Bad Days by Madisyn Taylor

 

Today has been hectic, not only because being unable to leave home due to the health lockdown issues gets on my nerves from time to time but also because I am worried about a friend who had to be taken to the hospital because of a possible miscarriage. 

Fortunately and as it happens when it is most needed, I came across this page and little by little my spirit is calming down. In the end, I have to be grateful for the bad days that make me bless the good days that are ahead. 

"We all have days from time to time when it feels like the world is against us or that the chaos we are experiencing will never end. One negative circumstance seems to lead to another. You may wonder, on a bad day, whether anything in your life will ever go right again. But a bad day, like any other day, can be a gift. Having a bad day can show you that it is time to slow down, change course, or lighten up. A bad day can help you glean wisdom you might otherwise have overlooked or discounted. Bad days can certainly cause you to experience uncomfortable feelings you would prefer to avoid, yet a bad day may also give you a potent means to learn about yourself.

Bad days contribute to the people we become. Though we may feel discouraged and distressed on our bad days, a bad day can teach us patience and perseverance. It is important to remember that your attitude drives your destiny and that one negative experience does not have to be the beginning of an ongoing stroke of bad luck. A bad day is memorable because it is one day among many good days -- otherwise, we wouldn't even bother to acknowledge it as a bad day. Know too, that everybody has bad days, you are not alone, the world is not against you. Tomorrow is guaranteed to be a brighter day".

Beings of light

"We are all beings of light. Put another way, we are spiritual beings having a human experience. As children, most of us know this, but other human beings who have forgotten what they really are and who cannot help us to know ourselves train us to forget. As a result, we are led to believe that magic is not real, that our invisible playmates do not really exist, and that we are limited beings with only one earthly life to live. There is enormous pressure to conform to this concept of ourselves and so we lose touch with our full potential, forgetting that we are beings of light.

At this time, many of us are reawakening to the truth of who we are, because we are living amidst such large-scale changes in the world. We need to access this light in order to not only survive but thrive as we shift into a new order of consciousness. As the changes around us proceed in rapid progression, we will want to be able to trust our own ability to sense what is happening and how we can best respond. We are no longer living in a predictable world in which we can trust external authority figures and prior ideas about reality to guide us. We need to be able to access the information that will help us navigate these uncertain waters, and the ultimate authority resides in our awareness of ourselves as beings of light.

It is through our connection to this light that we know things beyond what the visible world can tell us, and we see things beyond what the physical world reveals. In order to access this wisdom, we can simply allow ourselves to remember that we are not limited, as we have been taught. In fact, we are filled with divine grace and power that is ours for the asking. A daily practice of tuning into this vast potential, conversing with it, and offering ourselves up to it opens the door through which we can reclaim our true identity, taking ownership of the calling that the time has come to create bliss on earth."

Taken from The Daily Om

Cumpleaños de papá

El 15 de julio mi papá hubiera cumplido 100 años. Muchas gracias a los que recuerdan sus consejos, sus buenas acciones y sus bromas tan "serias". Fué un buen hombre, un gran hijo y hermano, un amigo leal y el mejor papá que hubiéramos podido tener. Ahora pasea con mamá cogidos de la mano como lo hacían aquí.

Dad was born on July 15, a hundred years ago. Thanks so much to all those who remember him, his advice, his good actions and his peculiar and "serious" jokes. He was a good man, a terrific son and brother, a loyal friend and the best Dad we could have had. He is now in a better place walking hand in hand with my Mum as they used to do here.

I wrote this on April 20, 2020. My heart was broken and did not have the courage to upload the post, I just wrote it while tears fell down my face as a catharsis. 

I miss my Mum and I miss Blanca as much as I miss her. Both were so much loved and I devoted so much time and effort to keep them well that when they passed I felt useless for some weeks. But I needed to pay tribute to this wonderful animal that was more than a family member. She was a kind spirit that God put on earth to make our lives be surrounded by softness and tenderness. I cannot believe how much she loved us until she softly went to sleep surrounded by all the love we could give her. 

"Today I had to put my beautiful pet, my companion for 11 years to sleep. Her fragile body would not keep so much love and sweetness. As with many rescued dogs, the years of living in the streets and sleeping in the cold took their toll and she suffered from arthritis for the last 5 years. Her back bone and legs could not support her any more in spite of all the vitamins and acupuncture and all the treatment we gave her.

Last Saturday she had so much pain that she almost fainted and that was when I made the decision of letting her go. I miss her soft fur and her expressive eyes. I have never seen so much unconditional love in the eyes of a dog!!

Since I retired from my administrative position at the university and started spending more time working at home, she would always lie by my side while I was working at the computer and would only stand up if I did to go to the kitchen for a snack for both of us.

I could talk to her,scold her if she didn´t want to take her medicine, hug her, kiss her and would always receive her love back. I have had several pets along my life but Blanca will always be a special one. Nobody could love me the way she did and I will never forget her.

My Mum passed away last month, she was the one who rescued her and I think now they are both together, in a better place, enjoying each other´s company, they could not be parted when they were alive and now they will never be".

Happy Teacher´s Day

People in need

Due to the Coronavirus pandemia, we have found ourselves wanting to help in different ways. I, myself, have collected money to buy pillows for police patients who need them and have hosted 4 people in my house during the quarantaine because they had nowhere to go as immobilization got them when they were here. I know that a lot more is needed but then when I read some comments in FB, I sometimes wonder if some of the people who help do it for getting some recognition or for really wanting to help.Then, as it usually happens whenever I ruminate on some ideas for a while, I came across this article which threw some light into the issue. It is from The Daily Om. 

"When we see a person in need, we may want to give them something as a way of helping them, but if we give without taking the time to see who they really are, honoring that most of all, our gift is nowhere near as powerful as it could be. We may want to give a homeless person a sandwich, for example, but if we give it without also taking a moment to look the person in the eye, making authentic contact, we rob them of the experience of being human.

Being in a position of need leaves a lot of people feeling vulnerable and full of self-doubt. The greatest gift we can give is to meet people in need without judgment and with the awareness that we are not superior to them simply because we are not currently in their position. If we take the long view, we can see that we all began life in need of a lot of care and attention, and many of us end life in the same way. Giving and receiving are companion energies that take turns throughout our lives, and we all get a chance to be on both sides of the exchange from time to time.

It's important to be aware of our own tendency to give from a desire to feel good about ourselves, rather than from an acknowledgement of our connection to all people. Letting go of our self-importance allows us to see that, regardless of appearances, we are all givers and receivers. When we are in the position of the giver, we honor those we are helping when we remember the many people who have helped us. Then we can look the person we are helping in the eye, aware that we are making contact with a human being who is our equal".

Mother´s Day

Mamá fué siempre mamá, nunca olvidaré su tremenda capacidad de amar. A dos meses de su partida y hoy que se celebra el Día de la Madre, me siento bendecida por haber podido compartir estos últimos años juntas. Aunque nuestros roles se cambiaron y terminé siendo la mamá, ella nunca dejó de ser mamá.

Mom was always a Mother, with a tremendous capacity for loving. Today is Mother´s Day and two months since she left us and I feel blessed for having her these past years. Our roles changed and due to her Alzheimer I became the Mom in her last years, but she never stopped being a Mother.