Courage

What is courage?

Webster defines it as "the attitude of facing and dealing with anything recognized as dangerous, difficult or painful".

We often hear the phrase "mustering up some courage" like its somewhere buried inside of ourselves. Remember the Wizard of Oz when the cowardly lion wanted courage? Eventually he found that it was "within" him...that he had it all of the time.

Sometimes during great trauma, we see others as having brave acts of courage like on September 11. We laud those who show bravery and accomplish great things. And it is all coming from within each person.

In my own family, my great grandfather came over from Norway when he was but 12 without his family. Just came aboard a ship and landed in the Americas. He first went to Wisconsin as the landscape reminded him of Norway and there were big settlements of Norwegians there. After just being in country for 3 weeks, he signed up with the Wisconsin infantry in 1860 and served in the Civil War all four years. That took courage for him to travel to the states and to join WAR at the age of 12. He was known to have swam in Antietam Creek in Maryland with Confederate troops marching along side of the creek, and he only had a plant stem in which to breathe. Aafter the battle of Antietam, he is known to have shook President Lincoln's hand, where Lincoln remarked about how young these soldiers were and fighting for their country. My great grandfather, Knut exhibited much courage.

In my own life, courage has entered the door to Susie many times. For me it hasn't been so much of physical danger but rather emotions where I needed courage to get from one step to the other.

When I moved to New Mexico some 22 years ago, I had but $1000 to my name and two young sons to take care of. I didn't have a job, or a place to live....Driving down it took all the courage I had. The same great grandfather that served in the Civil War, lost 5 of his children to diptheria in the 1870's and then his wife died of pneumonia. He gathered up his one living son and moved to North Dakota and all he had was $60.00. I figured out in my mind that if HE could do that then I could do what I needed to do! So I did!

One summer many years ago my sons told me on the phone that they wanted to stay with their Dad rather than be with me. I got in my car and drove through the night nearly 1000 miles to see them and make heads and tails out of the situation. I remember crying all the way up there and stopping to get gas was interesting because people didn't know who to treat this weepy woman. When I arrived there I felt so utterly "attacked" and it took every bit of courage I could muster to go through those painful moments. I know it was hard on everybody concerned and it hurt like a knife had pierced my heart and my very soul. It took courage then to just be.....and then to drive back without them. I am so grateful to have had courage inside of myself to be able to draw upon for that time.

Most recently I didn't feel well one morning, hadn't for quite some time but I decided I needed to go to the clinic and have it checked out. The Dr said I had "congestive heart failure" and it hit me like a ton of bricks. It took all the courage I had to go through the tests and procedures and operations to make my heart "livable".

I would characterize courage by saying that it is the opposite of fear. Many might disagree but I do think of it as an opposite. For both cannot occupy the same thought at the same time.

Hence,I choose courage rather than fear to live my life.

My True Religion is Kindness

This is probably my favorite saying of the Dahli Lama.

Two things come to mind:

1) Kindness.....Sympathetic, friendly, gentle, tenderhearted, generous....

2) Religion....a belief in a divine or superhuman power


And if you put them together, what a combination you get! What if our world practiced this religion faithfully? The possibilities are magnanimous! It just makes me smile all over just thinking about that possibility!

If I practiced this religion faithfully what a better human being I would be and I could easily practice the ART of being human.

I don't want to think about being kind....I just want to be that way....always.

Just How Compassionate Can a Person Be????

Or more poignantly just how compassionate can I be?

Compassion is an interesting word. Webster defines it as: "sorrow for the sufferings or trouble of another or others, accompanied by an urge to help; deep sympathy". When I think of the word 'compassion' I always think of some great and some not-so-great people.

First comes to mind is Jesus. When we reflect upon some of the stories of Jesus...how he healed so many and befriended the woman at the well, how he listened to his disciples and forgave them even before they had done any wrong.....He was full of compassion.

I also think of the Dahli Lama. He had such compassion for all of the peoples of Tibet that he moved them to a whole different space to escape persecution. He also is known for saying "My true religion is kindness."... He also tells us "When you need to forgive another, use compassion and when you need to forgive yourself, use compassion. He lives and breathes the very essence of the word. .Once when I was in his presence he looked at me with such tenderness in his eyes, with such compassion.

Quon Yin was to go into heaven but she chose to stay here on the planet and help all of the rest of us until we ALL were ready to go into heaven. Her compassion for mankind was/is so great.

I remember growing up that my dad rented out homes for those who had just come to town, didn't have a paycheck yet, and no place to live. He helped them with their housing and often food, and went to visit with them. He had such compassion for those who needed his help.

Once Dr. Westphall of the Vietnam Veterans National Memorial in Angel Fire, NM, was greeted by a Veteran who was really having trouble and was thinking of committing suicide late one night. Dr. Westphall looked at the Veteran and took his hand and said, "Son, will you stand with me tomorrow at the Ceremony?" He looked at that Veteran with such compassion that everyone in the room felt it and shed a few tears at that very moment.

Abraham Lincoln, after visiting the Battle of Antietam, went to his tent and cried for the young men who were fighting and dying in that infamous struggle. His compassion was so great for all of mankind that he stood to make a difference in people's lives.

There are examples of compassion all around us in acutality and in our minds.

I think that one of my heart blockages has to do with compassion. Even thoough I think I've been a fairly compassionate person in my life, I heard someone speak the simple phrase while I was in the hospital..."When you breathe in, say, "I breathe in the love of God." and when you breathe out, say, "I breathe out all fear." That to me was such an epitome of compassion for it spoke to a sorry of all of us....that of fear. When I was in the hospital, I had such deep fear....not of dying for that has never been a fear of mine, but the fear that my heart was hurt, and I couldn't do anything to help it.....and more importantly, I was the one who had hurt it. So I had a great deal to think about with that simple statement.

Then when I had gotten out of the hospital, my friend Lara was telling me about a well known Buddhist monk who said something quite the opposite...He says to breathe in ALL the fear, ALL the pain, ALL the suffering of the world and then when you breathe out, to breathe out compassion for all of that and send it as a blessing to blanket the world with a comforter of compassion.

The result is that I can be compassionate with so much more than I ever DREAMED was possible. And with that blockage removed, I can endeavor to not strive to be compassionate but rather just BE compassionate. That just DELIGHTS me. :)

The Red Mustang

When I was about 8 I rememberhaving a very vivid dream of riding a red mustang on the prairie with my arms straight out, hair blowing back , feeling at one with the earth, the sky, the horse and the planet. I just felt "AT One".

I have intended for a red convertible mustang for several years now. And on my last birthday, some of my friends went together and rented me a bright and shiny brand new red convertible Ford Mustang! I was soooooooo excited and I once again felt like that 8 year old girl free in the wind. It was so awesome.

Now as I am intending for a Shiny brand new Red Convertible I am amazed at how many I see everyday. I jus t think "Ford Mustang" and lo and behold one shows up. Some times in traffic, sometimes in the parking garage, sometimes on the side of the road, some times at a car dealer's...but one shows up! Some would call this "The Law of Attraction". And I intend I just keep on attracting all these Ford Mustangs to once again keep that precioous feeling alive.

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Susie Q

Of Princes and Judges

After very recently coming out of heart surgery, I was told beforehand that I had 4 blockages in my heart....one in each quadrant. Besides being shocked, I thought for a long while about what those blockages represented......And the first one was that of judgment.

Now I have prided myself as being "NON-judgmental throughout the years so to have that be the number one blockage was of so much interest to me.

And as I contemplated that issue, it became very clear that I was literally FULL of judgement---about others, about my world, about people's thoughts, and most especially about myself. That was perhaps the hardest one to look at.....for I understood that judgment is not something I wanted to sit in.

Perhaps it is because of so many things I have listened to....like Jesus tells us in the Bible.....Judge not, lest you be judged."

And in the Way of Mastery it recites that "The only thing that can keep you out of the kingdom of heaven is judgment.

In The Little Prince, it tells us "Then you shall judge yourself," the king answered. "that is the most difficult thing of all. It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, then you are indeed a man of true wisdom."

So judgement has been a blockage in my life and how utterly relieved I am to know that that blockage has been OPENED. I understand that NOW I have the capability of judging myself rightly and perhaps I can leave the rest of my world alone. No promises, but I can honestly pursue that avenue now.

That is surely a worthy thought worth thinking.

Would you rather be RIGHT or be HAPPY?

This always proves to be an interesting question:

Being a hard-headed Norwegian has often caused me to want to be "right"....:) but I have found over the years that being happy is so much easier on my world. If I need to be right, then it causes me so much mental and emotional stress....where if I let go and let the "rightness" work itself out, I'm much much much happier.

When I'm feeling a need to be "right", I now take a breath (a big one!) and I say to myself, "I breathe in the love of God" and when I exhale I say to myself, "I breathe out all fear" I repeat this process many times during the day and it allows me to let go of that having to be "right" business. It calms me, helps me put things in perspective and allows me to be MUCH more compassionate and caring with those around me. It helps me be the best Susie that I can be.

So I ask you today, "Would you rather be right? Or be happy?"

When I've asked this question to others I very often get the answer, "BOTH"! Some have said that when they are "right" they are happy. Some have told me that it helped make sense of the world if they knew they were "right".

Isn't it an interesting question? The interesting part for me is not the question itself but rather that we have a CHOICE.....we can CHOOSE which one we would rather be.....And to me that is just miraculous. This line actually comes from "A Course in Miracles" which I facilitate each week here in Corrales.

It does leave me with the sense of awe and wonder as well as looking at my own events that happen during the day----- and I am constantly asking myself, "Susie, would you rather be right or be happy?" And it allows me to choose differently if I'm feeling a need to be "right"......and I LOVE THAT!!!!!!

Blessings,
Susie

(Picture is of son, Jerry and grandson, Spencer2006)

Can you be happy and peaceful?

I've always thought the two were synonomous but I'm thinking differently.

I have heard the Dahli Lama laugh, many times. I thought he was a happy man.....until yesterday. I heard from his book "How to Practice the Way to a Meaningful Life" that he has not been happy most of his life. With all the changes that were going on in Tibet and reorganizing his whole country in another land was a challenge for him. And yet, He is probably one of the most peaceful men I have ever had the honor of meeting....and serving. So the question came to mind...."Are happiness and peacefulness the same?"

I think of Christ. Certainly one of the most peaceful men in our existence. And yet I think of his life as being very contemplative, very dedicated to His cause, and very concerned with others. I've seen images of him "laughing" but its hard to tell if he was a "happy man".

Dr. Westphall of the Vietnam Veterans National Memorial in Angel Fire, NM is one of the most peaceful men I've ever met and yet as I shared dinner with him most every night for 3 years I would be hard pressed to say that he was "happy".

Abraham Lincoln was full of laughter and tales that made others laugh and yet his life was plagued with misfortune. He is quoted to have said, "A Man is about as Happy as he makes up HIS mind to be!" Yet his life didn't hold very much happiness. But he was a peaceful man. He realized the tasks before him were not entirely of his own doing and hence he had the "personalness" taken out of it.

Mother Theresa certainly smiled but I would like to know how she would answer the question "Are you happy?"

In my own life....have I been happier or more at peace? I like to think I've had some of each. And even sometimes I do have one or the other, rarely though I think have I had them both together.

Perhaps happiness is over rated. Ha!

Something to think about for sure.

So it makes me wonder? Can you be happy AND peaceful? Enquiring minds want to know!
Susie