Tag Archives: India Arie

Showing big LOVE through small acts of kindness

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Today, I was visiting our little craftsman cottage on Galveston Island. This property is nearly 100 years old. It has a few creepy elements that are on my list to remodel. The old wooden windows are high on my list to be replaced. We are constantly chasing the birds away from these old windows. For some reason, mother birds like to make nests in the storm shutters and encourage their babies to hide out there on cold windy days.

When I arrived, I heard some rustling and chirping near the master bedroom window. I found a tiny birdie that seemed to be signaling to me that it needed help. When it saw me, it stopped moving and waited to see my response. When I stood and stared at the birdie, it seemed to demonstrate that it could not find its way out up to the top of the window where the screen was torn. It was fluttering up and down the window as if to show me it could not find its way out. At this point, I was concerned that I was its only life line. I went outside with a broom, but realized that the only way to free it was to open the window and risk it flying into the house; totally not gonna do THAT! Or, make a small hole in the bottom of the screen and coax the bird out. Of course I chose the latter option since I need these windows replaced anyway. The bird was a bit hesitant at first, but once it realized that I had made a way of escape, it mustered the courage to fly out the window. I’m sure it was risk since it did not know whether I was here to help or harm it. He flew away and I felt very thankful that I happened to pick today to visit the cottage.

This little incident got me to thinking. Are there other small gifts of service I can offer to help free another from a situation that could open up a real life line? It literally took only 5 minutes of my time, a little Love, and enough concern for the bird to ensure that it could safely make its way back into its community. I am thankful that I had this experience today because it reaffirmed my connection to all of creation. My eyes are wide open for opportunities to BE THE CHANGE. I hope you’ll join me on this road where we can make a difference in our families, communities, and our world. I’m taking 5 more minutes to write my Senators and Representative about these executive orders that worry me greatly!

India Arie and Idan Raichel remind me that I have one more gift I can give. I can give the world the “Gift of Acceptance”. Take a listen…

 

Until next week,

Pernà

Take The Road Less Traveled and Don’t Look Back!

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“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Robert Frost

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Photo Credit: JD Pierre – Thanksgiving road trip – Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi

Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken is a great expression of personal choice or free will to make our own life decisions. Whether we take the road that seems to be a well-worn path from those who have come before us; or we take the unknown path that is uniquely our own; we get to choose.

Many have analyzed this poem as being one which implies the traveler is fretting over the decision of which road to choose. They also imply that the traveler believes he will regret his choice since he says, “I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence…” I want to encourage you to consider the choice in front of you in the context of your life today, a few months from now, a few years from now, and when you are old and gray. Make the best decision you can with the information you have and then don’t look back!

Here’s the poem in its entirety from Wikipedia:

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

For this week’s soundtrack, I’m going with India Arie once again. “I Choose” is the perfect song to set the tone for making the best choices for your life. Enjoy!

Until next week,

Pernà

Lack of Resources; Or a Lack of Resourcefulness?

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“The defining issue is not a lack of resources; it is a lack of resourcefulness.” Tony Robbins

“Let death be what takes us; not a lack of imagination.” BJ Miller

Photo Credit: Me - Cockrell Butterfly Center
Photo Credit: Me – Cockrell Butterfly Center

I was binge watching Ted talks this past week when I came across these quotes from Tony Robbins and BJ Miller. I’ve been sitting with them all week. I really need some more time to fully develop a good post on this topic. However, I do strongly agree with the idea that much of what ails us is not that we lack resources; it’s that we have a lack the imagination to effectively use the resources we have.

I’m going to marinate on this topic a little bit longer, and do my best to remember that it’s the little things that make life worthwhile. So, here’s India Arie singing “Little Things” in this week’s soundtrack.

Until next week,

Pernà