The Last Lecture

Inspiration has come by way of television lately, I have been so busy working on the house that I haven't had the time, energy, or motivation for much else. While HGTV is the TV standard for the most part, I do stray every now and then and came across the recent prime time special on Randy Pausch. A college professor at Carnegie Mellon University living with terminal pancreatic cancer, Pauch's speech, "Really Achieveing your Childhood Dreams" is truly inspiring. Given in the tradition of Carnegie Mellon's retiring professor's "Last Lecture" his speech is for everyone. He clearly has an amazing insight on the significance of love, family, faith, and life. I had seen his Last Lecture before on the internet, I think on Oprah.com but I hadn't gotten a chance to learn more of his background and also enjoyed the personal interviews with he and his wife. Here is the link to watch it online. http://www.cmu.edu/uls/journeys/randy-pausch/index.html

Spring Break

This time of year it seems like everyone is ready for some time off. I have been so focused on reading A New Earth and trying to incorporate those ideas into my daily routine that I haven't made time for blogging. Now I am looking forward to a week off to catch up on all the new thoughts and ideas and processing them all. Of course along with the mental house cleaning I hope to accomplish some actual house cleaning that is even more urgently needed!

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.

Snow Day!!

I promised Shannon that I would only need 2 words for today and "Snow Day" really does say it all...but on the other hand, in the name of spreading good ideas for those who don't watch Oprah, her latest book club selection is "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose" by Eckhart Tolle. Tolle is also the author of "The Power of Now" and "Stillness Speaks", based on what I have read so far on Amazon.com all three are revealing books on the topics of spirituality and personal development. I went searching today and found "A New Earth" at Book World and reserved the others from the library, I am ready for the next snow day!

Quote of the Day

"I like to exercise but it is not always possible with my hectic sleep schedule."
from Life Makeovers by Cheryl Richardson