THANKSGIVING 2010 BEING PRESENT IN YOUR LIFE

Hi Friends and Family,

I am so fortunate to be able to chat with you from time to time, I would like to be here more often, but as my daughter explains it, "life is complicated". Well maybe it is and maybe it isn't. I would like to believe that life really is what you choose it to be. Maybe a better way of putting would be life is a series of events that we choose the outcome. Better? Well let's just see.

I have a dear friend Ila, now we don't see much of each other even though we have been a part of each others life for the better part of 50+ years. But when we do see each other, it is as if life and time has stood still. Maybe that is what we want to see or maybe we see in each other the people we hoped to be. There is a great comfort factor in a shared past and a clarity that is just not there in any other relationship.

Now Ila is facing some difficult challenges, and as you would expect she is handing it with her
usual grace and wit. She is a wonderful and class lady and I hope and pray that all the wonderful prayers for her will be answered. And that once again she will be returned to good health. I think Ila knows that she is loved and that her support system will come through.

All this leads me to the crux of my post. That being it is not enough to just go thru the motions of your life, you really, really have to take life by the straps and hold on for dear life for the ride of a
that may take you down some scary paths into unknown territory, but one that is so worth the angst it places upon you. Either you are an observer or your are a player, the choice is yours. You are either in the game or in the stands. Which is it? The choice is yours, do you have the inner strength to live a full life, or will you wither under its demands.

This leads us "to being present in your life", I love this term, it is one I am once so comfortable with and at the same instant I feel the knots in my stomach. Life is not a straight line, and well travelled road. No life is full of twists, turns and detour signs and pot holes. We life an easy trip, don't we? Unfortunately life, all life is not made so, it is filled with unanswered questions, spiritual scarcity and the uneasiness of a faith that asks questions in human time, but gives us answers in spiritual time. This is the one that is so difficult to reconcile.

There is an answer, and it has been there for us our entire lives. In fact we are told this even before we leave our womby home, unfortunately for us, we forget it in the rush to get out and into the "real" world that beckons us. What we forget is to live the life we have, to enjoy the love and community we are presented with. We literally throw way so much happiness and joy that it boggles the imagination and confuses us that we forget the purpose of our Earthly stay. What do we do and how do we do it. Well, that is a tough one, it is different for each of one us. But in general terms it is called, "Being Present In Your Life".

What this means is, live the life you have, enjoy who you are, love where you are or at least learn to appreciate you are where you are because of the choices you have made and finally if where you are is not what you thought your life was meant to be, then conscientiously work to change it. Not easy your probably saying, well yes and no. It may not be easy to change your life's circumstances all at once, but what you can do is appreciate and enjoy those moments that do bring you joy and peace. Look for the good in your life, seek the contentment of true friendship, befriend someone who like you is a little farblungit, lost!

So for today, be present in your life, and really try to understand you are much more than you think, you so much more than just for material wealth and that as you love others, the love you seek will seek you. There is a real attraction that occurs as your paradigm or view of life changes.

Try it and see what happens, let me know what you think, send me a comment, even if you think I am full of it, not a problem for me, any response is a good one. And finally include a prayer of good health and recovery for my dear friend Ila. She is too proud to ask you herself, so let me be her surrogate and get out the word. This is what friends so, and she has so many friends that I know that this chain of love is strong and that it will do what we all want it to do, send a perfect healing to our Ila,

Best wishes for a happy and loving Thanksgiving,

Robb