Greetings from Scotland! We are traveling back on the ferry to the mainland from a lovely weekend on Islay. I won’t be posting while I am in Scotland, but hope to keep in touch when I have WiFi and feet up time.
Salty breeze and seas
Clouds, rain and sunny moments
This is my home ground
I am finding so much joy in my garden this Spring. It has been an abundant one for growth and blossoms.
It is my Center.
Luckily I haven’t had to go to many commercial garden centers, as everything seems to know how to magically fill in the space it has and how to express itself.
Such joy to nurture this and share đź’›
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Find your Middle Ground is about stepping away from stressful days and anxious minds, and taking time to pause.
When we are mindful of the present moment and simply allow it to be, we open a door to our natural state of being – accepting, loving, peaceful, kind and content. Most of us are so distracted and moving so fast that we get caught up in the world of “doing” or worrying about what we should be doing next.
Too much doing and thinking disconnects us from our sense of “being”and who we really are.
I write about finding this place of connection, contentment and peace in the highs and lows of life. I call it our Middle Ground.
Namaste
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Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner.
Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.
~ Mitchell, Stephen. Tao Te Ching (Perennial Classics) . Harper Perennial. Kindle Edition.
“Do your work, then step back”. So simple, yet not easy to do when we are caught up in demanding jobs and the chaotic busyness of our techno driven lives.
We all need time to pause, reflect and replenish.Only then will we find true balance and the serenity in life.
Namaste
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Sitting in my gardening scruffs
Ready to dig, move, plant and play
Waiting for the rain to go off
Finding time for WordPress
I know, its been a while
Yet being in nature calls me
Tending to my piece of Earth
Finding my Middle ground
With dirty hands and knees
We all tend to think that our thinking is the truth, and what we believe is right. As we grow up and experience the highs and lows of life, we can either hold on to those ways, or be open to understanding other ways.
Moving to a new country is eye opening and life changing. When I came over  to live in the USA, I immediately noticed lots of unexpected differences in the way that people think, how they see the world, what they value, and how they behave … especially in public.
“Just because it’s different doesn’t mean its bad.”
This was the key message I shared with newcomers to the USA and people moving to Europe from here. I became a cross cultural trainer to increase awareness of differences and to share ways towards understanding, acceptance and integrating into in a new culture.
Living in an other country makes us aware of how we are different, as well as how we judge others for being not like us.
We all grow up in our own family, society, group and culture. We form our beliefs, make assumptions and take actions based on our conditioning and the teaching that is continually reinforced in our subconscious.
In a world where differences are spotlighted in the press and social media, it isn’t easy to find a state of balance.
May we all let go of assumptions and become open to differences. May we be curious about others and take time to understand their perspective.
May we not forget, that despite differences, we are all connected in humanity and love.
This is what truly brings us together.
Namaste
“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”
~ Mother Theresa
No matter how much many of us think we ‘shouldn’t’ judge, we are so conditioned to do so that without increasing our self-awareness, we will not only judge one another but we will continually judge ourselves and even our judgments.
When we judge others in a way of either good and bad, or right and wrong, we are essentially setting ourselves up as moral arbiters, claiming we know what the world is supposed to be like. How ridiculous and presumptive! But the impact is even more damaging.
Judging inflates our egos and makes us feel self righteous, and in doing so, it condemns others. This is the flame that fuels discrimination, conflict and violence in society today.
Mother Theresa’s simple words remind us how judging keeps us separate from others, and closes our hearts.
It’s time to let judgments go and make time for understanding and love.
Namaste
