Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually. Peace, for example starts within each one of us. When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us. When our community is in a state of peace, it can share that peace with neighboring communities, and so on. When we feel love and kindness towards others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace. And there are ways in which we can consciously work to develop feelings of love and kindness. For some of us, the most effective way to do so is through religious practice. For others it may be non-religious practices. What is important is that we each make a sincere effort to take seriously our responsibility for each other and for the natural environment.
~ His Holiness the Dalai Lama, “Nobel Peace Prize Lecture,” in The Dalai Lama: A Policy of Kindness, edited by Sidney Piburn
Drake's is out of town - with his folks near Calgary, Alberta - for a family gathering (60th wedding anniversary) on this father's side. We'll be visiting his folks in west-central IL - together - in August, so I sat this extra trip out as I'm pretty thin on vacation time these days.
I've been laying low this weekend, working through some cleaning/organizing projects. My goal is to have everything in tip-top shape by end of day tomorrow. The only project that will be left for the coming week is switching our filing system over to FreedomFiler - I've ordered the supplies, but they haven't arrived yet. And also getting updated full DVD backups of both computers to our safe deposit box. With all the little home organizing projects checked off my list, I'll be able to focus 100% on summer fun!
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Our neighborhood, as usual, was party central for the 4th of July. We've got a great view of the fireworks from our neighborhood, so there is a big influx of people (and alcohol consumption). Drake and I usually stay home and watch the fireworks from our place, so I upheld that tradition. I got out early this morning to run errands, and as I predicted, it was super-quiet everywhere I stopped. So I was able to zip in and zip out quickly.
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Just talked to Drake; the 60th anniversary celebration was today and it sounded lovely. Sheesh, we'll be looking to do that for his folks in the not-too-distant future (2011). For their 50th, we orchestrated a surprise party. It was quite an undertaking to pull that off. Actually, we unveiled the surprise the morning of - wrapping up one of the invitations we sent out as an "anniversary present" for them. We didn't want to give them a heart attack (figuratively or literally) with a complete surprise.
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OK - think I'll get ready for bed and crawl in and read for a while...
I got my bike today and it's beautiful! The color of my bike is EXACTLY the same as our car.
I'm having to guess a bit at speed, as it reads in Kilometers (with a tiny inside ring reading mph). And the seat is not what I expected. The photos all showed a tan seat, so I ordered a tan jacket. The dealer and I were both surprised to see that the bike has a brown seat. Odd for a red bike. Odd for ANY bike. Black would have made more sense. Oh well - They are ordering me a tan seat so it will look as expected eventually. And when my butt's on the seat I don't see it!
I got the bike with 2 miles on it. I rode it home 24 miles. Ben and I rode into the hills tonight and I am now at 61 miles. I LOVE this bike. I feel so relaxed on it. Its perfect for me. And finally I feel happy to ride fast! Once I get 100 miles on my tires, I'm trying it on the freeway!
It's also WONDERFUL that Ben and I both have new bikes from same dealer. Both our bikes have approx 60 miles on them. We will be taking them in together for service. The dealer and all the folks working at this shop are wonderful. Aprilia for the win!
- 15:11 more rafa, fingers crossed #
- 22:17 home again #
- 22:25 we were walking back to the Metro to go home just as the Young People were on their way out at the start of a wild night #
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We could become quite satisfied with ourselves because we are sitting in meditation and are endeavoring to practice the spiritual path. Such satisfaction with ourselves is not the same as contentment. Contentment is necessary, self-satisfaction is detrimental. To be content has to include knowing we are in the right place at the right time to facilitate our own growth. But to be self-satisfied means that we no longer realize the need for growth. All these aspects are important parts of our commitment and make us into one whole being with a one-pointed direction.
~ Ayya Khema, When the Iron Eagle Flies
How are you celebrating the 4th of July?
hmmmm... we are in the midst of that. Ben made a video of his new bike and put it on youtube. We cleaned the car. We made yummy drinks with ice, limeade and RUM. mmm I am still feeling it. We are cooking brats and made a batch of gazpacho. Dinner was yummy. We played with sparklers - more later once it's dark. Home....
