TURN THE PAGE

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TURN THE PAGE

It is pointless to speculate

Why they act that way

Where they went 

Why they made the decisions they did

But one thing you can be sure of

It has almost nothing to do with anything

You said, did, or did not do

Had or did not have

Our entire personalities are the result

Of uncountable ingredients mixed in unique proportions

Bringing a myriad of inner forces into play

This has written their inner script

While you might have been chapters in the same book

You both were never actually on the same page

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EDEN

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EDEN

Simultaneous with the world we live in now

Is the inner world of our imaginations

In our imaginary worlds we can see peace

Instead of the fickle turmoil on the news

We can see abundance, harmony and safetly

Where each person is like a beautiful unique flower

In a garden of splendor

Where clear streams flow bringing the water of life

To the lush foliage, the animals and the forest

Where fruit trees branches bow almost to the fertile earth

Weighed down by the abundance of their harvest

Where all are kind to each other

Where the very air is scented with calm, ease and serenity

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LURKING

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LURKING

When we wake up in the morning

We have a rough outline for the day

But the details, where the devil is

Has yet to be filled in

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A SIGN

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A SIGN

The universe, so vast, cold and mostly inhospitable

To little warm blooded humans

Who need water, gravity, air and food

The same process that has been going on

For billions of years

Created galaxies uncounted

This cauldron of titanic forces has managed 

To put a perfectly ripe avocado in my waiting hand

This very morning

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THE VALLEY SO LOW

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THE VALLEY SO LOW

We meet angels and demons on our path to the top

Pausing briefly to chat yet we cannot stop

Until we reach the highest cliff and stand on the edge of Why

Looking out over a vast landscape, looking up at the sky

We finally make it, only then will we know

There is nothing to fear from the shadows below

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todd

 Todd: Hello… Operator…listen to me…I can’t speak very loud. – This is an emergency. I’m a passenger on a United flight to San Francisco.. We have a situation here….Our plane has been hijacked…..can you understand me?

Lisa: (exhaling a deep breath to herself) I understand… Can the hijackers see you talking on the phone?

Todd: No

Lisa: Can you tell me how many hijackers are on the plane?

Todd: There are three that we know of.

Lisa: Can you see any weapons? What kind of weapons do they have?

Todd: Yes…. they don’t have guns….they have knives – they took over the plane with knives.

Lisa: Do you mean…like steak knives?

Todd: No, these are razor knives…like box cutters.

Lisa: Can you tell what country these people are from?

Todd: No…..I don’t know. They sound like they’re from the mid-east.

Lisa: Have they said what they want?

Todd: Someone announced from the cockpit that there was a bomb on board. He said he was the captain and to stay in our seats and stay quiet.

He said that they were meeting these men’s demands and returning to the airport… It was very broken English, and… I’m telling you…it sounded fake!

Lisa: Ok sir, please give me your name.

Todd: My name is Todd Beamer.

Lisa: Ok http://Todd….my (http://Todd….my) name is Lisa…Do you know your flight number? If you can’t remember, it’s on your ticket.

Todd: It’s United Flight 93.

Lisa: Now Todd, can you try to tell me exactly what happened?

Todd: Two of the hijackers were sitting in first class near the cockpit. A third one was sitting near the back of the coach section. The two up. front got into the cockpit somehow; there was shouting. The third hijacker said he had a bomb. It looks like a bomb. He’s got it tied to his waist with a red belt of some kind.

Lisa: So is the door to the cockpit open?

Todd: No, the hijackers shut it behind them.

Lisa: Has anyone been injured?

Todd: Yes, ..they…they killed one passenger sitting in first class. There’s been lots of shouting. We don’t know if the pilots are dead or alive. A flight attendant told me that the pilot and copilot had been forced from the cockpit and may have been wounded.

Lisa: Where is the 3rd hijacker now Todd?

Todd: He’s near the back of the plane. They forced most of the passengers into first class. There are fourteen of us here in the back. Five are flight attendants. He hasn’t noticed that I slipped into this pantry to get the phone. The guy with the bomb ordered us to sit on the floor in the rear of the plane……….oh Jesus.. Help!

Lisa: Todd….are you ok? Tell me what’s happening!

Todd: Hello…..We’re going down….I think we’re going to crash……Wait – wait a minute. No, we’re leveling off….we’re ok. I think we may be turning around…..That’s it – we changed directions. Do you hear me….we’re flying east again.

Lisa: Ok Todd…. What’s going on with the other passengers?

Todd: Everyone is… really scared. A few passengers with cell phones have made calls to relatives. A guy, Jeremy, was talking to his wife just before the hijacking started. She told him that hijackers had crashed two planes into the World Trade Center……Lisa is that true??

Lisa: Todd…..I have to tell you the truth…..it’s very bad. The World Trade Center is gone. Both of the towers have been destroyed.

Todd: Oh God —help us!

Lisa: A third plane was taken over by terrorists. It crashed into the Pentagon in Washington DC. Our country is under attack….and I’m afraid that your plane may be part of their plan.

Todd: Oh dear God. Dear God…….Lisa, will you do something for me?

Lisa: I’ll try….if I can….Yes.

Todd: I want you to call my wife and my kids for me and tell them what’s happened. Promise me you’ll call..

Lisa: I promise – I’ll call.

Todd: Our home number is 201 353-1073…….You have the same name as my wife…Lisa….We’ve been married for 10 years. She’s pregnant with our 3rd child. Tell her that I love her…….(choking up)..I’ll always love her..(clearing throat) We have two boys.. David, he’s 3 and Andrew, he’s 1…..Tell them……(choking) tell them that their daddy loves them and that he is so proud of them. (clearing throat again) Our baby is due January 12th…..I saw an ultra sound…..it was great….we still don’t know if it’s a girl or a boy………Lisa?

Lisa: (barely able to speak) I’ll tell them, I promise Todd.

Todd: I’m going back to the group—if I can get back I will…

Lisa: Todd, leave this line open…are you still there?……

Lisa: (dials the phone..) Hello, FBI, my name is Lisa Jefferson, I’m a telephone supervisor for GTE. I need to report a terrorist hijacking of a United Airlines Flight 93….Yes I’ll hold.

Goodwin: Hello, this is Agent Goodwin.. I understand you have a hijacking situation?

Lisa: Yes sir, I’ve been talking with a passenger, a Todd Beamer, on Flight 93 who managed to get to an air phone unnoticed.

Goodwin: Where did this flight originate, and what was its destination?

Lisa: The flight left Newark New Jersey at 8 A.M. departing for San Francisco. The hijackers took over the plane shortly after takeoff, and several minutes later the plane changed course – it is now flying east.

Goodwin: Ms. Jefferson…I need to talk to someone aboard that plane. Can you get me thru to the planes phone?

Lisa: I still have that line open sir, I can patch you through on a conference call…hold a mo…..

Todd: Hello Lisa, Lisa are you there?

Lisa: Yes, I’m here. Todd, I made a call to the FBI, Agent Goodwin is on the line and will be talking to you as well.

Todd: The others all know that this isn’t your normal hijacking. Jeremy called his wife again on his cell phone. She told him more about the World Trade Center and all.

Goodwin: Hello Todd. This is Agent Goodwin with the FBI. We have been monitoring your flight. Your plane is on a course for Washington, DC. These terrorists sent two planes into the World Trade Center and one plane into the Pentagon. Our best guess is that they plan to fly your plane into either the White House or the United States Capital Building.

Todd: I understand…hold on……I’ll…….I’ll be back..

Lisa: Mr. Goodwin, how much time do they have before they get to Washington?

Goodwin: Not long ma’am. They changed course over Cleveland; they’re approaching Pittsburgh now. Washington may be twenty minutes away.

Todd: (breathing a little heavier) The plane seems to be changing directions just a little. It’s getting pretty rough up here. The plane is flying real erratic….We’re not going to make it out of here. Listen to me….I want you to hear this….I have talked with the others….we have decided we would not be pawns in these hijackers suicidal plot.

Lisa: Todd, what are you going to do?

Todd: We’ve hatched a plan. Four of us are going to rush the hijacker with the bomb. After we take him out, we’ll break into the cockpit. A stewardess is getting some boiling water to throw on the hijackers at the controls. We’ll get them….and we’ll take them out. Lisa, …..will you do one last thing for me?

Lisa: Yes…What is it?

Todd: Would you pray with me?

They pray: Our father which art in Heaven

Hallowed be thy name,

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses

As we forgive our trespassers,

And lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory

Forever…..Amen

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…

He makes me to lie down in green pastures

He leads me beside the still waters

He restores my soul

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for His name’s sake

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

I will fear no evil, for thou art with me…..

Todd: (softer) God help me…Jesus help me….(clears throat and louder)

Are you guys ready?……..

Let’s Roll……………………

LAPSE

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LAPSE

When we have a lapse in judgement

The odds of something going wrong increases

In fact, sometimes the first evidence we have

That our judgement lapsed

Are the problems caused by our momentary inattention

I think of these lapses as lessons

Not a reason to berate ourselves

Losing focus is the norm

Everyone experiences this occasionally

We will keep on keeping on

While the question floats off into outer space

"What was I thinking?"

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MYSTERIOUS

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MYSTERIOUS

Even if we are students of history

The future will still be a mystery

An extensive personal genealogy

Will not tell us how to prepare for what will be

We can only see what is in the spotlight of now

Beyond that is what we will know

As time flows the future unfolds

Revealing the wonders our destiny holds

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GRATITUDE/ ATTITUDE/ PLATITUDE

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GRATITUDE/ ATTITUDE/ PLATITUDE

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"This could work to your advantage"

I say to encourage myself

When events take a sudden turn

"No one can foretell the future"

I reassure myself when things look alarming

"Every cloud has a silver lining"

Words like a clapperless bell, but I repeat them anyway

"Where there's life there's hope"

This is embroidered over the heart

Of the ragged teddy bear of philosophy

I drag along behind me everywhere I go

A teddy bear named "All Is Not Lost"

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MY OLD TRICKS

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MY OLD TRICKS

I tried to swoop like an eagle

But I fell like a ton of bricks

So it's back to being cautious and mindful

After getting up to my old tricks

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SIMPLE

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SIMPLE

When life gets weird or too complex

Keeping it simple works the best

Stay in the now, do the task at hand

Doing the simple things we understand

When everything seems like a puzzling maze

Put one foot in front of another to find your way

A simple mindset is the one 

That can get the most intricate, tricky things done

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NOT TODAY

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NOT TODAY

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Today is "not going to think about it" day

It is why I have so many back burners

To put aside issues that are not ripe

If I can't solve it, resolve it, or slough it off

Then there is simply no need to think about it today

Just as I don't need to think about how I would live on the Moon

Or if I would accept a Nobel prize

I don't have to think about certain issues today

Perhaps time itself will start to thin out the chaotic grey ball 

Of the unknowable

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THE TOW TRUCK OF ENLIGHTENMENT

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THE TOW TRUCK OF ENLIGHTENMENT

Wisdom trickles in

At a maddeningly slow rate

Acceptance gradually creeps forward at a glacial pace

Understanding and Insight dribble down from the clouds of confusion

Half of it evaporating before it ever reaches our parched brains

It is slow going, but if we persist

Spinning our wheels endlessly in the mud of deception

The Tow Truck of Enlightenment might come by to help

Inch by inch we move from that place where we were stuck stuck stuck

We suddenly get traction and have the blessed ability

To continue on

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THE "H" WORD

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THE "H" WORD

What is a hero?

It is someone who does heroic things

Superman catches a plane plummeting to earth

Hercules completed twelve seemingly impossible labors

Atalanta could run like the wind

Mulan led warriors into battle

Heroic? Yes, but these are not flesh and blood people

Like you and me

To be heroes we must do heroic things

That a mortal human can do, like showing up

Doing the right thing, thinking of someone else

Trying to get things done

Determined to make the very best

Of any situation we might find ourselves in

Carrying ourselves with inner grace and human dignity

Sure, we can be blindsided off our given/chosen heroic path

It is not our destiny to cower in the shadows

When we have friends on the same path who will help us

To our rightful path

Remember how heroic you were as a child

All the heroic efforts you made throughout your life

There were times in our lives where we felt utterly lost

Yet you forged on until you found the way

You and I are heroes, a band of heroes

And we march at dawn.

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PROJECTION PROTECTION

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PROJECTION PROTECTION

Every year I go for a routine blood test

So, every year I get hit with a big ball of fear

It slams into my middle like a punch in the gut

This year I decided to try and see what the ball of fear was made of

It was a wrapped up tight, but I did manage to loosen a few outer strands

I saw that this ball was made of many fears

Bound together by irrationality

The fears were all about disastrous imaginary outcomes

That ranged from infection to death

I suddenly realized these were projections!

Projection can lead to manifestation

But I certainly didn't want to manifest these dreadful outcomes!

I started mindfully projecting more positive viewpoints

To crowd out the scary ones

This does not come naturally to me

It is a skill I will practice until I get good at it

I am hoping the ball will get smaller, less inflated with fears

That it will slow down and just bounce harmlessly off me

Like bubbles summer children blow that pop or float away

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RELEASH THE KRAKEN

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RELEASH THE KRAKEN

When we feel some kind of way about something

It seems, at that moment, we will always feel that way

With the same intensity and energy

However, this is not the case at all

Feelings shift over time, sloshing around

Like loose cannons on the plunging deck in a storm lashed sea

They bulge and contract, run hot then cold

Morph into different feelings, change perspective

Weaken, sometimes disappear entirely

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The main thing is to not immediately jump into the eye of the storm

A lot of permanent damage can be done over feelings that will almost certainly turn out to be 

Temporary, transitory, spontaneously combusting

Let your feelings run their natural course, let them pass through you

Without damaging anything

You can, perhaps you must, express your feelings in so many ways

That are harmless, creative, life enhancing

We don't want a huge problem that spawns lots of little problems

That means, first and foremost

Understanding that the monstrous feelings will not hang around

If you don't feed them.

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CHIN UP

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CHIN UP

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Morale is very important

It might be the most important thing

We must keep our spirits up

Whatever life might bring

That inner voice that says "Keep going"

An inner eye that visualizes how you can succeed

Is the key to good morale

The very thing we all need

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SOCIAL CONTRACT

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SOCIAL CONTRACT

In a homogeneous society 

The weight of public opinion acts like a second legal system

Clearly defining those behaviors which are strictly out of bounds

Everyone on the same page

Knowing what is simply not done in our homogeneous society

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But in modern times where travel is available to so many

We have a non-homogeneous society

Many personal decisions are not condemned merely because they are different

There are many small societies within the larger society

Each with their own criteria 

Which does not apply to the general public

This requires a lot of respect and some compromise

A sincere attempt to find the common ground

To meet with our differences

It is not a matter of who has the moral high ground

Just the laws protecting the basic human rights

We are all vigilant to guard and protect mutually.

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