterly radiant creation called the Tree of LIFE.

Grace arrives at odd moments.

Have you ever had a strong sensory memory? A memory that jolts you out of the blue, but lacks a particular event that goes with the sensory memory, sort of just a feeling that pops up? That happened to me today. It's been raining heavily here in Florida over the past week or two. Today was a very rainy and wet day. I decided to walk outside after dinner because the rain had slacked off. As I was walking to the mailbox, a very strong sensory memory struck me. It reminded me of my summers as a child. I remembered the feeling that I would get as a child after it had rained. The daylight coming to a close as the wetness of the rain begins to evaporate. How the wet grass would feel on my bare feet. The steam as it would rise from the ground in the hot, damp air. The smell of freshly cut grass after it was sprinkled with a late afternoon shower as is so common in Florida. How it felt to chase lightning bugs at night after the day had been spent inside because it was too rainy to play outside.

Most of all, I recaptured some sensory memories of my father. I repressed many of my childhood memories of my father after his death when I was nine years old.

These sensory memories didn't really include a specific event, but they were a jolt upon the mountain of ice where I have stored happy memories of my childhood with my dad.

I struggled to try and remember something specific. But, nothing came.

Gratefulness is key to receiving grace. So, I'm thankful that I was graced with just a brief moment of feeling like a child again.

If wings could fly.

I no longer regret the rain. I am now grateful for its cleansing essence. Any thunder that appears as the rain washes away sediment is the sounds of my own soul roaring.

I've felt chained so long. No more.

My soul emerges out of the cocoon its been sheltered within by my own fears. I can't explain how I know that I am becoming free, but if I had wings, I'd be flying rather than typing this experience.

I. FEEL. THE. DIVINE.

An amazing, tremendous, magnificent GLOW that exists within ALL. A beautiful, yet gently potent, fire.

I have witnessed this in my dreams. I have felt its power. I KNOW that there is much more beyond our own limited egos.

Yet, what do we do? We FIGHT one another, or the image of the other that our own ego perceives as the other but is really just the ego of the other. We want to CONTROL the world around us.

That is not our mission in this life.

We must not end up living an UNLIVED life.

Who are YOU? The You behind the veil of your ego? Pull back your skin and bones, WHO are you?

You are not who you think you are. You are not the many faces you wear. You are not your anger, your hate, your empathy, your love, your whatever. YOU are meant to be FREE from all faces, yet to be all of them.

There is a Divine who LOVES you and wants to show you Mercy.

Go home. I'll hopefully see you all there.