Terry The Bayou Man's blog: "Mind Recreation"

Wonderful possibilities You are blessed, right here and right now, with the miracle that is your life. With magnificent abundance swirling all around you, the possibilities are more numerous than can be imagined. Yes, the setbacks and disappointments can be acutely painful. And yet the only reason you're able to feel the pain is because you know that joy and fulfillment are always possible. There is no limit to the potential that is in this moment. For in this moment you can put your highest, most treasured values into action. In this moment, you have a choice. And you have all that is necessary to follow that choice. In this moment you can choose to benefit from a lifetime of learning, experience, dreams and longings. All that has brought you to this day is yours to make use of in fulfilling your best possibilities. Every bit of energy you sense around you can be focused in the service of the most wonderful possibilities you can imagine. Go ahead, imagine, and bring those possibilities to life. -- Ralph Marston

The glassblower is an artist who takes broken glass and melts it in a very hot furnace. Then the glassblower blows through a long tube and creates objects such as cups and plates and pieces of art. The sharp edges of our anger are like pieces of broken glass. We all have things in our lives that anger us - it is only human to bump into our sharp edges. One edge might be crabby, another silent and withdrawn, and still another yelling and screaming. The heat of love and compassion can melt our anger. This may take the form of sympathy for ourselves, or for the people we love. More often, it is the compassion of those around us that helps melt our anger. Sometimes saying I'm sorry is a good way to melt anger and find the love underneath it. What beauty can I create with my anger today?

I had crossed the line. I was free; but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land. --Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman was a Black woman who devoted her life to helping slaves escape their bondage. In her youth, she had been hit on the head so she suffered dizzy spells for the rest of her life. In spite of this, and at great risk to her own life, she guided many slaves on the Underground Railroad to freedom. Freedom from slavery is different today but just as necessary. It may mean freedom from being a slave to what others think of us, freedom from eating more than is healthy for us, freedom from jealousy, and freedom from trying to force others to do what we want them to do. We are free to be the very best persons we can be. Our own freedom can be even more fulfilling when we welcome others enthusiastically into that land of freedom by allowing them the room to be themselves without fear of judgment. In this way, by freeing ourselves, we free one another. How can I free myself today?

Rise to the challenge The more burdensome the challenge, the more valuable the response. Out of extreme difficulty, greatness is born. When things seem to be at their worst, they are likely to soon get much better. The more intensely the problems are illuminated, the more effectively they can be addressed. Always remember that life is incessantly dynamic. Life is able to respond with innovation, determination and an underlying goodness that cannot be denied. The best cure for a problem is the problem itself. Because each problem is a well-defined opportunity for improvement. Whether you judge something to be a problem or opportunity says more about you than about the situation. The way you choose to see the world is the way the world will be for you. In life there is challenge and in challenge there is life. Rise to each challenge, and continue adding value to the ever-growing richness of life. -- Ralph Marston

Be you You were born to be real, not to be perfect. You are here to be you, not to live someone else's life. Every day you make some progress and every day you make a few mistakes. Through it all, your wisdom continues to grow and your experience continues to broaden. Be gentle with yourself. Accept who you are, where you have been, and what you have to work with, for in this moment you can make positive use of it all. Reach in and touch the purpose that makes you feel most alive. The world around you is filled with places where that purpose can do great things. It is never too late to offer your unique and genuine gifts to life. Now is the time to do great things, even in the smallest of ways. Choose to fully and graciously live life as it comes. The richest rewards by far are the ones to which you most sincerely give of yourself. -- Ralph Marston

There is no reality except the one contained within us. --Herman Hesse Claude Gellee painted lovely pictures of the English countryside. Europeans loved his landscapes with their blue hues and mild distortions. But when the people went for the carriage rides in the country, they were disappointed because it didn't look the way Gellee had painted it. Then someone discovered that if you held blue glass up to your eyes and looked through it, the trees and hills and sky looked just like a Gellee painting! Soon everyone was looking through "Claude glasses" when they traveled. We often let others do our seeing for us. We get lazy and rely on the images of television and movies, instead of really seeing with our own eyes. Our world becomes distorted and we lose sight of the natural beauty that surrounds us. Each of us carries reality inside ourselves, and as we grow stronger within, we discover that we can see clearest when we trust our own eyes. There is a glorious world, full and rich, just waiting for us to glimpse it. Will I see the world through my own eyes today?

JOY:the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires Joy is your true nature. That's why it feels so right. Simple yet profound, joy asks only to be. Joy fills your life to the extent that you allow it. Let go of the frustration, the anger, envy and worry. And joy comes quickly to fill the void. The smallest things can inspire joy. And the biggest moments in life benefit when they are lived in joy. Joy costs nothing and yet it gives so much. Joy is completely unreasonable and that is its most powerfully compelling reason. Joy is always here and now. Allow joy to fill your heart, and its great value will fill your world. -- Ralph Marston

A good laugh heals a lot of hurts. --Madeleine L'Engle The ability to laugh at ourselves has always been important. In old days, fools and jesters held an important place in the royal courts. Today we have clowns who make us laugh. If we look closely at a clown's face, we will often notice a bit of sadness around the eyes. Clowns are able to move easily from sad expressions to ones full of delight very easily. For all of us, laughter and tears come from the same deep well inside. And often, after a good cry, we find ourselves ready to laugh, easily and joyfully. Laughter is a gift waiting for us on the other side of our sadness. Can I begin to laugh by smiling now?

When there is a reason, there is a way. Where there is a purpose, there is a path. You are capable of reaching higher and higher levels of achievement. The reason you have not yet reached some of them is because you have not yet had a compelling enough reason to do so. When thinking of what you can do, stop thinking only in terms of what you have done. Think in terms of what you desire, what you can imagine, and what you can dream. Think in terms of your purpose. Connect your awareness to whatever drives you, and it will drive you far indeed. Purpose will find a way around the most stubborn obstacles. Purpose will bring the most meaningful and valuable possibilities into reality. Follow the purpose that is truly you. And effectiveness, enthusiasm, achievement, joy and fulfillment will all flow into your life. -- Ralph Marston

The great end of life is not knowledge but action. --Thomas Huxley Sometimes we have good ideas about how to make things better. We might know we need to spend more quality time with others. We might know it would be better if mealtime was not so hectic and really became a time for sharing the day's events. Knowing what needs to happen is part of the process of change. But we have to put that knowledge into action. All our good intentions, no matter what they may be, do not really mean anything until we move into action. A hug is better than a thought of love; a story read together is better than a wonderful vacation that did not get past the planning stage, just as a finished house is something we can live in, while the blueprint is soon forgotten. When we act on our ideas, we put ourselves into the world as a force for change. What change can I set loose in the world today?