I suggest performing a 2025 autopsy on yourself by asking yourself: “Was I more joyful & peaceful or did I suffer more from a sense of unease & lack?” If your answer is the latter, set a firm intention to investigate your mental habits & how they are effecting your Now!

The perfect cocktail napkins that I gifted Diane!

Change how you see & you will see how you change. See how you relate to what you ‘think’ you see. Question the mind. You will then see how the world’s external activities have less of an effect on your internal experience - less misery.

Be open to the possibility that every new step on your present Path in Life is the Divine unfolding specifically for you!

Don’t allow the holiday attitude to diminish - radiate positivity!

Merry Christmas and thanks for sharing the gift of your joyful curiosity.

Love manifests in so many ways as we shared our ‘Croce Christmas Adam’ (day before Christmas Eve) yesterday. My cheeks are sore from smiling.

Good morning Christmas week! Where’s that darn reindeer?

I enjoy journaling. Just received this cool gift; & I love the cover quote by Robin Williams: “You’re only given 1 little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.”

Does your mind automatically label this screen bad, ugly or ‘Oh no!’? Or is it just ‘what is’ unfolding perfectly in the Now? Yes, memory informs you to speed up your walk or your doggies are gonna get wet, but it need not cause you to suffer. That’s your choice.

The Tao art of Wu Wei - effortless action - ensures joyful peace in the present moment. When you invest your Being in the doing without striving or clinging to an outcome, you’ll find both the journey & the destination most enjoyable.

There’s the familiar practice of performing random acts of kindness for others. But there’s also the enjoyable exercise of practicing random acts of Wonder for yourself. Open your eyes & observe the many miracles before you.

What a way to start the day - with the crescent moon winking at the rising sun. Great metaphor for how our personal perceptions are always & only seen bec of the light of our Divine Consciousness.

You will experience more peace & happiness when you slowly lessen the space between what you truly ‘are’ and who you ‘think’ you are.

Observation is a major step in stopping the mind from causing emotional suffering. See (as an afterthought) how when the mind operated without noticing its uncontrollable activity, your worrying or judging had its origin.

Realize that the spiritual path - an Understanding of your peaceful authentic Self - is not an accumulation of more knowledge, but an excavation of old beliefs & conditioning.

The secret to having magical experiences is to be open and available to ‘what is’ unfolding without your personal fears & desires veiling the Divine.

Opinions & gossip are various forms of trash talk. If you accept others’ trash, now it’s yours! It’s healthier to notice, but not grasp.

You can read & hear all you want; but unless you take the actual steps yourself, growth will be only a dream. Rumi said it best: “It is your road & yours along. Others may walk it w/you, but no one can walk it for you.”

Give yourself an early Christmas present by granting the grace of forgiveness to someone you ‘feel’ has offended you. Unwrap this sacred gift by untying the red bow that tightly attaches this fear-based thought to YOU.

When you cease having a relationship with a difficult situation, it loses it power over you. It just is. Recognize it’s not you or yours & now deal with it.

Freedom from misery and frustration has a price. You must let go of your attachments to beliefs & conditioned behavior patterns. If you keep clinging, then the mind will keep stinging!

Today is our 15th year anniversary for the opening of one of my piratical passions. If you ever have the chance to visit St Augustine, you’ll see one way in which I adhered to my mantra: “Follow your enthusiasm!”

Started early w/meditation & journaling; just finished intense strength training hour; now enjoying protein w/tall glass of ice water; next walk doggies thru the hills; ending with breakfast. What a way to welcome the day! My mind is clear, my body is burnt, & the Spirit stoked.

Nothing “dreary” about this rainy day. Yes, it’s raining and it’s wet and it’s cold; but not “dreary” - which is a negative mind perspective. Accept ‘what is’ because it ‘is!’

I love St Augustine’s line: “Love God and do what you will.” When you’re truly based in (and informed by) Love, any expression or action cannot not be Divine.

Holidays are so special; leftovers are beautiful experiences in and of themselves.

Love comes in many forms. ❤️

It’s beautiful to give thanks; it’s mystical to BE thanks. Be the loving embrace of right Now. Hug Life itSelf - everything & everyone that has been gifted to you.

If you can’t think of something to be thankful for during this holiday, then be thankful for what you don’t have that you wouldn’t want. Happy Thanksgiving!

There are many paths in Life to uncovering our ultimate joyful peaceful Self. But there’s only one way any of these direct or progressive paths work; you must be the one taking the steps!

Whatever is appearing directly before you is for you - in some strange mystical fashion. So don’t initially resist it or reject it, but be curious about it. Grace has a unique way of lighting our path.

Welcome the wonder of ‘what is’ & you’ll discover that every moment may be magical. It’s all in the EYE of the perceiver when not veiled by the MIND.

I like the AA adage to “avoid deliberate manufacture of misery.” You know what you must avoid; if you don’t, you soon will without a smile.

Recognize when you feel a WOW! Upon listening to a song, reading a poem, seeing a piece of art, or observing a performance that the Beauty of the art form resonates with your innate Beauty. (Otherwise it wouldn’t matter.) The true Beauty (Divine) is in you; not the object.

Standing higher than the mist but not as high as the crescent moon. Feeling some raindrops but not displeasure. Seeing my dogs enjoying their leash-less walk but not a worry. Experiencing it all in awe.

Don’t blame anything else (partner, politician, weather, shi**y driver) for your angst. It’s your mind; you have the power to change its attitude & amplitude.

The NOW is not a moment in time, bookended by the apparent past & future. It’s Life itself so live it to the fullest; everything else is mind.

Think about it, your present thought about this fire pit photo is just a thought. Might be pretty or ugly, enjoyable or miserable, but recognize that it’s just an illusory thought. Not true! No different than the thought you have about yourself or anyone else.

Realize that your mind is just a point of view. Pure Awareness - the indescribable, intimate Presence of simply being aware - is the true viewing. Be careful limiting this Divine Presence.

A great inquiring thought is the acronym WAIT: What Am I Thinking? or Why Am I Talking? Using your mind to quiet the mind may prevent you from misery and unease in the near future.

“Every mortal will taste death, but only some will taste Life.” (Rumi) Experience the Now and taste Life. It’s ever-present, never-dying, and always available.

Glad to see ‘black is back’ & stoked a Sixers win! My grandson Charlie attended the game wearing my Sixers birthday gift from last year. Embrace joyful memories.

Celebrating our 53rd anniversary of our 1st date! The Sufi mystic Rumi said it so beautifully: “Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.”

I rarely worry, if at all, because I don’t dwell in the past or project into the future over fear-based thoughts. See that (your) thought is only as true as the thought that thinks it - which is just a thought-bubble! It’s not you!

Realize that right Now is not a moment in time. It is ever-present Life itself. You cannot not experience the fullness of Life when you are mindfully in the indescribable, imperturbable present moment.

A little secret when dealing with ‘difficult’ people is to 1st gauge your expectation of them - since they may be ‘different’ than who you desire them to be. If they won’t change; change your perspective.

Reality is only experienced Now! Anything other than ‘what is’ right now is a thought. Now you can choose to believe a thought, but realize that you then have a higher likelihood of experiencing some form of unease or dissatisfaction (dukkha).

Heaven on earth! 🎶🎶🎶

Happy Day of the Dead! We started celebrating the Living within us last evening. Honor the living Soul we share.