Special Saturday Reminder . . . .

Folks, it’s nuts out there.  I’ve been out and about all a.m. and it’s not pretty.  Big snow predicted for the Boston area, plus Christmas around the corner = madness on the roads, in the stores, etc.  As I headed out to the supermarket at 8:30 this morning, I said to myself “it might be bonkers out there, but today you’re going to remember all the joy in your life, and you’re going to be nice and friendly.”  Sound crazy?  Many of you haven’t driven with me before, but let me assure you, I’m Boston-born and bred, and I drive like hellfire and I swear like a sailor (if my youngest Midwestern cousin is reading this, he will remember a little incident many years ago that involved, I think, a rotary, a stick-shift, some yelling and some graphic hand gesturing).  So this little pep-talk was necessary.

And it worked out OK, but I was, shall I say, tested.  I’m home now, fed and ready to start prepping food for a very fun annual Festivus gathering tonight, and checking Google Reader – I came across this post from the Crazy Sexy Life Blog.  Not sure how much you can use suggestion #1 at this late date, but the rest is so good and such a good reminder that I’m breaking tradition and blogging on the weekend.

My favorite quotation is:  ”you are the architect of all of your life experiences.”  Take that one along in your back pocket for the next week or so.  And further indulge me as I plug in another great reminder about being in the moment, from Pema Chodron:

“There is a story of a woman running away from tigers. She runs and runs and the tigers are getting closer and closer. When she comes to the edge of a cliff, she sees some vines there, so she climbs down and holds on to the vines. Looking down, she sees that there are tigers below her as well. She then notices that a mouse is gnawing away at the vine to which she is clinging. She also sees a beautiful little bunch of strawberries close to her, growing out of a clump of grass. She looks up and she looks down. She looks at the mouse. Then she just takes a strawberry, puts it in her mouth, and enjoys it thoroughly. Tigers above, tigers below. This is actually the predicament that we are always in, in terms of our birth and death. Each moment is just what it is. It might be the only moment of our life; it might be the only strawberry we’ll ever eat. We could get depressed about it, or we could finally appreciate it and delight in the preciousness of every single moment of our life.”

Good luck this weekend, everyone, snow or no snow, Christmas prepping or not.  Breathe deep, be present, eat well, and I’ll see you back here on Monday morning.

© 2009, Sarah. All rights reserved.

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