Sunny Sunday!

After a good dose of rain this month, the sun is SHINING!!!! And it feels so gooooooooood. Mornings have cooled off considerably; I'm wearing my fleece jacket over my pjs to take the dog out at 5 something every morning. ;)

I'm really enjoying reading Thich Naht Hanh's book, Anger. It's really REALLY great for helping me PRACTICE MINDFULNESS throughout the day. And I need to practice. Not just so that I'm more present in what I'm *doing* in my life, and so that the seed of anger gets watered less, but also just so that in my relationships, I can be fully present and really actively listen and give you my full, undivided attention when we're in communication. I've just become really aware lately of how many times I'm in conversation with someone (kids, husband, store clerk, whoever), and I'm just not THERE in that moment. I'm multi-tasking, or thinking of something else. And it's not fair. I'll inadvertantly avoid eye contact if I'm busy doing three things at once. So I've been really trying to make sure I make eye contact, stop whatever else I'm doing, and just listen, or talk, or be fully present in the conversation. And it makes the other person feel so GOOD!!!

I'm still learning. Heck, that's what we're all doing throughout our lives. LOL We say in tai chi that we're not going to *do* tai chi, we're going to *practice* tai chi. Because when are you ever at a point where you're not continually striving to improve your own form, your own experience of the set? Each time you practice, it's a completely new experience - a fresh experience - and it allows you to approach each set of 108 moves, indeed, each individual move within the set, with a beginner's mind. It's wonderful how deep my tai chi practice is allowing me to go, and still it boggles my mind why I don't practice daily. LMAO

I haven't exercised much the past 2 weeks. I rowed 5 kms, 3x the previous week, and last week, NOTHING. No rowing at all. And by the end of the week, I was really feeling the lack of daily exercise. So today, no further procrastinating. I'm going to row, row, row...

(big breath) here I go...
the actual dreading of exercising is always worse than the exercise itself. Our bodies are meant to move; they LOVE to move. It's my MIND that makes up a big story about how I dislike it so much. Really, it's quite enjoyable when I'm actually rowing. Why is it that after 3 1/2 yrs I still have to struggle with my mind about this? Because I don't practice being in control of my mind enough, that's why. Continual practice of mindfulness. That's what I would really like to do more.

OOOOOOOHHHH!!! And before I go, the Universe is so WONDERFULLLLLLL!!!!! I've been thinking lately of doing a juice feast this fall, so I'm looking online for a used juicer. I found a couple, but I really don't have any money set aside just yet for one. So I don't bother pursuing any of the contacts I find. Then yesterday, we're at a friend's 40th birthday party, and I strike up a conversation with an acquaintance and it ends up she's 50% raw!!!! I was SOOOOOOOOOOO surprised!!! And delighted! AND it turns out she has TWO champion juicers - a spare one, in great condition, in her basement that she got for (get this) $4 at a garage sale!!!! It's missing the blank plate and has a crack in one other part, but she's willing to pass it along!!!! ISN'T THE UNIVERSE WONDERFUL?! ISN'T IT FANTASTIC HOW ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PUT YOUR INTENTIONS OUT THERE AND IT ALL WORKS OUT?!?!?!?!?! I'm grinning from ear to frickin' ear about this. I can't BELIEVE how this all unfolded. Absolutely freakin' fantastic.

And now? I row.