Holding the families, children that have died and yes the perpetrators in Peshawar in a space of peace as I light candles this morning on their behalf.
Feeling helpless to remedy terrorism leaves us bereft as we reflect on what we can do to shift the pain and suffering of all concerned and effective actions we can take to heal this wound in our world.
The women in the video link below – Strength Within – have taken a pledge to heal themselves and pass that healing and wholeness on to others who may need it.
It may be that taking action from a place of commitment to wholeness of Being changes the landscape of violence within and is then passed to others through awareness and practice of this self-love.
Everyone has the same need, even if deep inside, to be loved and accepted, happy and healthy. Where is the opening for someone who is lost in the violence of terrorism?
Inspiring New Possibilities, Living From the Soul of Life While Co-creating Well Being of Body, Being, Heart and Planet….One Breath At A Time
Soul Musings is a 31-day practice for the month of December immersed in deep listening to what is emerging and unfolding day by day. Eight sentences with occasional resources to explore more deeply.
Each post, invited by Soul, allows the words to emerge unscathed from prior planning, editing, or censorship. Dwelling in uncertainty and dipping a toe into mystery this union of words is an attempt to resonate within an innate way of Being…. returning “home”.
To receive daily posts simply sign up for this blog and you will be notified through e-mail. In addition there will be daily posts on the blogs below. Thank you for being part of this practice with me!
“There is a tremendous power that lives deep inside you. It’s fierce – showing a heartfelt and powerful intensity that is brave and untamed – full of preciousness, gentleness, kindness and vulnerability.” Alisa Starkweather
It is when we are truly transparent as a leader and as individuals, to ourselves and those around us, that we provide a container for those that “follow” or “connect” to wake up to themselves and step into their own unique leadership and soul path. It is as if we have given them permission to be themselves – fully and completely – by being ourselves – fully and completely.
This is a style of fierce feminine leadership and being that allows and anoints women to step fully into their power in a
Yantra. The symbol of Feminine energy-strength, power and clarity.
cooperative and collaborative way leading from grace and trust. It is a type of being that lets go of and explores the shadow and sense of survival and internal oppression which has been wired in for eons…and steps out and into what we fear most.
“I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing that I wanted to do.” ― Georgia O’Keeffe
No hiding is present here. We have hidden for way too long. It has taken so much energy to keep under cover the magnificent light, power,courage, creativity, wildness, love, wisdom, intelligence, and compassion that each of us carries.
“Within you, and in nature, is the potent, instinctual, untamable and nourishing force of Wild Wisdom. You need it. I need it. Our world needs us to bring forth our Wild Wisdom “
Lea Bayles, Body and Soul Coach http://leabayles.com/wildwisdom.html
(click on this link for a wild, evocative and seductive narrative spoken by Wildly Wise Woman, Lea Bayles!)
A short time ago I had the opportunity to share the story of a wildly wise and fiercely feminine woman. I facilitated a film afternoon co-sponsored along with Sierra Club and TreeSisters (Clare Dakin, Founder – forming a global network of women with a mission of reforesting the rain forests within 10 years). The film was Taking Root,a story of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Wangari Mathaai and the Green Belt Movement in Kenya, Africa. There were many things that struck me about this recent history of Kenya and her resources – and even more powerfully the life story of this woman who was bold and committed enough to step into her purpose with clarity and courage even in the midst of an entire government’s ridicule and violent actions taken against her.
And all she wanted to do was plant trees……while empowering Kenyan women and promoting peace and ecological sustainability in her country.
There is no surprise that this dynamic woman came back into my life again for as It turns out I had some unfinished business with her. Seven years ago now when I was in Bali, Indonesia at the Global Healing Conference with Desmond Tutu and others from across the world, Wangari was supposed to have been one of the guests to present. At the last minute she had to cancel. I was very saddened by that as I had learned of what she had done in Kenya and was very excited about meeting her.
Wangari then came back into my life recently through TreeSisters as they were recommending the Taking Root film to show and discuss. As I am active with them in a volunteer capacity I committed to purchasing the film and facilitating an after film discussion.
About a month prior to this film showing I was visiting with a friend and we talked a little about Wangari. She knew about her and loaned me her memoir Unbowed which I finished reading on 9/25/13. That night I had vivid dreams in which Wangari was encouraging me to “continue my work by telling this story” and “step up into your power and expression as a woman”. among other things.
The next morning I became curious about what she had died of (ovarian cancer) and when. When I saw the date I realized why I had been so strongly connected with her that day/night. She transitioned on 9/25/2011…
I remain committed to telling her and Kenya’s story and the relevance to shifting the scarcity/lack and separateness meta-coding that have contributed so greatly to the global challenges we face today – environmental, social justice, health and spiritual well being.
Her story and that of the women of Kenya is relevant to inspiring and empowering women to express from their fullest potential and to support each other in doing so. It can start with one simple act.
Wangari and so many other women today exemplify the fierce feminine which I am speaking to here. The earth and nature based feminine that is arising with a voice that cannot be ignored. The “wild wisdom” feminine that is finally honoring what we have to bring….and bringing it within collaboration and heart based connectivity shifting what Anodea Judith calls the “static masculine” (The Global Heart Awakens: Humanities Rite of Passage from the Love of Power to the Power of Love) foundation upon which so much has been built and co-creating a new myth from awakened hearts into systems based on the power of love and the deep interconnection that sustains all.
Root yourself down dear sisters and explore the stories that you are telling yourself. Are they true? If not, then change them, make friends with your saboteur and become very curious about what would provide the solid foundation for a fully expressed fiercely feminine YOU!
How you breathe is the way in which you live your life. If this statement is true, then how would you like to breathe? Shallow and restricted or full bodied and naturally?
Use a focus each week for the entire year to promote the vibrant aliveness that is your natural birth right!
A few days ago I was kept awake off and on all night after reading the memoir – Unbowed – of Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and mother creator of The Green Belt Movement in Kenya, Africa. Every time I awoke her persistence, commitment and passion for what she stood for was infiltrating into my being.
About six years ago now I missed seeing Wangari at a Global Healing Conference in Bali, Indonesia. I remember clearly that I had been so excited that she was going to be with us as well as Desmond Tutu, Lynn Twist and other Nobel laureates. Unfortunately, at the last minute she could not travel to Bali. I felt a great loss.
I knew that she had passed on in 2011 but did not know why, so the day after this wakefulness happened I found out the cause of her death and the date. She died on 9/25/2011 – the same day/evening that she visited me so intensely!!
She has re-entered my life through a global organization called TreeSisters – birthed into this world by Clare Dakin. Clare follows in Wangari’s footsteps as she passionately upholds the importance of reforesting our planet – and by women!! Part of membership in being a part of this planet Earth is to take a stand as Wangari, Clare, Lynn Twist (Pachamama Alliance), Jane Goodall , Barbara Marx Hubbard and so many other women are doing now as we experience environmental, social justice, economic and deep spiritual crises.
These imbalances have been co-created by splitting off from our true nature – the Earth. We have forgotten our roles as stewards of the Earth and have become dis-eased in the process. The rampant incidence of depression, anxiety, panic and other disease processes mirrors the very split from that which has given us life. Natures cycles are women’s cycles!
We all know the assumptions that have been held in regards to women for so many centuries and now seems the time to upset the apple cart in regards to these very assumptions. The one that has hurt us the most – and one which we have bought into – is “As a woman I am powerless”. There were good reasons to think so down through the ages, but not now, not ever again.
Why do I say that? Because not only are women waking up and coming out in our full embodied expressions, but we are standing with each other to facilitate the changes that so many of us are committed to on behalf of the well being of all life here. We don’t have to step forward without fear, we simply need to be persistent and form alliances with others that are willing to bring their expression to the creative solutions and innovations.
As Wangari says in Unbowed: “What people see as fearlessness is really persistence. Because I am focused on the solution, I don’t see danger. Because I don’t see danger, I don’t allow the mind to imagine what might happen to me, which is my definition of fear. If you don’t foresee the danger and see only the solution, then you can defy anyone and appear strong and fearless.”
I love this quote as in her life she faced injury, life threats, imprisonment, gender discrimination, and great opposition from the political powers that were present as she was growing The Green Belt Movement. Today this very movement has been responsible for 51 million trees being planted in Kenya and thousands of women finding their own power and purpose in life thus affecting the quality of life in her country.
She says about those that have walked by her side: “Throughout my life, I have never stopped to strategize about my next steps. I often just keep walking along, through whichever door opens. I have been on a journey and this journey has never stopped. When the journey is acknowledged and sustained by those I work with, they are a source of inspiration, energy, and encouragement. They are the reasons I kept walking, and will keep walking, as long as my knees hold out.”
Now take some time to think about women that inspire you, whether they are present day or from the past. I have chosen those that are working on behalf of our environment and sustainable living and thriving, however yours may be from any walk of life or focus. What qualities did/do they possess? They may have been or are called “heretics” and if they are, take a very careful look at who is naming them. Assumptions are dangerous and at the core are what got us to the place we are today tipping over into imbalances that will and are seriously affecting us all.
I say to each of you – take a stand! At our core we all have the “stuff” that is needed to “take a stand” even if that is simply being absolutely true to our own unique expression and unfailingly trusting it. We are all healers and creators. Let us trust our soul, honor our spirit, open our heart, transform our mind and heal our bodies. ( Heart of the Healer by Don Oscar Miro-Quesada, Peruvian curandero).
Come into ritual space with each other and co-create Earth centered living from the heart ignited by soul and spirit….We can have a gentle birth to the next stage of evolution by accepting, trusting, and stepping into the innate power that we have been given by simply being born a woman. You are both the midwives and the ones that are giving birth!!
I Am
We Are
Here Now
One Within
The story of the hummingbird by Wangari Maathai:
Taking Root trailer – The story of Wangari Maathai and The Green Belt Movement
**NOTE: If you live in Austin, Texas or near by please join us for a showing of the film Taking Root on 10/27/13 co-sponsored by the local Sierra Club, global TreeSisters, and me – Natural Passages Consulting. A representative from Pachamama Alliance will also be with us!! Go to htt://www.GayeAbbott.com and click on the EVENTS tab.
I am taking a risk here as I have been advised to do so. You shall see Whom has advised me in just a moment.
For a lot of my life I have tethered myself to what culture and my life experience had patterned me to be and do. At, you might say, the tail end of my journey here this lifetime I am finally beginning to wake up. “Wake up” meaning coming into fully being and expressing the loving creative impulse that is arising in me from that deep God source that I am constantly being requested to embrace.
It feels expansive and like “coming home”….and it also feels scary as hell in some moments! Sometimes I turn around and ask the invisible air – who me?!!! And the answer that I always get is – Yes, YOU!! This tends to make those that are around me question my sanity of course….but what the heck!
For the past three weeks I have been doing a practice that has been around for awhile to expand my relationship with money. I have found it fun, creative and a mirror to see my values, dreams, visions, generous spirit, and desires come out to play.
In this exercise you start with $1,000 which you must spend that day. Each day you add $1,000 so that as the days pass (and you get out of debt) you must expand to be more creative and mindful in the spending of your money. I am up to day 24 which means today I spend $24,000!
After doing such things as removing my current debt and paying my house payment for the next year, I have done things such as donated to my favorite causes; sponsored several women for the year program in Women For Women International – plus traveled to Africa to get personally involved with helping to build a center for women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (green built of course); started trust funds for my grandchildren; taken trips to visit friends and family; started a Monday ritual of giving $100 randomly (and sometimes anonymously) and in person to 10 people here in my home city of Austin; put money into Socially Responsible Investing; donated to my local food co-op; and even helped to create an arts program for the homeless to channel creative gifts that they may not ever have had the opportunity to explore.
This has been an exercise and practice in tapping into my creativity and taking out all of the “restrictions” and self imposed scarcity around money. It has been absolutely delightful thus far and I look forward to the coming days of spending. I bring all of this because two days ago something else happened after I had asked this question before deciding on how to spend the money – “If I was to have an entire day where I spent this money solely for honoring and nurturing my being, how would I spend this $22,000?”
I won’t go into the details (how would you spend it??!!), but there was a feeling at the end that sparked a process of opening that I will bring here. I wrote after spending this money – “That felt really good as the most important thing to me is connection and sharing love. So what if I live my day to day life right now as if that is already true – that I am always living in sufficiency and money and I are in an incredible partnership. We inspire each other to be and express all that we are. I want to feel this free all the time for the rest of the days of my life.”
And now for the risk part! The following words were channeled through me. My pen could hardly keep up with the stream of what felt like expanded consciousness that was coming through me onto the paper. I have been directed to share this with you and fearlessly publish it. Perhaps you will hear what you need to just at this exact moment. Perhaps you will think I am crazy! Offered with my love. I am calling it:
MESSAGES FROM THE LIGHT
Wake up! For it is so. There are no restrictions. Life is lived now and is only restricted by your own thoughts, patterns and beliefs. What is good in this world is within you. Wake up daily to bring that goodness. Step out of all comfort zones for those places are the jail of your own creation. Take risks daily! Wake up! Wake up!
There are no restrictions. There is only a creative God impulse that is moving in you and dancing in the light. Know this place, for it is you. Wake up! Wake up!
Do not doubt that I am here always for you. The soft, clear, powerful empowered light, passion and holy being that is YOU! Wake up! Wake up!
Now is the time to claim your freedom. Now is the time to claim your freedom. The freedom that has been yours always. Wake up! Wake up!
Do not fall asleep again for these moments are precious wild yearnings that are wanting to manifest in the world. Wake up! Wake up!
Feel me fill you up as a lover entering you, filling up the lower creative chakras and bringing them into your heart. There is no lack. The planet needs you fully expressing at this time. Follow me and TRUST that I am taking you to the places that you need to go to shine the light for others.
You are love. I have let you experience that many times in your life. Remember who I am for that is you. Wake up! Wake up!
Do not fear for I am with you always – always. You are never alone. All of nature speaks through me and reminds you of who you are. Do not doubt your power. I am putting you in touch and connection with others that will guide you to the next steps you need to take. Do not doubt that these are the ones that will help you to continue waking up.
Celebrate the passion, sexuality, creativity and love that you bring. Allow my words to come through you onto this page and fearlessly submit them. You are on the right path. You have already made contact with those that are to walk by your side and others are waiting in the wings to come in in just the right timing. Trust me.
Those that have fallen away let go of. These relationships were created for two reasons. First for you to recognize deeply engrained patterns that needed to come to light and be released. Secondly to teach you how to let go with love and grace. You are doing well in this regard. Keep waking up to what is clear right before you. Do not doubt me. Wake up! Wake up!
I love you more deeply than you have ever been loved. Remember and wake up, wake up!
Lay down your burden of fear on the road and do not look back. I walk beside you always. Trust your knowing for that is me. This is home where separation does not exist. You are the light that you shine for others. Honor and nurture that light. It is so needed now. I am with you. Wake up! Wake up!
I love you. I am you. All that is captured in one light beam or leaves on a tree. Don’t ever lose your faith and trust in me. I am your Mother from where all life begin. I am your father bringing your gifts and light out into the world. Ask me anything and I will be there for you. Embrace the money that moves in and out of your life. It is me.
Do not judge others for they have come to this Earth plane to do their work as you have. Now you are ready to fly. Trust that the wings of your heart will take you into the realms that are needed for this final initiation. Trust me here for fear will attempt to take you into the darkness…..but know that you always have the light. Wake up! Wake up!
Taken by GreenMackenzie@BreathofGreenAir – Scotland
It may seem strange to have such an incredibly beautiful image to grace a post that has this title. However I am finding that when one drops down (or is taken down) into the depth of darkness that at times must be surrendered to there is, on what seems like the other side, the lightness of being and beauty beckoning us back home again.
I know many people right at this particular time that are moving through what is called “a dark night of the soul”. A place where old patterns and beliefs must be laid at the feet of who we have been – who we think that we are – perhaps leaving us without direction, facing the fears that have kept us stuck, and not certain at all about what is emerging.
Some may define this place of intense feeling to be where the slate is wiped clean of any ways of past coping with life challenges. A new way of seeing your life and the relationships within it may emerge and ask you to make choices that don’t seem to have a firm foundation underneath them, but instead demand a risk taking that leaves you rather dizzy and disoriented. For women this is unsettling at best as aren’t we the caretakers of the world?!
As I dwell in this place of darkness I feel the womb of the Earth holding me – a place where you can let it all out and not pretend anymore that you are OK; a place that won’t let you escape until you clearly see what has trapped you in endless patterns of repetition up to this exact moment; a place of deep feeling and embodiment that demands of you no less than recognizing your innate inner value and brilliance.
How many of you are being invited into this place of darkness and great healing? You are not alone. It is a necessary journey that so many of us are taking so that we may arise cleansed and available for the work that has been given to us since the first breath that we took.
For me the last two months have held great darkness and great light. The two seem to be married in such a way that one never presents without the other to balance it. This synergistic mating has taken me into walking out on a “secure” job that was not in alignment with the “me” that was asking to create in the world; losing a very dear friend abruptly and feeling abandoned and wanting to “fix” the situation; beginning a new relationship with a man that had chosen a path that was not mine; and losing the income that I had depended on to support me.
In the fertile wake of each of these challenges came finding that my value rested inside of me and realizing that no person or anything else could define that; acknowledging that my friend was having a “dark night of the soul” herself and needed her healing time in the Earth womb without me, with old patterns of abandonment and wanting to fix everything having to be examined and brought into the light; coming to a deep understanding and recognition of what I want, need and deserve in relationship with a man and saying yes to that and letting go of the “unavailable” pattern that had perpetuated for so long with a deep look at my own unavailability and why; and finally acquiring support and doing the work necessary to have a completely different relationship with money.
A Light From The Darkness by teh-artish
Deeply feeling into these places of dark and light evolve us from victim to awareness; from terror and panic to faith, trust and expectation; from numbness and stagnation into embodiment and a glimpse of recognition into who we are in our fullest expression. Like everything in life this constantly changes – the darkness and light interchanging with each other under the direction of something much larger than we are…..love.
Are you also taking such a journey? You are not alone….
“The essential issue we face in life is being connected – not being in control” Margaret Wheatley
Isn’t it when we develop the capacity to meet whatever life serves up, to truly connect with the moment to moment experience of it, that we fall into allowing life to expand and enrich us? Each of us knows what that feels like as women. Whether it be giving birth to a child, preparing and serving food with love, standing on the front lines of something we strongly believe in and taking action, or even the simple act of breathing in the beauty of nature.
Our present global awakening is the first time in the history of humans that we are aware we can cause our own extinction. Along with that come the opportunities to be part of the shift to change into sustainable systems that have interconnection and global well being at the forefront.
It is women who will contribute greatly to this global evolution bringing the feminine principles back into activation. We shall also be partnered with the millions of men globally who will remember that it is not control and power that will sustain us, but instead collaboration, co-creation and cooperation.
“Aliveness is the sense of really being present; sensory awareness, emotional awareness, conscious awareness. The more aliveness we can handle, the more available we are to the flow of life within us.” Victoria Castle from The Trance of Scarcity
It is when we remember and live from our oneness that we can enter into co-creation from a Source level. What does that feel like and look like? Here are some A,B,C’s…
*Absolute awareness and acceptance of our purpose in life
*Belonging – Remembering that we are born with an inseparable experience of innately belonging
*Collaboration and co-creation with others. This is about connection – not having to do it alone! Courage!
*Daring – To be yourself outrageously and wildly. There is no box! This is all a creation from the river that flows within you connected with points in the evolutionary unified field.
Find yourself in all of this and don’t be afraid. This evolution needs you as a embodied whole woman who does not ever need to stand alone. Beautiful one you are always helped and supported by the unseen but tenderly felt sources of deep interconnection. Remember….
Love After Love The time will come when, with elation you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror and each will smile at the other’s welcome, and say, sit here. Eat. You will love again the stranger who was your self. Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart to itself, to the stranger who has loved you all your life, whom you ignored for another, who knows you by heart. Take down the love letters from the bookshelf, the photographs, the desperate notes, peel your own image from the mirror. Sit. Feast on your life.
For a long time now the title of this post had a certain meaning to me. Don’t hesitate. Seize the moment. Take action on what you have been secretly yearning for so long now. Life is very short and if not lived in the moment it seems even shorter. What do I really want to do with the time left to me?
All of this still holds true, but recently I have discovered that is just the surface of what happens when you pose this question to yourself and action is taken. Perhaps this question arises from a place deep inside when a pattern that has run your life is asking to be dissolved. Perhaps it is time to free yourself.
Imagine a young girl of 14 who has just lost her mother very suddenly. Her father is devastated by her death and goes into a place of depression leaving this young girl to take care of her brother who is 4 years younger, the household, and continue to do the dance of Junior High School, all without any grief counseling or emotional support. Consider what pattern this must have created.
Each of us has a story, a set of life circumstances that laid down a pattern(s) from which we have lived our lives in order to survive, belong and feel loved and seen. Many of us have deeply buried the sense of wholeness of who we are, and instead have lived life through the filter of this pattern. Then we are presented with “If not now, when?
In my case, and yes I was that young girl of 14, I learned to make others needs a priority making certain everyone was taken care of before my own needs so that I might feel love, appreciation, importance, and a sense of safety in my world. Over and over I played the part of selfless martyr to my patterns demand – until I woke up.
Life usually hands us circumstances in which we can pick apart our patterns a bit at a time. Then perhaps comes a more expansive awakening when all the threads that have held it together can no longer stay entangled. An awakening where we cannot blame outside circumstances or others for the traumatic or toxic places/relationships we have placed ourselves in, or give excuses for not being all that we were meant to be – but instead take responsibility for freeing ourselves from the patterns that have run our lives.
It is not comfortable to be so honest with yourself and bring the pattern out of the dark closet so that it can be seen – but it is indeed our job to simply do the work sacredly and silently into our own new awareness. Our life then has the potential to change and open to allow a connection to the wholeness of who we are….and those with “eyes to see and ears to hear” will respond.
How does the title of this blog post make you feel? What are the feelings that arise when you consider your own beauty?
As women we are so often self critical about many things in our appearance. If it isn’t the media or our culture that is demanding we look a certain way in order to be loved, get the job, get the man, or even get the attention….it is our own inability to accept the features and bodies that we have been given.
Beauty is considered in so many different ways by people all over the world. But isn’t real beauty that which shines through the features? The features that are a pathway to all of the experiences that have made up this one precious life! The soul of who we are!
It is the deepest parts of our being that shine forth if we but allow the open and whole expression of who we really are. Accepting the natural beauty that resides within and reflects on the outside – even the wrinkles, lines and flaws – encourages us as women to express fully without holding back anything!
Can we really be open to how others see us and realize that we are much more beautiful than we think? Watch this short video and reflect. Perhaps it will lead you to come out of hiding…
Domesticated. Is that a word that describes you or the life you are leading? Are you “settling” for less than your heart desires? Taking a look at the rote ways in which we live the moments of our lives can be painful to that wild creature that lives, breathes and moves inside of us. You know the one!
“We are here to fall in love with a lot more than just our mate… trees, stones, rivers, animals, birds, planets, galaxies, poems, music….” ~ Rev Matthew Fox
The creature inside that yearns to paint on the walls way outside the lines, dance outside at midnight (maybe in the nude!) to celebrate the universe inside and out, dig in the earth and come away with bits of dirt and leaves all over our clothes, speak out loudly and with conviction when a tree is cut down that doesn’t need to be cut except for some other humans profit, go out of our way not to “follow the rules” and instead find a path and a way that creates more life for ourself and others, and…..you speak more here!
Our planet and all life on it, as well as our individual aliveness, depends not only on engaging that Wild Wisdom, but embodying it with fearless grace and passion. What is it that you desire? Desire is not bad…it is a passionate means to access the gifts that we have to bring and the full life we have to live this time around. It is the fuel which feeds the Wild Wisdom that is within all of us.
I invite you to listen to my dear friend Lea Bayles speak to Wild Wisdom that sought her out to remind us to commit to and honor this intelligence whose time has come to return once again into our global consciousness and actions…NOW.
This piece is eloquent, intelligent, grounded, irreverent, deliciously sensual, and a call to all women and men to not ever dare again to shut away Wild Wisdom in a closet somewhere whimpering low sounds of mournful abandonment.
We were born with Wild Wisdom. It is all around us in nature and the interconnection of life that never ceases to evolve opportunity and change. It lives and breathes innately within us. Are we ready to listen??
“Within you, and in nature, is the potent, instinctual, untamable and nourishing force of Wild Wisdom. You need it. I need it. Our world needs us to bring forth our Wild Wisdom.”Lea Bayles
This beautiful woman named Rose has a lesson to teach all of us who find that we are slightly, or greatly, discouraged by the aging process. Although Rose is no longer with us her story is below and I think will give you some inspiration as to the preciousness of each moment of this incredible life we have been given.
As I come to the turning of 65 this coming July I keep thinking (and feeling!) that I am so much younger. What it seems to be to me is the timelessness of our indomitable spirit which is ageless and craves living full tilt, though the body at times fails to cooperate much to our dismay! There is always another opportunity to live our passions!! For Rose it was going to college and getting her degree…for me it is returning to doing energy bodywork, teaching, and starting a new book just for women!
These days I find all around me examples of “older women” stepping right into their passions and staunchly refusing to crumple under the youth crazed culture. They are real, aware, wise, healthy, courageous, creative, beautiful….and very, very sexy! I will include myself in there, as well as many women that I know!
As Rose so wisely said, “REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL.” What will you fill the “optional” with?? …in this one wild and precious life?! Oh, so many things to choose from! Yummm!!
Roses Story:
An 87 Year Old College Student Named Rose
The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t already know.
I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned round to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.
She said, “Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?”
I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you may!” and she gave me a giant squeeze.
“Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked.
She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids…”
“No seriously,” I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.
“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!” she told me.
After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months, we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this “time machine”
as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.
Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.
At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I’ll never forget what she taught us. She was
introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, “I’m sorry I’m so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I’ll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell
you what I know.”
As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, “We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop
playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it!
There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those
with regrets.”
She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The Rose.” She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives. At the year’s end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it’s never too late to be all you can possibly be .When you finish reading this, please send this peaceful word of advice to your friends and family, they’ll really enjoy it!”
TIP: Watch the wonderful film: My Afternoons With Margueritte (Available on Netflix)
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