Peace and Quiet

After being without a reliable working home computer for a couple weeks I finally had to break down and buy a new one. All in all it has been a good couple of weeks and I have to say that it is been helpful to employ new ideas in thinking to deal with stress as it happens. The best thing has been being able to sleep! After being one of the world's great sleepers for much of my life I have really struggled with sleep ever since the avn in my hips developed. The reading I have done in the last couple weeks though has really helped. Eckhart Tolle's ideas about focusing on the "now" and being at peace with ourselves along with his description of how our minds control us with endless thinking about the past and the future, has enabled me to reign in some of that "racing mind" at night and by focusing on what I am grateful for and then just concentrating on breathing I have gotten past the discomfort and actually have been able to sleep! The other change that I have noticed is that I am more comfortable with quiet, I don't need to fall asleep with the TV on and it isn't necessarily on all the time as I used to have it.

Greatness

I have been reading Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth" which has been thought provoking in many ways, but so far my favorite insight from the book has been his view on achieving greatness. "The great arises out of small things that are honored and cared for." By concentrating on and honoring the present moment we can accomplish more than by striving for future "greatness". The key of course is in remembering to focus on the now.

Fun with dogs!

Just got back from a walk with Sandy and our dogs, we walked the trails behind her house and the dogs had a ball! Claire never stopped moving, she chased Sandy's brittany spaniel Babe around every tree, branch, rabbit, and deer track out there! By the end of the loop she was one big snowball and totally wiped out. Just watching them was a riot, we tried to get a picture of the 3 of them but of course they wouldn't sit still! Here they are on the move and a short video clip.