To All You Beautiful Souls Out There

Blessing Of Solitude by John O'Donohue

May you recognize in your life, the presence, power, and light of your soul.

May you realize that you are never alone, that your soul in its brightness and belonging connects you intimately with the rhythm of the universe.

May you have respect for your own individuality and difference.

May you realize that the shape of your soul is unique, that you have a special destiny here, that behind the facade of your life there is something beautiful, good and eternal happening.

May you learn to see yourself with the same delight, pride, and expectations which God sees you in every moment.

Bambi and Thumper Do Exist For Real :)

The Smile Meditation :)

"In ancient China, the Taoists taught that a constant inner smile, a smile to oneself, insured health, happiness and longevity. Why? Smiling to yourself is like basking in love: you become your own best friend. Living with an inner smile is to live in harmony with yourself."

-Mantak Chia

After a 7 month break, I finally got back to my meditation last night. Intrigued by the smile meditation that was introduced in Eat Pray Love, I decided to put this simple soul-gratifying task into practice and see if it works. To my surprise, it did. What does this meditation entail you may ask? Nothing. Just sit, close your eyes and smile. For once, sitting still and focused for 10 minutes was a breeze. Infact, I did not even want to come out of my meditation mode. As I opened my eyes slowly, I could feel my soul smiling back at me and thanking me. Thanking me for giving it food (meditation) to nourish. Immediately after, I started googling for more information on this smile meditation and this is what I found:

The Inner Smile Meditation Technique

A genuine smile transmits loving energy that has the power to warm and heal. By learning to smile inwardly, you can make your whole body feel loved and appreciated. This is a very powerful way to counteract stress and tension. In this meditation you will feel the energy flow down the entire length of your whole body like a waterfall.


This informal technigue is simple and easy to remember. Initially, begin by relaxing yourself. When calm and centered, bring your awareness to the very center, inside your head.Visualize, looking out from the center of your head and see the inside of the 'mask' of your face. Starting with the inside of your forehead, simply notice the broad, screen-like surface where , now blank, clairvoyant visions might play out.

Next, direct your attention downward, witnessing the inside of your eyeballs, eye sockets and the muscles and skin around the eyes. The eyelids are closed. There is nothing to see 'out there'. Simply witness these marvelous 'windows to the other world' with the shades drawn. See the inside of the eyes and feel. Feel your eyes as they are in their neutral, relaxed state. Next, direct your attention downward, witnessing the inside of your nostrils. Take a moment to observe the ebb & flow of life as it passes through this forward-reaching vent. Simply witness the inhale and exhale as it is.

Next, direct your attention downward, witnessing the inside of the mouth and lips. Notice the mouth is relaxed, teeth slightly separated, the tongue lightly pressing the roof of the palate against the back of the upper teeth. See the inside of the lips and feel. Feel your lips as they are in their neutral, relaxed state.Finally, direct your attention downward, witnessing your jaw and chin. See and feel the muscles, skin and bone from the tip of your chin to the hinge of the jaw, as they are in their neutral, relaxed state. Pulling back your focus, witness the whole of the inside of the mask of your face, as it is in its neutral, relaxed state. Again return your attention to your lips, to the corners of your mouth. Notice the feeling of the corners of your mouth as they are in their neutral, relaxed state.

Now, ever so slightly, raise the corners of the mouth until you feel the 'inner smile'. Perhaps imperceptable by an outside observer, you are lifting the corners of your mouth, ever so mindfully, until you feel a distinct shift in energy, a warm sense of well-being. Allow the corners of your mouth to remain in this uplifting position and turn your attention to the inside of your eyes. First, notice them as they are in their neutral, relaxed state. Then, ever so slightly, raise the corners of the eyes until you feel the 'inner smile' feeling here also. The corners of the eyes and mouth should now feel like one unit radiating a distinct, warm sense of well-being. This feeling is The Inner Smile.

As an informal practice, whenever it occurs to you, periodically come back and witness the neutral inner mask of your face throughout the day. Bring your attention back to feeling the inner corners of your mouth and eyes as they are in any given moment. Then choose to reset The Inner Smile.

As a formal practice, the energy of The Inner Smile can be consciously directed downward into the heart, the belly, the liver, the stomach and other digestive organs; to the bones, blood, nervous system ... to the whole of the body ... in directed flows through particular parts of the body or as a global radiating whole.

'Half smiling' mindfulness exercises

Half-smile when you first wake up in the morning. Hang a sign , or even the word "smile" on the ceiling or wall so that you see it right away when you open your eyes. This sign will serve as your reminder. Use these seconds before you get out of bed to take hold of your breath. Inhale and exhale three breaths gently while maintaining the half smile. Follow your breaths.


Half-smile during your free moments. Anywhere you find yourself sitting or standing, half-smile. Look at a child, a leaf, a painting on the wall, anything which is relatively still, and smile. Inhale and exhale quietly three times. Maintain the half smile and consider the spot of your attention as your own true nature.


Half-smile while listening to music. Listen to a piece of music for two or three minutes. Pay attention to the words, music, rhythm, and sentiments. Smile while watching your inhalations and exhalations.


Half-smile when irritated . When you realize you're irritated, half-smile at once. Inhale and exhale quietly, maintaining the half smile for three breaths.


p.s: I'm fine with the entire technique except the last. That is going to be a challenge. Maybe I could try it with my dad :) :) :)

Explain God

Written by Danny Dutton, age 8, Chula Vista, California, for his third grade, homework assignment

One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die so there will be enough people to take care of things here on earth. He doesn't make grown-ups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make, That way, He doesn't have to take up His valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.


God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times besides bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV on account of this. Since He hears everything, not only prayers, there must be a terrible lot of noise in His ears, unless He has thought of a way to turn it off.


God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere, which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting His time by going over your parent's head asking for something they said you couldn't have.


Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church.


Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of Him preaching to them and they crucified Him. But He was good and kind like His Father and He told His Father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said OK.


His Dad (God) appreciated everything that He had done and all His hard work on earth so He told Him He didn't have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So He did. And now He helps His Dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones He can take care of Himself without having to bother God. Like the secretary, only more important, of course. You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to hear you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time.


You should always go to Church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God. Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong! And, besides, the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway.


If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parent can't go everywhere with You, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared in the dark or when you can't swim very good and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids. But you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and He can take me back anytime He pleases.

And that's why I believe in God.

Start Romancing Your Soul Today

I was helping mum move recently. She was busy packing all by herself while my dad was busy you know...drinking his and our lives away! As we were packing, we came across a box of beautiful candles I bought her from overseas. Yes I am a candleholic and I thought of rubbing my addiction onto my mum as well. It did seem to work for sometime. I managed to transform her into a candle junkie overnight too. Yay me!!!!!

In midst of our packing, she asked me to take those gorgeous candles back. As much as I was tempted to, I mustered enough willpower to say no. I insisted that she should use them to beautify their new abode.

Mum expressed out of bitterness that she doesnt need this many candles, especially when romance is non-existent in her life. Thats when I came up with this retort, "You need them to romance your soul." We dont need someone else to show us what romance is all about. We can experience it ourselves. We should make a constant, conscientious effort to shower our own souls with heaps of romance and love. Our souls need that desperately. We owe it to them.

To everyone who is reading this... Light up the beautiful candles and start romancing your soul today! Your innerbeing deserves it!

God's Coffee Anyone?

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups-porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite-telling them to help themselves to the coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones.

While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups. And then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us." God brews the coffee, not the cups. Enjoy your coffee!

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything."


Live simply.

Love generously.

Care deeply.

Speak kindly.

Leave the rest to God.

Bringing some lightheartedness into my day

Here's a collection of funny quotes and funny thoughts to tickle my funny bone. Boy, dont I need a good, hearty laugh!

Funny Quotes and Funny Thoughts

A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back when it begins to rain.
-- Robert Frost

A woman is like a tea bag - you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.
-- Eleanor Roosevelt

Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.
-- Erica Jong

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
-- Gandhi

A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.
-- Winston Churchill

Always and never are two words you should always remember never to use.
-- Wendell Johnson

Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much.
-- Oscar Wilde

Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.
-- Margaret Mead

Beauty isn't worth thinking about; what's important is your mind. You don't want a fifty-dollar haircut on a fifty-cent head.
-- Garrison Keillor

Buy land. They've stopped making it.
-- Mark Twain

By the time you're eighty years old you've learned everything. You only have to remember it.
-- George Burns

By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may get to be a boss and work twelve hours a day.
-- Robert Frost

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.
-- Mark Twain

Consider the postage stamp, my son. It secures success through its ability to stick to one thing till it gets there.
-- Josh Billings

Everyone told me to pass on Speed because it was a 'bus movie.
-- Sandra Bullock

Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.
-- Oscar Wilde

Experts say you should never hit your children in anger. When is a good time? When you're feeling festive?
-- Roseanne Barr

For some strange reason, no matter where I go, the place is always called "here".
-- Ashleigh Brilliant

Having a baby changes the way you view your in-laws. I love it when they come to visit now. They can hold the baby and I can go out.
-- Matthew Broderick

He who laughs last probably didn't get the joke.
-- Author Unknown

He who laughs, lasts.
-- Mary Pettibone Poole

I am nobody. Nobody is perfect. Therefore I am perfect.
-- Author Unknown

I don't understand why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine's Day. When I think about romance, the last thing on my mind is a short, chubby toddler coming at me with a weapon.
-- Author Unknown

I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.
-- Groucho Marx

I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.
-- Noel Coward

I recently read that love is entirely a matter of chemistry. That must be why my wife treats me like toxic waste.
-- David Bissonnett

I think men who have a pierced ear are better prepared for marriage. They've experienced pain and bought jewelry.
-- Rita Rudner

I told my psychiatrist that everyone hates me. He said I was being ridiculous - everyone hasn't met me yet.
-- Rodney Dangerfield.

I'd much rather be a woman than a man. Women can cry, they can wear cute clothes, and they are the first to be rescued off of sinking ships.
-- Gilda Radner

If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?
-- Author Unknown

If you can remain calm, you don't have all the facts.
-- Author Unknown

If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.
-- George Bernard Shaw

If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.
-- Margaret Thatcher

If you rest, you rust.
-- Helen Hayes

I'm an excellent housekeeper. Every time I get a divorce, I keep the house.
-- Zsa Zsa Gabor

It's better to live one day as a lion, than a hundred as a sheep.
-- Benito Mussollini

I've been on a calendar, but I've never been on time.
-- Marilyn Munroe

My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened.
-- Montaigne

My theory is that if you look confident you can pull off anything - even if you have no clue what you're doing.
-- Jessica Alba

Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died.
-- Erma Bombeck

Never make the same mistake twice or you'll never get around to all of them.
-- Author Unknown

Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
-- Mark Twain

One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory.
-- Rita Mae Brown

Reason to smile: Every seven minutes of every day someone in an aerobics class pulls a hamstring.
-- Author Unknown

Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.
-- Oscar Wilde

Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.
-- Charles Bukowski

The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit.
-- Somerset Maugham

The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time.
-- Friedrich Nietzsche

The elevator to success is out of order. You'll have to use the stairs... one step at a time.
-- Joe Girard

The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one often comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't.
-- Henry Ward Beecher

The first law of dietetics seems to be: if it tastes good, it's bad for you.
-- Issac Asimov

The hardest years in life are those between ten and seventy.
-- Helen Hayes (at 73)

The main thing is keeping the main thing the main thing.
-- German Proverb

The nicest thing about quotes is that they give us a nodding acquaintance with the originator which is often socially impressive.
-- Kenneth Williams

The past is a guidepost, not a hitching post.
-- Thomas Holcroft

Those who dance are considered insane by those who cannot hear the music.
-- George Carlin

To be happy with a man you must understand him a lot and love him a little. To be happy with a woman you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.
-- Helen Rowland

To solve the human equation, we need to add love, subtract hate, multiply good, and divide between truth and error.
-- Janet Coleman

Until I was 13, I thought my name was 'Shut Up.'
-- Joe Namath

When I was young I was called a rugged individualist. When I was in my fifties I was considered eccentric. Here I am doing and saying the same things I did then and I'm labeled senile.
-- George Burns

We don't stop playing because we grow old; We grow old because we stop playing.
-- George Bernard Shaw

We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching them to walk and talk and the next twelve telling them to sit down and shut up.
-- Phyllis Diller

When everyone thinks alike, no one thinks very much.
-- Walter Lippmann

When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So, what the hell, leap!
-- Cynthia Heimel

When women are depressed they either eat or go shopping. Men invade another country.
-- Elayne Boosler

Whether women are better than men I cannot say—but I can say they are certainly no worse.
-- Golda Meir

Why get married and make one man miserable when I can stay single and make thousands miserable?
-- Carrie Snow

Wise men talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.
-- Plato

Woman are meant to be loved, not to be understood.
-- Oscar Wilde

Women complain about premenstrual syndrome, but I think of it as the only time of the month that I can be myself.
-- Roseanne Barr

Women dress alike all over the world: they dress to be annoying to other women.
-- Elsa Schiaparelli