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CHOREOGRAPHY
When Kermit the Frog dances
His arms flop from side to side
I can't do it like he does it
I know because I've tried
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When the Maasai dance
They jump way up in the air
I can do the pogo
But not with their lofty flair
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When the tree branches dance
They sway with every breeze
To the rhythm of the Earth's sweet breath
I can do that dance with ease
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When the Universe dances
It swirls around with me
We spin the light fantastic
On the dance floor of eternity
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ONE
One prayer is the same as a thousand prayers
If it comes from a place of sincerity
One thought is better than a thousand thoughts
If the one thought is focused clarity
One kind act can tip the scale
To improve a tough situation
One change in a way of habit can be
The first step on the road to salvation
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THE RECOGNIZER
Almost anything around you
You can point to and name
There is a part of our brain, seemingly present at birth
That recognizes objects
We help children develop their Recognizer by naming objects
See the dog, that's a chair, throw the ball
Usually our Recognizer is correct
(Though occasionally it can be wrong)
Resulting in humor or perplexity
The Recognizer works tirelessly to make our world
Sensible, understandable, manageable
If we can define a situation we can use our Recognizer
To categorize the situation, give those involved a name
The Flake, The Borrower, The Bully, The Inconsiderate
We can put policies in place to handle them
Often this is done automatically
We can also do this intentionally
If a situation is baffling or confusing
The first step is framing the situation in words
This might suggest a solution, map out a course of action
This is how wisdom is accumulated, drop by drop
Each new experience contains a jewel of knowledge
A treasure of insight on how to manage our journey
Successfully
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BLEEP BLEEP
There are many ways we can ease on down the road
Drunk, distracted, defensive, daredevil
But there is a way drive with compassionate imagination
That older woman driving infuriatingly slow
She might have just lost her husband
For 54 years he drove her to the store
Now she must go it alone and she is trying to adjust
To her new reality in her new bifocal glasses and her old car
That young man in a beat up truck, barreling past you on the wrong side of the road
Throwing up gravel from the shoulder
He could have just been notified his second grade child fell
And has been taken to the hospital
That distracted driver might be reeling from test results
That could mean a devastating diagnosis
There will always be wonky drivers, unsure and uninsured
Unlicensed and uncooperative
The entitled inconsiderate selfish egomaniacs with the situational awareness of a thumbtack
But instead of becoming miffed at them, raising your blood pressure
Into the danger zone
You could engage in creatively inventing a dramatic backstory
To explain bad driving, lapses in judgement, screwball behavior
Besides, who among us has never taken a wrong turn, misjudged the distance
Or inconvenienced another driver?
Let he who is without a traffic error
Throw the first lugnut
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UNBROKEN CIRCLE
As long as I have my marbles
I plan to stay in the game
My thumb is on my Shooter
Waiting for my turn
Some rounds my skills bring victory
Yet I also lose a few
I gather my marbles for future use
When the game is through
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GUSTY
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The wind breezed by today
Gusting like it wanted to play
It tipped over my potted plants
Made the oak leaves whisper and dance
Sent yellow pollen on its way
But the wind can never stay
I was not afraid, no
This was just a strong gust, not a tornado
When the mischievious wind moves along
I just put things back where they belong
The invisible winds blow by
Nature's breath from the sky
Stay gentle or playful dear winds
So we can always be friends
When you come by I know
You bring fresh air in your flow
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DREAM WEAVER AWAKE
Purse strings, heart strings, apron strings
I have a theory about all these strings
They all connect and weave the web of our lives
Which intertwine with other webs worldwide
An entanglement at a distance that is felt by all
If a butterfly anywhere flaps its wings
We can detach and reattach these strings as need arises
But we can never disconnect from the web of life
We are spinning in all its myriad unique forms.
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EVERYBODY DO THE LOCOMOTION WITH ME
A lot of what we do is picking up and carrying objects
From one place to another
Placing the object down in a new place
Or returning it to a previous location
A lot of what we do is moving things from one location to another
Some things we must be trained in (re) moving
Like removing a bad sparkplug and replacing it with a new sparkplug
We also needed to learn how to move from one location to another
Crawling, toddling, walking, driving, running
Transportation in a dazzling variety of ways
Meanwhile titanic cosmic forces are also moving the clouds
The Earth, the Solar System, the Galaxy
All constantly in motion
The teeny tiny things are also in motion
Orbiting. vibrating, splitting and regrouping
The greatest natural law might be movement
Constant change, rearranging endless variations
With one great over riding rule -
All movement can only go forward in time
Moving forward instant by instant is something we are required to do
Life is a trip, a road trip, carrying objects we deem as crucial
Let's make it a good trip, choose a good orderly direction
Choose carefully what we will burden ourselves with
Into the next exciting phase of our adventure.
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NO TYRANTS NO KINGS
How does a leader lead?
They can be an example
Like the general who stands at the front of the battlefield
Sword raised to the sky - "Follow me."
His courage and willingness to face the same dangers as his troops
Inspiring the courage of the brave
A leader can lead with sagacity and wisdom
Like Solomon making decisions based on fairness
And good sense
A leader can lead by quiet excellence
No spotlight on himself but showing up to work
With dedication to the greater good
A leader is one who wins the hearts and minds of the majority
A leader can do much good, accomplish progress, leave a legacy
That history will grind down to the essence revealing a jewel
A name for the ages as the right person at the right time
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PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
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We get good at anything we do often enough, long enough
Day after day we hone our skills
Before you do something you suspect
Might be unwise, iffy, potentially diastrous
If continued unabated
Ask yourself if you want to get good at rationalizing this behavior
If these are the outcomes you wanted
Was all this effort put into digging a big hole
That you then fell into?
If so, I have good news - you can stop digging
And start crafting a way out of the hole
If you want to get good at eating healthy, living sober
Staying on a budget
Then recoil from the first thought of rationaization
As from a red hot stove
We do this with great difficulty and struggle
At first
Then, with repetition and experience
We develop a method and get very good at the behaviors
We wanted for ourselves, for our futures
A version of ourselves we only dreamed of
Once upon a time.
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GOT MOTIVATION?
We don't take action unless we are motivated
Fear, need, anger, love, altruism, pain
These motivations occur naturally
We just determine our response
Some motivations are based on the thoughts, beliefs and emotions
In our minds
If we believe in karma we are motivated to act out of kindness
If we believe in the Golden Rule
We try to treat others as we would like to be treated
If we believe in personal growth
We take our focus off others wrongdoing
And move our focus on to ourselves
Our beliefs, spoken or unspoken
Motivate us to behave in certain ways
While avoiding behaviors that are not in harmony
With our convictions and the morality we want
To see in the world
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VITAL
The single most important event in your day, in your entire life
Will likely pass by unnoticed and unappreciated
It is more valuable than any gold or gem
It is only available right now, and nowhen else
Your next breath is your connection to life
An invisible thread, an umbilical chord
Connecting us to Mother Nature
Nature is our companion every second of every day
Giving us the air we need to sustain life
Perhaps we could stop a second and appreciate
The next breath
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WHO WOULD YOU BE IF YOU WERE YOU
If a creative person invents a character
Fleshed out in every detail
The inventor of the character would want to feature that character
In stories, plays, novels, movies, dramas
As they go along the character develops personality quirks
As well as growing in texture and dynamism
The same thing happens when we develop an ego-persona
A version of ourselves we invented to survive our early situations
Did we need to be tough, or compliant, or helpful or touchy
Do we need a snappy comeback, the readiness to fight
The pleasing child is not pleasing by nature
They get their cues from their family and society
A criminal household will produce thug children
A religious family will have pious children
A reasonable family will have adaptable children
Then at adolescence the child rebels at their role
They want to be who they truly are
But this is impossible - the basic strategies are already ingrained
This is how people end up being the way they are
They are a character invented over the years to be either compliant
Or rebellious against the past
Just as an actor reads the script for their lines
The ego-persona reads the situation so they can play their part
Angry and belligerent, or would give you the shirt off their back
It doesn't matter, this is just the role they inherited
A role they are trapped in and doomed to repeat over and over
Unless
They wake up
Begin to wonder why they act this way
Once the role is questioned it starts to appear as it is
A knee jerk reaction that sometimes works against our best interests
A futile merry go round of behaviors that accomplish nothing
Are an embarrassment, and creates problems
The biggest surprise is the relief we feel when we go off script
We may not yet be our authentic selves but we are finally on the path
To finding out who we actually are
So we can live our authentic lives as our true selves
Before we take our last bow on the stage of others' expectations
And hightail it out of there to parts unknown.
