Archive for March, 2009

What if today was your last day?

March 26th, 2009 by Elizabeth

Quite the heavy question, don’t you think? I was quite surprised to hear the rock group Nickelback posing it to me. It’s so interesting where profundity lies…

So I thought about it. Have you? One of my favorite questions in the song is “Would you let anything get in your way?”. We do that, you know. We let things get in our way. And we are the creator of those obstacles. Don’t look elsewhere to place blame. I am willing to take the responsibility for my barriers to my in-the-moment discoveries of Truth. There is so often an excuse; a reason why we can’t; we are just too busy. Yes. Too busy to notice. Too busy to live the rising and setting of each incredible, colorful moment. Too busy to take the time to see what is really there. Maybe we’re too caught up in keeping up with the Joneses, lamenting over dropping stocks, or just complaining that it is raining or snowing yet again. Whatever it is, it is keeping us from living as though today is our last day.

I will be the first to admit that it is so very easy to get caught up in the 3-D. But that is such a small portion of our existence. An important part, but the grandness of What Really Matters is actually very invisible to the human eye. The heart knows it. The heart feels it. The heart is the connection to What Really Is. The heart will give you the answer to Nickelback’s question. And watch what happens when you come up with your answers. Magic occurs. For when you concentrate on the beauty of what is at the essence of your existence, what is really important, the flow of your life changes. Perhaps if we lived in and from a place that is connected to our Truth, that place of what-if-today-was-your-last-day, then life would no longer be “Oh yeah. It’s just my life. Big deal” but  “OH YEAH!! THIS IS MY LIFE AND IT IS A BIG DEAL!!!!”

So I challenge you to continually bring yourself back to each moment where you can Really and Truly live; in the moment as if it is the last. As if it is the first. As if it just is. And there you are in it.

Transformation is in the air, around the corner, in each moment, and even on the riff of a guitar. Check it out as Nickelback spells it out for us.

The Art of Love

March 10th, 2009 by Elizabeth

Back on December 30, 2008 I introduced you to one of my heroes, Miss Pebbles LaPrade. Today I am excited for you to meet another one of my heroes: Mr. Monty LaPrade.

Monty is my hero because he sees the good in everything. The good in a biscuit, the good in a rainy day, the good in the veterinarian, even the good in “being on punishment” (His tail wags the whole time he is being scolded). He finds complete joy in chasing a cat or my neighbor’s annoying, nosy cocker spaniel while chipmunks give him the excitement of testing out his Houdini-backyard-escape skills.

He runs into the woods with complete abandon, flying off of hills into ravines all because he is filled with joy and presence. I’ve watched for years as he careens off a slope as if he has targeted the juiciest squirrel ever. The beauty is that usually there is nothing specifically there. Just the joy of being. The joy of the woods. The joy of his present moment and no other.  Enjoying life as it is.

Monty is my hero because he grows my heart. How could my heart not double in size after looking into those big, brown, captivating eyes and licked to within an inch of my life? He doesn’t even have ulterior motives with this crazed affection of his like, “Hey! I will surely get extra biscuits tonight with this!” No. He is just Love. All he truly knows is Love; an admirable ability to say the least. And the interesting thing is that we are all really just that: Love. Unfortunately, we often forget that and get caught up in our ulterior motives or other self-serving thoughts or ways of being. Yes, we are only human and we are here to learn the true art of Love. Monty is here in my life as a Master teacher of that art. I embrace his sweet lessons as he innocently touches my heart. His lessons are powerful and subtly pack a punch. And often one of these lessons in particular stands out the most:  perhaps the world would be a better place if it did just go to the dogs…