Ivan Ilych was an accountant who lived in Moscow. The Death of Ivan Ilych is a short story about the thoughts and feelings that he has on his deathbed.

Ivan lived a normal life. In fact, he was quite successful. He was an accountant who had done well at school, exceeded at work and had a normal family life.

Whilst on his deathbed, however, one question puzzled Ivan. What if my whole life has been wrong?

This is a very powerful question, especially when asked at the right time.

For Ivan, the question was asked to late. However, for you, it has been asked at the right time.

If you were on your deathbed and you looked back, would you be satisfied with what you have done with your life? If not, then this is the best time to change this.

October –It’s not just for politics anymore!!

Welcome to Friday!!

Today I’m grateful for….beautiful fall days….an abundance…of pumpkins and everything good….small towns….kids out of school….time to play….Halloween coming soon….the smell of autumn in the air….crisp, clear mornings and warm afternoons…Family…and more!

Happy Autumn!

Time to break out the sweatshirts and warm socks.

Typical Fall weather, can’t decide between the warmth of summer and the cold of winter.

In honor of the beauty of this world…..Enjoy these Recycled posts.

And later in the day……

I loved it and I wanted to share.

It is a breath of fresh air, especially after all of the political news that I have been paying way too much attention to!

Enjoy! As I did.

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, Utah – One of the largest and most photographed stone arches in Arches National Park has collapsed.

Measuring more than 33 feet tall and 71 feet across, Wall Arch ranked 12th in size among the park’s estimated 2,000 arches. It was first reported and named in 1948.

It collapsed sometime last week from the forces of gravity and erosion. No one reported seeing it fall.
It was the first collapse of a major arch in the park since the nearby Landscape Arch fell in 1991.

*******

Change is a constant……

It was shades of grays, blacks and whites, a nature scene; Trees in a forest standing out from the gray background of what looked like an early spring storm. The clouds behind were gray and full with that heaviness that you can see from impending rain. Gazing upon the photograph you could almost smell the storm, feel the chill in the air that comes before the clouds break.

The trees, with their familiar white bark were Quaking Aspen. The bright green leaves of the aspens were gone, yet it seemed that if you could look closer you would see the tiny buds of new leaves poking through. The trees stood as a stark contrast of black, white and gray against the dark clouds. But the most eye-catching part of the photograph was peeking out from the bottom. On the ground, below the gray of the trees, was the most brilliant green and beautiful pink of new flowering blooms.

The foliage was reemerging.

It looked like spring was arriving after a long winter.

As I got closer I was able to read the caption that had been provided. The photograph was not taken at the end of the winter but was actually a depiction of the aftermath of a devastating forest fire. That was the reason why the aspens were shades of grays, blacks and whites, why it looked like the end of winter and early spring before the leaves came back on the trees. Yet as the emerging foliage proved, even in the face of the devastation from the forest fire, the wild flowers, the grasses and the leaves were coming back, returning to the natural beauty and the well-being that is our world.

The natural beauty of the forest was returning.

And that is the way of nature. Things happen. Sometimes devastating things happen. But nature always comes back.

Back to the Source of Well-Being that is throughout the Universe.

We’ll hit post #400 in the next days. It’s been nice. I’ve found fun, joy, insights and occasional spikes in the stats. I appreciate it.

To sum it up……

Suddenly I feel a presence around my face. I barely squint my eyes open and I am startled into alertness as I look up into a pair of beautiful blue eyes and I hear the words “Mom, Can you make a mango shake? We have a mango right here” and she bounces the fruit around my face and shows me that yes, indeed we do have a mango.

Apparently my quiet time is over. My mind starts racing with the plans of the day. I glance at the clock. “I have to leave here at 10:30, it’s 9:20 now. I have to take a shower and the girls have to take a bath, and are their swimsuits ready…..will they be ready when it‘s time for daddy to take them to the pool….I wish I didn’t have to miss the first day of swimming lessons….and…will I be able to find a parking place…I hope the traffic is not too bad…and….?”

Wait. Stop. Now.

Just a few more breaths here in Shavasana. All is well. I can finish, it’s just a minute or two and then I’ll be better prepared for the day. I take my breaths, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. I move slowly into meditation pose and a few more breaths and it is over. Another breath.

Namaste.

I get up from my mat, roll it up and turn off the dvd player. 9:20 ish still.

And I’m off to make a mango shake.

Undisturbed time is a rare commodity at my house. Early in the morning, late at night are usually the only quiet times. Most of the rest of the time it’s a bit noisy, a bit chaotic, a bit crazy.

And I love it. I am so grateful.

It is clear to me that my spiritual journey does not include going to a retreat and spending time at a quiet place where I can just meditate and exercise and do yoga and do art and write and contemplate life. No, my spiritual journey and my spiritual challenge comes from finding presence within the chaos. In loving the noise and the commotion.

In finding the ways to do the things I love within the life that I lead.

Taking the breath and feeling the joy and the magic that is within every moment, regardless of the storm. Adapting to the challenges of this wonderful family dance that I am so blessed to be a part of.

Yes. All is Well!

P.S. Apparently the mango shake wasn’t sweet enough for those pretty blue eyes so I enjoyed the mango shake for breakfast. Yum, Delicious!

P.S.S. I’m still doing P90X and the yoga dvd is from that….totally awesome! I’m loving it!
I’m starting to see some great results, too! I’m very happy with the program!

Through the magic of cinema we see a man who is able to catch a “glimpse”, a glimpse of what might have been had different decisions been made. He is transported from working on Wall Street and having “enough money to buy anything that he wanted” and driving a Ferrari to a middle class home in New Jersey with a beautiful wife, 2 adorable children, a big dog and a job that is not quite what he dreamed about. The minivan gets the family around but it doesn’t have the zing of the Ferrari.

So he spends some time figuring out this “new life” and getting used to walking the dog and being the husband and the daddy. He spends some time wondering how all this came to be and whatever happened to his great apartment on Fifth avenue. A different decision was made. His life could have gone in a couple of different directions. The “glimpse” was the opposite of what he chose.

It was sad at the end when it came time to go back to his “real life” because by then he realized all of the wonderful and joyful things that he had missed and he wanted to keep the life that was in the “glimpse”. The Ferrari and the apartment, the single life and the great job all paled in comparison to the love and the joy of the wife and the kids, and having the family.

But back he went. He called the old girlfriend who could have been his wife. Her life was different too. He tried to tell her what they had but of course she never got to have the “glimpse”. He did convince her to go out for coffee…and the movie faded to black.

So what if you could have made different decisions? What if your life had turned out different?

Ferrari or Minivan……

I see my “dream car” from my college days. A studly looking older gentleman with gray hair drives it around the town I live in. I see it and I laugh because it no longer has the appeal that it once had. I cannot even imagine driving it and it absolutely does not fit my life. It’s a two-seater, no place for my kids. I look at that car and I am so grateful that I don’t have it. Now I drive the car that matches my dreams. It’s big enough for my kids, the groceries and the sacks of soil that I may pick up at Home Depot. It fits my life and my lifestyle. Much better than any little two-seater . Can you imagine 3 kids piled in the back of that teeny little car? The image makes me laugh! I’m sure that the gray-haired guy enjoys it but that car never would have fit my real dreams.

Manolo Blahnick’s or Skechers? A Business suit or tank tops and sweatshirts?

We create our own lives. We create our dreams or not.

Would you want a “glimpse” of what could have been?

I wouldn’t. I have the life I want and I am grateful.

(P.S. The movie was “The Family Man” starring Nicolas Cage and Tea’ Leoni)

Related Posts:
High Heels and Struggles
Peace with What Is
Manifesting Life

So we dropped the kids off at Grandma and Grandpa’s and headed out on the town. Yes, in our family that is the definition of “date”, going out without the kids!

After a wonderful dinner we saw a great movie. Not “Academy Award” great but rather “Romantic Comedy, Chick-Flick” great, the kind you buy and watch again and again later. When it comes out on video we will definitely add it to the collection. It was a great movie.

There was a poignant line in the movie that struck me. The leading lady said something like

How many times do we do that? How many times do we let someone else’s idea of how we should be living change our lives? We are the only ones who know of our lives, our preferences, our hopes, dreams and desires, yet we often see and hear of people who abandon who they are to accommodate somebody else’s idea of who and what they should be.

And what does that do to our Souls?

One of the most insidious ways that others tend to dictate our lives is when the lay on the “God” guilt trip. God doesn’t want this, God doesn’t approve of that, you need to come back to God, God wants you to live like this, He doesn‘t want you to live like that! The promises of heaven are only available to you if you live like this. God doesn’t let people into heaven who live like that. You are going to Hell if you don’t comply with this precept, conform to this idea, complete this ritual, deny this sin that you are living in.

So how does that make you feel?

In order to create your best life you need to live authentically, according to your own preferences and desires, and not living to please someone else and yes, I‘ll say it, not living to please the idea of God.

God created You as You are. We are all perfect in all our imperfections.

In order to create your best life you need to feel good. You need to feel good about yourself, about what you are doing, about the way that God created You. No one else knows your purposes. No one else knows your life. It is just You.

When you deny who You are (because of God or any other reason), are you not denying the part of God that You are?

Somebody else’s idea of Perfect is not right for you. You will only be happy when you discover your own ideas of the joyous life that you want to lead and start living according to the dreams and desires of your own heart.