fabulous bedrooms

Read Full Post »

Unconditional Love

Realize that everyone, no matter what creed, color, or situation deserves love. As humans we all want to be happy and feel loved. We should want this not only for ourselves but for others as well.

2

Think of love as an action, not a feeling. A feeling is something we get from someone, and when we stop getting it, we often change our behavior somehow. If we have to do something, or be a certain way, in order to receive love, that love is conditional. Instead, if you start thinking of love as the behavior itself, the reward becomes the feeling you get when you act a certain way, not when someone else acts a certain way. And you can continue acting this way all the time, regardless of how other people behave–it becomes an act of generosity. As Stephanie Dowrick says, “love is not love except when it is generous.”^[2]

3

Always ask yourself, what is the most loving thing I can do for this particular person in this particular moment? Love isn’t really one size fits all; what might be a loving act toward one person could be harmful to another person, in that it doesn’t help them get closer to becoming a truly happy human being. Unconditional love is a new decision you need to make in every situation, not a hard and fast rule you can apply to everyone all the time.

4

Remember that love doesn’t mean making sure someone is always comfortable. If you believe loving someone is about fostering their growth, most people acknowledge that pain and discomfort are part of growth, and if you shield someone from all pain or discomfort, you are not loving them. So, don’t confuse loving someone with blindly making them comfortable, satisfying their desires, and shielding them from any kind of pain. If you do, you are only making it difficult for them to grow as human beings.

5

Consider that if love is unconditional, it is given to everyone freely, including yourself. Another reason the previous step is important is because if you don’t follow it, you’re well on your way to becoming a people pleaser, which means you are not being unconditionally loving to yourself. Instead, recognize the times when doing what is best for you will occasionally have you out of sync with another – Maryanne Radmacher calls this understanding “the difference between tolerance and allowing mediocrity a plot in your garden.”^[3]

6

Forgive. Even if someone doesn’t apologize, it’s inherently loving to both them and yourself to let go of your anger and resentment toward them. Keep in mind Piero Ferrucci’s advice that forgiving “is not something we do, but something we are.”^[4] Again, don’t mistake being willing to forgive for letting people walk all over you. How you act (lovingly) toward the person will vary, but your ability to practice unconditional love will be clouded if you hold on to negative feelings.

7

Gauge how you feel. If you’ve ever had a moment when you practiced unconditional love, whether spontaneously or deliberately, you probably felt energized and liberated, not drained and burdened. The more often you feel the the former after acting a certain way, the more you’re loving unconditionally.

Read Full Post »

lovelies

Read Full Post »

Lovely

Read Full Post »

funny

Read Full Post »

tiny dogs

Read Full Post »

wow

“It was true that I didn’t have much ambition, but there ought to be a place for people without ambition, I mean a better place than the one usually reserved. How in the hell could a man enjoy being awakened at 6:30 a.m. by an alarm clock, leap out of bed, dress, force-feed, shit, piss, brush teeth and hair, and fight traffic to get to a place where essentially you made lots of money for somebody else and were asked to be grateful for the opportunity to do so?”

— ~ Charles Bukowski

Read Full Post »

your ultimate destiny

“It’s not what’s happening to you now or what has happened in your past that determines who you become. Rather, it’s your decisions about what to focus on, what things mean to you, and what you’re going to do about them that will determine your ultimate destiny.”

— ~ Anthony Robbins

Read Full Post »

moments of clarity

“A few times in my life, I’ve had moments of absolute clarity. When for a few brief seconds the silence drowns out the noise and I can feel rather than think… And things seem so sharp and the world seems so fresh. I can never make these moments last. I cling to them, but like everything, they fade. I have lived for these moments. They pull me back to the present, and I realize that everything is exactly the way it was meant to be.”

 

Read Full Post »

CUTENESS!

First Elephant born in Australia.  His name is Luk Chai which means Son or Triumph. Welcome to the world Luk Chai!

Attempting to get up for the first time.

 

“Say Whaaaat?”

These are all Asian Elephants.  Asian Elephants are on the endangered species list.  Please don’t ever go to a circus that uses elephants as part of their act.

 http://features.peta2.com/NeverForget/photo-book.asp

Facts:

Elephants can recongnize each other from the sound of their calls.

Elephants engage in greeting ceremonies when a friend who has been away for some time returns to the group.

A full grown elephant can weight 10,000 pounds and poop 80 pounds in a day!

If a baby elephant grumbles all of the elephants will go over and touch and caress him to soothe him.

Elephants are plant eaters.

Elephants cry and play and mourn.

Elephants need to be with their mom the first 4 years of their life.   Many babies stay with their moms until adolescence and females may stay with their mom their whole life.

If a baby elephant is taken away from his mom he will suck on his trunk like a baby sucks his thumb.  He will have nightmares and cry in the night.

Elephants need many acres to roam.  In the circus they are often changed with leg shackles in a small space which allows them to only take one step forward or back.

Elephants used in the circus are beaten, shocked, and whipped—over and over again—in order to make them perform tricks that are often painful and confusing to them.  And…the bullhooks are used on their sensitive areas such as their feet and behind their head.

African Elephant sucking it’s trunk

Read Full Post »