Water the Flowerness

"If we practice the art of mindful living together, we see that the other person, like us, has both flowers and compost inside, and we accept this. Our practice is to water the flowerness in her, and not bring her more garbage."  - Thich Nhat Hanh, Your True Home

Just a thought for the day from my Buddhist guru, as the brilliant sun alternates with forceful rain here in Centennial.The lawn and flowers adore this watering, and I try to mimic its helpful effects indoors by watering the flowerness of the children with kind words instead of harsh, attention instead of focusing elsewhere. I've already failed at this many times today, but will keep trying.

I had a physical last week and found out that my lungs and muscle strength, along with my weight, have returned to normal (ie before illness, or BI). My circulation is OK, which comes as a relief since my heart is not. My BI heart was aged 28 and athletic, while my current heart looks to be between 45 and 50 years old and not super fit. I can feel the difference so am not surprised, but still it was a blow. My liver, adrenals and digestive tract also have more healing to do. So I am going to focus my healing thoughts and efforts on these areas and would welcome prayers in the same line! I am going to water the flowerness inside, and not bring more garbage.

My therapist asked me to consider the thought that perhaps  my heart has aged due to an increase in wisdom, experience, and use. That's a nice reversal of the story line, but I still would rather it was an experienced 30+ year old heart instead of a 50-year-old specimen.

Lastly, a bit of news.  Daniel's baseball season is over. Despite excellent coaching and cheering, the team fell 11-0 in their last game and the other team invoked the "mercy rule."  Not a stellar way to go out but the kiddos didn't mind - they still got their snacks.  And Aden will not allow me to publish her poetry online. I am only allowed to email poems to select individuals. If you would like to view these amazing epistles, please let me know.