Embracing the Church of Sports (Warts and All)

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amazin' Mets, Bobby Knight, Bull Durham, church of baseball, love of sports, Mike Rice

I’ll get to less-obvious reasons that I still embrace the church of sports, despite the many many problems and flaws. But first….

The video above shows one of the most exciting come-back moments ever in baseball, when the New York Mets won the World Series in 1986 in the bottom of the 10th, in what seemed to be a no-brainer win for the Boston Red Sox. This last-minute win was a breathtaking. eye-popping conclusion many of us will never forget.

Not only was it great to see our (finally) amazin’ Mets win the entire Series, but this was a moment to remember for anyone who thinks their own game is lost. These Mets never gave up, even when the odds were stacked against them. It’s not about the odds, they might tell us. It’s about knowing, in any moment no matter what anyone tells you, you can still change things around for yourself – and for your team.

The Darker Side of Sports

Of course, sports has a darker side, too.

Help Me Create Something Wonderful Lord!

(An imagined conversation with nO religious intent.)

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Help me create something wonderful, Lord!

Are you afraid?

Yes. I am very afraid.

Help me create something wonderful, Lord!

Will you resist?

Oh yes. I will resist. I’ll resist a lot – especially when I get scared.

Still…help me create something wonderful, Lord!

Will you find excuses?

Excuses? Of course!  I will find lots and lots of excuses.

Please help me create something wonderful, Lord!

Will you look for things to divert you from your dreams?

Sure. I always have. I’ll look everywhere.

But still…help me create something wonderful, Lord!

Will you minimize who you are and how much you can achieve?

Oh yes! I will doubt myself all over the place.

Oh PLEASE help me create something wonderful, Lord!

These things only have power as long as you let them stop you.

But by seeking help

And by daring to move forward anyway

Step by tentative step

As long as it takes

As daunting as it may at times seem

Despite doubts and fears and countless diversions

Learning and growing as you go along…

Well then my dear tortured human being

The magical creation process has already begun.

And even if you can’t see it yet…I can! 

With love,

The Lord

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(Please note: This imagined conversation was conceived and intended in a totally secular way. I have yet to knowingly receive any direct messages from a greater power.  But if they do come, I will let you know for sure!)

Joy and Peace Come from Within

One more random thought that came to me the other day. I will let it stand on its own:

Joy and peace come from within. We don’t need to wait for others to create it for us. We don’t need to blame others when we don’t have it.

Namaste.

What If I CAN Be Happy???!!

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happiness, how can I be happy

 

 

How can I be happy? It’s a question almost everyone asks at one time or another. Some daily. But so many of us hear a voice inside saying “I can’t” as soon as we even dare to think about happiness, and living life in a way that might truly lead us to being happy. I don’t have the talent. I don’t have the money. I could never make THAT happen for me!

Basically, we are saying “I don’t deserve happiness. I don’t deserve to dream so big.” And yet others dare all the time – and many many people get to do what some of us only dream about. Even if it turns out somewhat differently from their initial image of what happiness might mean.

Yesterday a friend asked me “What would you do if there was nothing stopping you?” Immediately I ran my list in my head. I have physical conditions that would get in the way. I don’t have enough talent. How would I earn a living? I’m too old. What if I got there and didn’t want it after all? Blah. Blah. Blah.

Do We Stop Ourselves from Dreaming of Happiness?

I couldn’t even let myself say the words of what would make me happy out loud to my friend! Good lord…is just dreaming so scary??

It struck me that I had nothing to lose by saying what I wanted. First thing out of my mouth was “If there was absolutely nothing to stop me (including myself) I’d be a character actress.” Hah. I said it. Why was it so hard? I majored in acting in college and dabbled with it at various points of my life. It’s something I LOVE to do. And yet I stopped. Because it felt silly. Because I wasn’t good enough. (As if I ever let myself go all the way with it.) And it wasn’t important enough. (On whose scale of importance?)

But wait. It didn’t stop there. After my friend left, I really let myself fly free.

Fatima the Spinner: Today Is Just a Thread in Our Tapestry

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work

 

Fatima the Spinner is an inspiring tale of a girl whose life is filled with misfortune, and yet…with the help of fate and her own skills, she finds happiness. It’s one of my all-time favorite stories.

I love discovering new books by just letting my eyes wander through bookshelves and see what calls to me. That’s how, many years ago, I found a book called Tales of the Dervishes by Idries Shah. It was in that book I found the marvelous story of Fatima.

My life has been like Fatima’s in many ways. She goes from land to land and job to job (in essence) always wondering why she must move on, why she hasn’t found the one place she truly belongs yet. Each time she learns a new skill, but always something happens that causes her to move on. And then one day, after surviving yet another disaster, she lands in China, where they desperately need someone with ALL the skills she’s acquired. And it is here, finally, she finds love and happiness.

I just love this story.

Our Deepest Fear

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"Akeelah and the Bee", Akeelah and the Bee quote, fear, fear quotes, Marianne Williamson quote

I watched Akeelah and the Bee last night. A wonderful film about a young girl who dared let herself shine despite her deep fear, and despite the less-than-supportive messages she was getting from her environment – or at least the ones that rang true to her.

Funny how we can hear many things, but only pick out the words we feel ready to accept at the time – sometimes giving almost zero weight to words and people that could lift us up.

Now I have to admit that, even though I knew the film was about a little girl facing her fear and hopefully triumphing, I kind of expected to be bored by a lot of it…I mean it is about a spelling bee after all! Well, the film kept me riveted all the way through.

It has tremendous depth and heart and is wonderfully directed and acted. I loved every minute of it, despite my own occasional fear of the “sappiness factor”. It spoke to me on every level.

How easily I related to that little girl who at first couldn’t even imagine herself entering her own school’s spelling bee – much less a national bee. She worried the cool kids would laugh at her – and rightly so, because they did.

What to Do When Life Shovels Dirt on You

“One day a farmer’s donkey fell down a dry well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do.

Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway. It just wasn’t worth it to him to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw.

The Two Wolves: Which Wolf Do You Feed?

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feeding the wolf, the one you feed, two wolves story, wolf who wins

I found this wonderful Cherokee story about the two wolves and the ever-so-familiar fight they are having inside all of us, and I want to share it with you:

The Two Wolves

A Cherokee elder was teaching his grandchildren about life.

He said to them, “A fight is going on inside me… it is a terrible fight between two wolves.

One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, hatefulness, and lies.

The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, humbleness, kindness, friendship, generosity, faith, and truth.

This same fight is going on inside of you, and inside every other person, too.”

The children thought about it for a minute. Then one child asked his grandfather,

“Which wolf will win?”

The Cherokee elder replied…

“The one you feed.”

So the question is…which wolf do you feed most often?

This ancient wisdom speaks loudly to me. And, as I think about it, I must admit that lately I’ve been feeding almost equal parts of each wolf – sometimes even letting them feed each other. And that leaves the spirit in disharmony. Not a great thing.

Luckily we have the power to choose, at any given time, which wolf to feed more often. And today, I start by choosing to share this beautiful story of the wolves with you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Aaah! The second wolf is smiling.

Wolf Sound (click to hear the wolf)

Free Wolf Photo

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Have $5 to spare?

Read how you can help a hungry person!

How Bloggers Like Us Can Help Feed Hungry People for as Little as $5!

November 24, 2007 by Ronnie Ann (updated 2013)

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Regrets – I’ve Had More Than a Few!

I just saw the book that I was supposed to write. Except someone else got there first.

About three years ago, I was working on a self-help book about the world of work. It had a slightly different slant that I hadn’t seen in other such books and hoped my book would really connect with people. I had a hoo-hah agent and a writing partner to spur me on. I even had a publisher who showed interest. But stuff happened and I let it go for the moment. And then for the next moment. And the next.

Now I see this book that came out earlier this year and it hits on many of the very points I was making. The ones that only me and a few other people ever got to see. And this book-that-isn’t-mine even has some chapters strangely reminiscent of ones I had in my proposed Table of Contents. Now sometimes these ideas get suggested by editors or agents who have seen other proposals like mine, but sometimes the ideas are just in the air looking for people to bring them to life. And they did.

Who’s Driving Your Life?

My cyber-pal SurfaceEarth asked me to write something about how we find the courage to change the way we live. Ah! A challenge. She was responding to my post Energy, Fortune Cookies, and Life where I wrote about what I found in a fortune cookie that day:

“Energy is equal to desire and purpose.”

A message maybe from the universe telling me I should accept no less, despite all those temptingly easy diversions from a path I could truly embrace and – dare I say – love. Feed the inner chi by attracting the universal chi, eh?

Well, I must admit her “simple” question about where to find courage to “accept no less” was not one I could readily answer. I too ask the same question when faced with tough challenges. The one thing I’ve learned in my life, is the best way to find an answer is to first believe there is one.

And to this point, I happened to find Christen Resmo’s blog The Law of Attraction and a post called What is the Law of Attraction?.