Life Retold blog

Monkey Thinking

Teri Hawkins — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:26:32 +0000

I was watching 3 children play on the monkey bars as I waited for a traffic light to change. They would climb up on one end, reach out get their “swing” going and move across those bars without hesitation. Then they would climb down, run around and do it again. Sometimes they skipped a bar, sometimes they sped up releasing a hold before the next was set. One actually fell. They all laughed, she picked her self up, brushed herself off and got back in line. When her turn came this time, she went backward. Then the light changed.

Why was I witness to this? Why had it caught my eye and my attention? What was the universe saying to me and was I willing to listen? Like so many conversations in our life we may or may not really “get” what the messenger is trying to tell us but here is what I heard loud and clear: We have to release things constantly, regularly, and without hesitation if we are going to carry our self into the next possibility, opportunity, wonder life offers. We cannot wait until we have a strong hold on the next thing that comes, because if we wait, we will loose the swing, the momentum, the action and universal support that carries us forward into our dreams, desires and magic.

AND we are going to fall. Falling can actually be fun, give us teh opportunity to start again. Falling can motivate us to do something even more spectacular, moving or important than we have ever done before. If you stay where we fall someone might land on us as they go on with thier journey across the monkey bars of thier playground. OR maybe I was witness to this moment of childhood play because I was at a traffic light that was red and I had to look at something.

The Poetry of Remembrance

Teri Hawkins — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:18:31 +0000

in this life than to have lost a loved one, for it is in this remembrance that the stanzas of grief entwine with unparalleled experience of having loved. What a miracle love is, what an amazing, unexplainable miracle. When love is offered us in a moment or a life time we must accept. Refusal of love’s gift comes only from the fear of pain or loss. We must accept it all, every drop of the grief and sorrow and every rush of the love and wonder otherwise our life is empty, completely void of living – and this is the greatest loss of all.

I have lost a child and lost a beloved I thought would be my partner in life – now 22 and 25 years later the grief is still as deep, still as sad as the moments of raw realization so long ago. And yet the textures of these losses through out my life have made me a person of deep, passionate love for many people, experiences and moments. Would I then, if given the choice, choose for the loss of my child and beloved to have never happened? Honestly? No I would not.

For loss is simply change and change is the very delight of Nature. The change that occurred in my heart, my consciousness, my very view of life was a miracle I of which alone I would not have been known. Additionally if my memory of those I have loved and lost brings me ONLY sadness, depression and fear of ever loving so deeply again – then I have failed the test of the enjoyment our shared loved brought to my life. For the remembrance left behind is a reflection of the joy, tenderness, and love shared while we were together, and will be with me eternally – beyond skin and bone, beyond sunsets and morning dew. Like the star’s light that reaches our earth long after the star is physically gone – my beloveds long gone from this earth give light to my world. Their light shines in the darkest moments of my life…lights that show me the way to a poetic, sweet happiness.

Please bring those you have loved and lost into your conscious memory during important, celebratory, and even every day parts of your life. Let remembrance be the power of life it was given to be.

The Message of Snow

Teri Hawkins — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 18:07:54 +0000

The most fragile of weather is the single snow flake. And yet the unstoppable power of delicate, gentle snow flakes bound together is unstoppable. So we must ask what is nature trying to tell us in the winter when the snow falls, drifts, dumps into life? And isn’t it curious that the higher the land reaches the more snow it receives? Are the metaphysics really that hard to see or is it simple another case of the ego speaking in agreement yet refusing to adjust inner Truth?
Gentleness is the one thing you can count on from a person of strength. It is weakness that causes cruelty. No person of strength needs cruelty. When inner strength is tapped a gentleness is discovered – a calm and knowing that is so powerful, so amazing that it is as unstoppable as the avalanche. This Christmas season let us listen to the snowflake as it whispers the power of gentleness. Let us become the power of snow – not through ego, need to, have to, or should – but through gentleness.
Sunshine motivates, rain cleanses, wind supports… and snow? Well snow reminds the soul that it is time to return to the greatest of strengths – our gentleness.

I Have No Soul!

Teri Hawkins — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 17:51:53 +0000

The latest breaking news of my thoughts is the complete and amazing realization that I do not have a soul. I do not have a soul and neither do you, him, her, they or anyone. Humans do not have souls. At such a claim the neurons that create my thoughts, react to my surroundings, hear words enter my consideration all begin to posture to speak up (and out) about the ludicrously of such a comment: “What do you mean you do not have a soul?” “Are you saying you are soulless?” If you do not have a soul what do you call the non-physical energy of your beingness?” It is one of those ‘ peeshaw’ moments (peeshaw is a word my grandfather often used to quickly express his opinion that what ever had just been uttered was complete nonsense).
Yet, once my ego-habits step back from defensiveness and over-rehearsed abilities to defend what I already know, once I shed my immediate emotional response I can see a glimmer of truth. It’s true, I do not have a soul. Thinking I have a soul means I feel I am something other than a soul. I DO NOT have a soul - I am a soul. My soul happens to have a body. And what an honor this body is to my soul. There is no greater reflection of a person’s love, gratitude and giving in this world than the way we treat our body. As a soul the honor of the body is beyond understanding. It is a miracle offered the soul so that it might express itself in the physical world. The body is something to be treasured, appreciated, adored, honored, and thanked every nanosecond that it houses our souls. Yet what do we do with it? We put it down. Claim it is not tall enough, thin enough, it aches to much and it sleeps too little. Our body has become a trash dump for what ever emotion, action, food or thought we want to pollute it with. On top of all that we allow advertisements, childhood memories, supposed friends and opinions of our society tell us what is good, bad, incomplete, and lacking in our body.

EXCUSE ME? There is more wisdom in your body than in the deepest philosophy that could ever be considered or created. I ask you – how exactly is it that your heart beats? How is it that food process through your body when you are doing a thousand other things simultaneously. How do those feet work and they roll across the ground and take you forward, sideways, twirl you about and leap you across gullies. And what of the legs, knees and arms - how they always seem to be their when needed…. And remain even when not requested.

It is really quite simple. None of us have a soul. We ARE souls. We HAVE bodies. So how have you treated yours lately? Have you thanked it? Hugged it? Complimented it for all it does for you in a day? Or are you into criticizing what it does and does not look like? Do you focus on the pain it gives you or the weakness it seems to possess? If it is your body – then who exactly is going to pick it up, feed it with love, caress it with thoughtfulness or hug it with pure joy? Your soul – that’s who. So the next time you do anything less than awe at your body know this - your body is where your soul lives and it is today what you as a soul have made it. Your body is the house in which your soul lives. Clean it up, fix it up, honor it with the best materials and maintain it’s beauty. It is your home sweet home, created by your soul’s desire.

The Master Title

Teri Hawkins — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:30:46 +0000

Doctor, Lawyer, Engineer, Teacher, Expert, Millionaire, President, Counselor, Author – on and on we could go with titles that claim instant status in the world. By the title we give immediate ranking, prestige, benefit and often fear and coveting. So much life is lived in our world striving for title and once reached a certain righteousness is claimed, “ I have earned the respect I get”. Really? A title stating your profession, skills, bank account or public office means you have earned my respect? Hers? His? Theirs? And everyone else’s? I just don’t think so! That doesn’t work for me – not sure it works for any on us.
Unless….. Well…… Unless the title your given is “Old FRIEND”. This is a title that tells me something special about you, a title that gains not only instant status and respect but honor and grace. Old friends our the greatest mirror of who we really are. Money, status, things and stuff do not show who a person is beneath the skin – they show who we are trying to be, feel we need to be to the world. It is the Old Friend that mirrors the soul, the power, the love and wonder of who we are. Old Friends bless us all with the joy and utter right of being stupid, wrong, flawed, sad, angry and even selfish – they don’t fall for any of it, but allow it to be expressed. Old friends know us, yet love us anyway – they are the family of our heart, of our making. They are the measure of what we have truly created, established, accomplished in this world. They sing inside our soul every day - no matter the miles between or the days without words shared.
With all my education, years of teaching, coaching, speaking and striving to become a person of worth in my own eyes. It was in my learning to become a friend that brought me the realization, the peace and the wonder of loving me and being gloriously happy and successful in life. No greater treasure will I ever uncover in this life than the old friends I have and will create along the way. I can now say that not only do I have old friends – I am one. That the life title of which I carry the deepest pride is that of “Old Friend” and that keeps me young beneath my years.
Pick up the phone today, or knock on that door – reconnect with old friends and remember the wonder of who you are by this never ending love. If you are estranged in any way – one phone call from an old friend to another will heal all. Become the old friend you most desire, whether 19 or 79 the title is yours to live, enjoy, obtain and regain at your hearts desire.

The Oxymoron of Human Life.

Teri Hawkins — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:57:13 +0000

The years we live upon this earth are a blessing that is nothing less of miraculous. The very beingness of living is a mystery offered to all and yet denied by far too many. The counting of days, of wrongs, of facts and worries - it is in these measurements that we become old. When we land upon this miracle called Earth we are all very old souls. As we live and experience human existence our souls become younger and younger. We forget more and more who we are as a spark of divinity unique to this world. Remaining in the “oldness” of the soul refers to the wisdom of Oneness and life itself. Being an old soul is to say we have maintained wisdom of conscious existence with the One. What a blessing we are born little children, with the imagination and lack of language skills – so that we have more human time living with our divine parent – Oneness. This is why every great mystic refers to the wisdom of the child as so profound, so honorable and so needed – because their souls are much older – not yet grown young.
In the awe inspiring genius of the human body we find our greatest measurement of how young our soul is becoming. The body is indeed born young and yet grows old. This mirroring of the soul and the body is often over looked in our quest to conquer the physical world. For the sake of reputations we seek, things and stuff we covet and the control we crave, we give up the wonder of youth in the body and wisdom ( age) in the soul. With this in mind the question comes up: Can we reverse the aging process? I believe we can.
And I do not think it hard. Here is a formula for keeping the body young and the soul old:
Water – drink it like water.
Sleep – put it at the top of your to do list every day.
Laughter – partake at least 5 times a day, and laugh most often at yourself. (BTW there is an illusion that we stop laughing as we get older – not so… we get older because we stop laughing. The average child laughs over 50 times a day. The average adult in America laughs 2 times a day.)
Friends and Loved ones– Spend more time and thought on them than you do on your work.
By the way you might want to take a look at Jackie Silver on line - aging backwards is her thing. I have met her and she is a hoot, certainly looks great.

The Success of Failure

Teri Hawkins — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:37:16 +0000

The little sister looks with admiration into the eyes of her blustering big brother. He is firm and sure as he says, “failure is NOT and option”. It motivates her and she pushes through. “Failure is not an option” becomes and internal mantra of behavior when things get tough. Sis grows up, works hard, keeps busy, drives her life in the fast lane at autobahn speeds, beeping to pass others who are moving too slow on that road to success. Finally the time comes when she starts top merge right so she can hit an exit. She gets off the freeway, gets out, stretches, looks around, takes a rest and begins to feed herself. She begins to discover simple wonders that sweeten the moment and creative ideas that expand that existence of life. She begins to enjoy meandering walks more than hard driving. One day in the midst of a sweet moment shared by morning dew, a tail wagging dog, and sounds of awakened birds she has a thought - “ Failure is not an option”. Where did I get that from? If failure is not an option then what is it? Is it something that happens to me? Does something outside of me create failure? Does failure even exist or is it an illusion that is created to ignore fear when it rears its head. She stops, coffee steaming in the cool air. Her dog stops and looks, something is obviously going on. She says contemplatively yet aloud, “Failure IS an option, and it is one I can choose at anytime. The moment I choose and accept failure is the moment that I cannot fail. For the definition of failure is what I say it is and when I choose and accept it, there is an immediate transformation into possibilities lined with peace and imaginings supported by personal power. She now realizes that all the failures she had failed to admit were never failures at all. They were moments when new doors were opened and new wonders were found. Failures are what light the way to our greatest gifts - given and received in this world. I have failed much in my life and each has been the root of my greatest of my successes.

Tiny Memories, Precious Stones

Teri Hawkins — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:25:59 +0000

I walk along the shore, grey clouds overhead full of anticipation for the moment of watery release. A symphony of waves set the mood with a constant climatic background far greater in texture than any man made sound machine. There is nothing I need do, be or accomplish, I just walk. I am walking in the sand that lies between the grains slick from a wave that has just visited and those not touched by waves since the last storm. It is the in-between sand that most draws my attention because of the variety it offers. It is here that I find interesting sculptures of seaweed, shattered seashells, broken crab shells. It is here that ragged stones and smooth pebbles meet. What will I pick up, what in all this vast variety will I put into my pocket. And in what distant day of another walk in another place will I reach into that pocket and find the jewel of a memory that will bring me back to the ease, the exhalation, the perfection of this moment, this day, this seemingly insignificant day upon an autumn beach? This walk upon the beach is my memory – I can never tell what small shell or smooth rock my memory will pick up, put into the pocket of my mind as a precious treasured thing.

Haven or Havoc – the coming holidays.

Teri Hawkins — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:59:23 +0000

The coming holidays bring about expectations of repeated good times, or repeated stress. For some families the holidays are a fun reunion of relationships deeply cherished. For other families Thanksgiving and Christmas are something to get through without emotional blood shed. If yours is the later then why not change it now, before the event is upon you. Here is what I did when I was in the process of changing my story around my family’s get togethers. For 15 minutes just before bed, just after brushing my teeth, I would go through the day I just had. In my mind’s eye I would start from the moment I awoke and go through the minutes of my day. Each thought, action, reaction, defense, judgment, justification, blame, resentment, or self put down that I could remember I would simply forgive. Forgive myself and any other person that in my mind was a party to my destructive thoughts. I did not work on the big uglies of my childhood, my relationship with my family or unloving happenings still remembered. I just worked on the day just completing. This exercise created an energy of forgiveness in me that crept up on me and soon became a way of thinking. The next holiday with my family something major had changed – and it wasn’t my family. I have had wonderful moments of connection, fun and support from my family since that time. Maybe not the exact experiences I had always wished for – but definitely as valuable and heartwarming. I can think of no greater gift to give yourself or your loved ones this holiday season – forgive.

If Money Could Talk

Teri Hawkins — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:57:19 +0000

If money could talk it would probably break up with most of us. Our relationship with money is all about what it can do for us. We tell money it isn’t enough, can’t be trusted to stick around, is never there when we need it, is the cause of our stress, the break up of our marriages and the stress that is making us sick. Personally I don’t blame money for exiting from lives as fast as it can. Money does not want the responsibility for our happiness, it simply wants to be a currency of exchange. That is all it is – an exchange of energy between two people. I think a quick look at the blame and resentment we heap upon money; a sincere reconsideration of where we put our hopes (I am thinking putting such a sweet part of life upon an inanimate object is a bit odd, certainly lacking in common sense) and a sincere apology to money for abdicating our very life and happiness to what it does and does not do for us. Just a thought! TK