Tag Archives: Bliss

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Coming home 

 It is so important to have somewhere you can come home to. Whether that is a physical location or a state of mind- we all need that safe place where we can relax and be ourselves and be loved. 

Tonight we celebrated the coming home of more family who are living away – who have  a home away from home, and yet always know that there is the safety and security of this original home. It was so good for my soul to have this little celebration and visit with cousins I haven’t seen in too long – to see a little who was a babe the last time I saw him and now is an amazing kid with the cute high pitched helium like voice. 

I was talking with a cousin tonight about what we would do if we won the lottery. We both agreed that the security would be a huge load off our minds – to know we are cared for and can provide for our loved ones – but that there wasn’t much in the day to day that we would change. We both smiled at each other and said I love my life. There isn’t much that I need to change in it. What a brilliant happiness moment inside a larger happiness moment. The realization that we are living happy lives. 

  

Because we live in the most beautiful place. A lucky rainbow shone on us for a really long time. It kept changing and shifting, but it was celebrating right along with us (thanks Dad). 
 

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Old friends 

A huge bonus to coming home for good has been being able to meet up with old friends. For the past 10 years, trips home have involved rushed and intense visits with family that have left no time for friends. Now I get to reconnect with some of these people whom I have not seen in ages. Lifetimes as far as my kids are concerned. 

Today I had a visit with a high school friend. We haven’t seen each other since maybe 1990 (ugh. Too long ago) when we were in university. Over the years we have made attempts, but with us being so far away or us being busy it just never happened. 

How wonderful to sit down with someone I haven’t seen in 25 years and be able to just pick up with each other’s lives. Now, Facebook has helped with that as we kind of knew what the other was doing – but the friendship foundation from school was what tied us together. 

Fun too for my kids to see me interact with old friends. For their lifetimes they have only seen me struggling to make friends in new places. I love that they get to see what life long friendships look like as well. 

Happiness moment. 

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That Dharma Thing

I firmly believe we all have those things that we shine at. Things that we must do, that bring us joy, that make our soul sing because we know that we are doing what it is that we were put here to do. 

Some people know what that thing is from an early age and have the faith, the support, and the courage to do it no matter what obstacles are thrown in their path. Others of us are plagued with self doubt and fear and it takes us a bit longer to get on that path. 

If I could have a life redo I would go back in time to those moments where I wanted to follow a dream and I listened to the negative voices either from others or from inside my head who told me that I shouldn’t. The voices that said I wasn’t good enough, not deserving, or that the dream I had wasn’t ever going to be a reality. 

The first thing I would do is not listen to the voices that made me give up riding. Should it have mattered that I was being told that I would never make a living at it (I could have), that it would never give me a secure future (nothing about my future so far has been secure anyway even though I gave up and tried to take the safe path), that I needed to find a real job and grow up? Had I had the kind of self esteem I now wish for myself  and for my kids I would have never heard the external doubts and I would not have had the internal ones. 

Somehow I took all those messages and decided that my value as a human was based on what career path I would take and the amount of money we could produce. So I took a career that I didn’t really want and when I gave it up to be a full time mom (which I love) I became devalued again because I wasn’t doing something that was producing money. Forget all of the things that I actually do as a mom, there is no value to that. So then I struggled with the strong feeling that I was doing what I was meant to do, but also held the false belief that it had no value. 

Today we went out for a long ride through the fields. It just brings peace to my soul. I have a confidence when riding that I am just now learning to bring to the rest of my life. On a horse you need to be confident enough to have faith in what you are doing, and stay humble enough to know that you are a part of a team – and that the other half of your team is much bigger and stronger than you – you must work together through whatever comes up. A good way to walk through life. With humble confidence. With the knowledge that I am following my dharma. That I am good enough just because I am me and that I know I’m doing the right thing because I feel it in the depths of my soul. 

That is happiness. 

Here is a photobomb of happiness. Johnny the horse having a moment of FOMO (fear of missing out) and peeking through the fence as I took a picture of my niece. She rode today with Jenna and me, and it was so heart warming to see those girls giggling and enjoying their horses in the same fields I used to spend hours in as a child. Pretty sweet for me to enjoy this time on Princess the boy horse. 

  

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Raindrops 

Today I treated myself to a Raindrop Oil Massage combined with some Reiki work and chakra balancing. It was my first time doing this, and not only was it relaxing and cleansing, but it was a heck of a good deal as well. The lady who did it advertised a special on our community Facebook page and I thought what the heck. With all the stuff that has been going on these past few months, I felt it would  be a nice treat and compliment to the energy work I was already doing. 
It was. 

An hour and a half of complete relaxation while someone massaged different essential oils into my back. I love essential oils and respond well to them. Even my kids come to my study in search of an oil instead of our nonexistent medicine cabinet for an aspirin. 

She also used crystals. 

  

I was to pick two and hold onto them during the massage. She had a little basket of them and I picked the first two that called to me. 

 

It was a happiness moment. A little relaxation vacation that took 90 minutes. We all need that little break now and then the fact that it helped strengthen my body and soul was an added bonus. 

It helped remind me that the path that I’m on is the right one for me and I need to have the faith and the strength to keep walking it. 

An extra happiness moment was driving into town with the kids. We had some extremely silly giggle moments. I love the summer versions of my kids. They’re so much more fun and relaxed. 

This morning an article by John Douillard about the movie Inside Out and Ayurveda showed up in my inbox. This movie has been of such benefit to the kids and I this summer as we sort out our feelings about my Dad dying. I loved the relations to Ayurveda and appreciated that someone else spent time espressing the deep meanings in the movie. I love this movie in case you can’t tell. 

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An afternoon ride 

  
As a kid I used to ride all over the ranch in the summer months. Sometimes by myself, sometimes with my sister, usually joined by Buster the dog. 

When I first learned about yoga and meditation I realized that I had been connecting with the Source every time I jumped on my horse and headed off. Riding has always been a very spiritual activity for me, something that has always calmed my anxiety and grounded me in nature. It’s something I need to do in order to be the best version of myself. 

Today I got to ride with Jenna and my niece. It wasn’t long or far (those clouds in the background had us heading home before we got rained on) but it was soul cleansing. My happiness moment. 

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Anger 

  
I did some energy work today with Asrael which is always good and sometimes difficult. It’s all things that are helping me to let go of some yucky stuff that I’ve been holding onto. 

Today Anger made an appearance. All the things that have pissed me off over the years and that I’ve stuffed down into my hips made themselves known. 

She was talking about my anger and we were working on releasing it – and all I could visualize was Anger from Inside Out. Made it hard to stay serious because he was so amusing to watch. You know, in the same way that it can be entertaining sometimes to watch someone have a break down tantrum. 

But, perhaps it will be easier to relate to my anger if I see it as Anger. In the same way that I can see how Sadness is rubbing all my memory balls and changing them and Joy is running around trying to cheer everything up. 

My happiness moment today was my time spent on this important healing. My ability to  communicate  with,  and acknowledge my feelings is making me a healthier person. That is a big happiness deal. 

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Snowbirds

This afternoon we went out for a family walk. Forced family fun time with my monsters, my sister and her kids, and my mom. As we were getting ready my cousin texted saying the Snowbirds were about to buzz our house. They were at the air show in Springbank and could see them heading for our place. We dashed outside and had an awesome private show 

This was taken on my iPhone – it was much more impressive. I’m amazed at how they hold their formation.  
I mentioned to my sister after that if you were into planes it was the equivalent of us wanting to ride in the RCMP musical ride. I have a friend who did this – what a dream job. 

It was a happiness moment to stop and watch the planes dance past us over and over. Time was suspended and there was just us and the sky show. 

Before we went out walking we were talking about how every day without Dad just gets harder and harder. Doing all the things we used to do with him now without him is so difficult. But he loved life and loved us and I know he wants us to keep on finding happiness, so I will keep looking for it every single day.   

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Dog days of summer

Happiness moment today was hanging out at the creek with kids and cousins and dogs. It was hot and sunny and beautiful. We are so blessed we have the most beautiful place on earth to enjoy. 

   
In case you were wondering what the happiest dog in the world looks like, this is it. Dottie went to the creek for the first time ever today. She thought it was possibly the most awesome thing she has ever done. 

 
This place makes my soul shine. I am thankful every second that we are here and able to enjoy it. 

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The roar of a Sunday crowd 

We were fortunate enough to have tickets to the rodeo finals this afternoon at the Stampede. I haven’t been to a rodeo in ages, the Stampede rodeo in longer, and possibly never to the finals (or I was a little kid and can’t remember – we used to go a lot when I was younger).

Going as an adult and as a parent was totally different, and here’s my take on it….. I loved it. I thought I would enjoy it, but even I was amazed at how totally into it I got. I was just kind of enthusiastic until the barrel racing started and then if I could have gone down to the track and raced myself I would have. I think I’ve found what I want to be when I grow up. A barrel racer. All the excitement of show jumping but without the jumps. I was enthralled. I turned into a screaming lunatic and it lasted the rest of the afternoon. It was so much fun. 

My happiness moment: cheering loudly as they raced around the barrels.  

I looked over to see how Jacob was enjoying himself and was delighted to see this:

  

Sitting with his uncle whom he adores and admires. As a huge bonus, my uncle knows all things rodeo and Stampede and is a great person for Jacob to learn from. It was a happy moment. 

I also had a moment of awareness – again – I have this one  every so often but I was reminded of it again while we were walking the midway. I have a female cousin who is a rancher, a cowgirl, and a lady. Watching the dignified way she walks through the crowd while dressed up on her fancy western gear is inspiring. She is truly the definition of a lady rancher. She shows how classy and respectable one can and should look while dressed in western attire. She is an admirable example to all of us of the grace and self respect we should all have as women. I am proud to call her cousin. 

It was a day filled with big happiness moments and I will treasure them for a long time. It was fun to spend the day with family and it was important to be reminded of our heritage and our roots, it was good for the kids to have that deeper sense of where they come from. 

Yahoo!! 

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Chucks and the Grandstand Show

 Today was a big happiness moment. My uncle treated my Mom and I to the grandstand show at the Stampede tonight. 

We did the fun family tradition of betting on the chuckwagons – I actually did better than I thought I would have. 

Out family has a long history with the Stampede and it was wonderful to get to be a part of that. And now since it it 1am I am happily off to bed so I can wake up early and take my kids to the grounds tomorrow. Happiness 

 

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