I used to focus on finding the answer! When I got the answer, I would truly be able to live. Thankfully, I realized that I was just getting older, that focusing on answers was not working. I realized that to truly be alive we have to live our questions. I, also, realized that in most instances the question WHY? was a waste of my time. As Elizabeth Lesser says in today’s quote: “When you feel yourself breaking down, may you break open instead. May every experience in life be a door that opens your heart, expands your understanding, and leads you to freedom.” The question I am most grateful for today and everyday is not really a question. It is a prayer, “Teach me what I need to learn from this situation and give me the courage to apply it to my life.”

My favorite definition for the word “responsibility” is the “ability to respond.” I spent a lot of my life reacting instead of responding. As today’s quote says, “We don’t know what life will bring, so it is what we bring to life that matters.” To take full responsibility for my part in any difficulties is to understand and accept that no matter what my role may have been in the situation, I must own my response to the situation. If I don’t, the situation will own me!

Good Morning, I was pondering yesterday’s and today’s questions when I read the quote below. It is such a powerful reminder of the importance of kindness. What we say and what we do, matters. My sister found this quote on a site called “1 Life 2 Love.”

You may think you are completely insignificant in this world…But, Someone drinks coffee from a favorite cup that you gave them. Someone heard a song on the radio that reminded them of you. Someone read the book that you recommended and plunged headfirst into it. Someone smiled after a hard day’s work and smiled because they remembered the joke you told them that day. Someone loves him/herself a little bit more because you gave them a compliment. Never think that you have no influence whatsoever.
Your trace which you leave behind with every good deed cannot be erased. Author Unknown

Even though it was the Master’s Day of Silence, a traveler begged for a word of wisdom that would guide him through life’s journey.

The Master nodded affably, took a sheet of paper and wrote a single word on it: “Awareness.”

The visitor was perplexed. “That’s too brief. Would you please expand on it a bit?”

The Master took the paper back and wrote: “Awareness, awareness, awareness.”

“But what do these words mean?” said the stranger helplessly.

The Maser reached out for the paper and wrote: “Awareness, awareness, awareness means AWARENESS.” ”
“One Minute Wisdom” by Anthony DeMello page 10

I’m not afraid of death because I know it is inevitable but I do fear the act of dying. Any one who has experienced difficulty breathing can relate. That said. The question prompts thoughts of legacy. Am I living a life that enriches myself and others? I wrote this poem in 2012.

I want to die Awake

I want to let death be,
not fight or try to flee
life’s final invitation.

Perhaps, death is a birth,
a trickster’s brand of mirth
a grand initiation

Perhaps, it truly ends
all memories and friends
beyond all restoration.

But can awareness die?
The meaning of the why?
The hope of all creation?

Or will it rise again
in family and friends
a fruitful demonstration.

Our lives cry out “Awake!”
“Before the reaper rides!”
I want to die awake.

I’ve learned to turn “re” words into “be” words and when it’s too late to “re” do or “be” come, I work on letting go. Like many others who have shared, fear has so often been my motivator and for me, fear is always a sign that I’m not in the present moment. I’ve learned that if you are in the past or the future, you go there alone but the strength, the grace you need, flows in the now. I do my best to gratefully claim it