At first take, I find myself trying to think of sudden death stories, tragic stories I’ve read of, or heard about where someone died too young or of drug overdose or alcohol abuse. I think those stories inspire us to treasure life, and I am sure many in this Lounge will have good ones. I look forward to reading them when I check back later today!

In my reading earlier this morning, while not a story, this offering by Mike Martin seems to be my current life-treasuring inspiration:

“If we only see the harvest as a time to be grateful, we miss the opportunity to be grateful for rest, planting, and caring.”

I wish I knew the list of basic needs we should reference. There are so many! However, if we look at basic physiological needs……..
* Homeostasis
* Health
* Food and water
* Sleep
* Clothes
* Shelter
………….then I would say that I’ve led a privileged life. I’ve never had to worry about any of those. While I wonder about this slight discomfort that feels like a shame for maybe not having suffered enough (??), I do feel grateful. Such a conundrum!

Finally, an easy question for me to answer!
Early morning is the most peaceful time of day for me.
The moment after just waking up, usually between 4:00 – 4:30 AM. I hear the cat jump from his window perch to run to greet me. The dogs lazily look up from their slumber and accept a head-pat before they go back to sleep. The smell of coffee brewing. Sitting a few moments in the darkness outside, looking at the stars and the moon in this vast Florida sky. Booting up my computer and recording yesterday’s various activities that I track. And my time here, with the gratefulness network. The animals have all fallen back to sleep, along with my sleeping husband. There is no one out on the street as I sit here at the keyboard, peering out the window. I hear nothing. My senses are all relaxed. I am in a no-judgment zone here and perfectly at peace. Namaste.

I appreciate what you’ve written here, Mica. For nearly 20 years, I was involved in a cultish movement under the guise of a very ordinary looking small-town street corner church. That was messy, and the leaving, even messier. Those years I most certainly did blindly follow someone else’s teachings, not thinking for myself. I’ve been out of that for about 25 years now and quite honestly, free from its imagined/self-imposed strictures, for about 5 years. I now celebrate freedom every single day! This is why I love what you wrote, my friend!

I cannot stop reading the story of the Shambala Warrior! It seems to fill me up every time I read it. Thank you, Howie.

“These weapons are made by the human mind. So they can be unmade by the human mind! The Shambhala warriors know that the dangers that threaten life on Earth do not come from evil deities or extraterrestrial powers. They arise from our own choices and relationships.”

And a further excerpt from The Shambhala Warrior, by Joanna Macy:
So, now, the Shambhala warriors must go into training.
“How do they train?” I asked.
“They train in the use of two weapons.”
“The weapons are compassion and insight. Both are necessary.”