Body: Neck Pain

You are a pain in my neck
A product of an accident
Resulting from an unexpected car wreck

I was in the wrong place,
But actually right on-time
I did not expect this I’d have to face

You are an obstacle in the way of progress
A thorn piercing me from behind
Resulting from a collision of might and stress

I was helpless yet hopeful
But she was filled with misery
I did not desire to be mope-full

You put up a spastic fight
A painful tension
Resulting from those that hug you tight

I was stopped along a road to a final destination
But she thought I was moving at a faster pace
I did not hold it against her, I forgave without hesitation

You will remind me -- not sure for how long
A constant ache and an aggravating pain
Resulting from naught that I did wrong.

Soul: Unity in Diversity & Amidst Calamity

A nation
Under God
Celebration
In His pod

Within diversity
Unity is attainable
In times of calamity
It is indispensable

Unto a family in their home
People within this diverse society
Whether in a steeple or under a dome
Gather seeking prayer and piety

They look upon each others faces
With joy and love, dispelling His light
Originating from varying places
Witnessing the same wisdom and might

He gave us the necessary adhesive
And it’s taking us a while to learn how to apply
He sent down tools which you can buy or lease if
You express gratitude for the wings which he gave you to fly.

 



MPR -- Minnesota's Remembrance 09.11.2011

This little light of mine,
Please, Lord, let her shine
This little light of mine!

She looks upon with a gaze
Which pierced the photo
And rid it from any haze

Within those eyes, one can see
The cogs a-turnin
A mind of deep curiosity

With that gaze, She views a world of turmoil and pain
She takes in that which surrounds her
Through the haze, she sees only sunshine and rain

She sees light at the end of every tunnel
Can connect the dots and view the larger picture
She refuses to look through only a narrow funnel

This little light of Thine
Please, Lord, let her shine
This little light of Thine!

Mind: Key Contributors to True Happiness

I attended a seminar this past weekend by Dorothy Marcic -- she briefly covered topics addressed in her book, Love Lift Me Higher and outlined for us some key contributors/essentials to true happiness:

Service
Supportive Social Relationships
Sense of Purpose
Meaningful Work
Compassion
Forgiveness
Hope
Faith
Gratitude
Humility
Love
Trustworthiness

These are some of the highlights but the overall message was clear -- we have so much to be happy about and to bring us joy -- even in times of utmost challenge and what-seems-to-be despair. Much of true happiness lies in perspectives -- it is taking the "Must Dos" and "Should Dos" in life and altering one's perspective to turn these into "Like To Dos" and "Love To Dos."

Sing, Dance, Leap
Plant, Sow, Reap

A seed of joy planted and bred
In the heart of one man
Can be cultivated, and spread
In the hearts of many men

Ticket to the moon
Prayer at high noon

A prayer for strength and wellness
Sounds out from your bedroom wall
A prayer not at all of selfishness
Sounds out from your love for all

Rejuvenated and refreshed
Knowledge that one is blessed

An apparently long journey may be viewed from one's perspective
One of calamity, momentary sorrows, and much strife
An apparent fleeting moment may be viewed from the mind reflective
One of reality, today and tomorrow -- this is life!

Body: Hips Don't Lie

Emerged from the space between
You had your very own
As the cells came to convene
The results, muscles and bone

Poised midway
Between feet and mind
Mind guides the way
Feet take you to your find

Support the weight
Retain balance
Move in figure eight
Showing off their talents

Usually supportive
Of the efforts to gain
Beware lest ye be exploitive
They can inflict you with pain

Reminded of the run
As you take the first stride
Warrior facing the sun
Twist and stretch each side

Rotate at the hips
View the surround
More feminine than lips
As they sway with the sound

Abduction and adduction
Tension building
Flexion and extension
Intensify the feeling

Relax and release
Giving them a break
Pain may increase
A minimal stake

Treatment, they deserve the very best
Supporting every leap and stride
Will work for little rest
Hold on hips, we’ve got a long and worthwhile ride

Soul: Mountains To Climb

Shall I build you a mountain?
Shall I walk by your side?
As we walk to that mountain
Step by step, stride by stride

Shall I take you by the hand?
Shall I sing this little rhyme?
As we traverse the land
And plan the impending climb

Shall I build you a mountain?
Shall I make a steep incline?
As we observe that steep mountain
I’ll be yours, you’ll be mine

Shall I stand at the base?
Shall I try to pave the way?
As to each, we turn our face
No delay, it’s the day

Shall we build us a mountain?
Shall we begin our ascent?
As we pray that our fountain
Will flush out any resent

Shall we climb this together?
Shall we dance in the rain?
As we take that rope and tether
Embrace the joys and the pain

Shall we build us a mountain?
Shall we envision the peak?
As we take steps in the direction
Towards that of which we speak

Shall we take them with us?
Shall we teach them how to fly?
As we learn the why and the because
We triumph o’er land and sky

Mind: Patience & Perserverance

Striving to build endurance and stamina
in the pursuit of patience.
Love provides a stronghold
fueling the heart and soul
whilst the mind focuses
on strengthening the will
to perservere
and the faith
to be wholly and patient.
When God wills
there is a way
in the direction
of His way
set gaze
turn to him
with praise
be poised
head raised.

From the Bahá’í Holy Writings:

He, verily, shall increase the reward of them that endure with patience. The virtues and attributes pertaining unto God are all evident and manifest, and have been mentioned and described in all the heavenly Books. Among them are trustworthiness, truthfulness, purity of heart while communing with God, forbearance, resignation to whatever the Almighty hath decreed, contentment with the things His Will hath provided, patience, nay, thankfulness in the midst of tribulation, and complete reliance, in all circumstances, upon Him. These rank, according to the estimate of God, among the highest and most laudable of all acts. All other acts are, and will ever remain, secondary and subordinate unto them....
-- Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah

Be Patient, for the Lord is patient.
It behoveth whosoever hath set his face towards the most Sublime Horizon to Cleave Tenaciously unto the cord of patience, and to put his reliance in God, the Help in peril, the Unconstrained.
--Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh

O SON OF MAN! For everything there is a sign. The sign of love is fortitude under My decree and patience under My trials.
--The Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah

From the Muslim Holy Writings:

O believers, be patient, and vie you in patience…haply so will prosper.
--Qur’an, III,200,P.99

Be patient; surely God’s promise is true.
--Qur’an 40.55

You who believe, seek help through patience and prayer; God stands alongside the patient!
--Qur’an 2.153-57

From the Hindu Holy Writings:

Though he be ever so tired by repeated failure, let him begin his operations again and again; for fortune greatly favors the man who perseveres in his undertakings.
--Laws of Manu 9.300

From the Buddhist Holy Writings:

Heedful among the heedless, wide awake amongst the slumbering, the wise man advances as does a swift horse, leaving a weak jade behind.
Forbearing patience is the highest devotion…
--Dhammapada 29, XIV, V.184,P.53

From the Jewish Holy Writings:

Scripture credits with performance not him who begins a task, but him who completes it.
--Talmud, Sota 13b

From the Christian Holy Writings:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.
--1 Corinthians 9.24-25

Body: To Get Rid of Sighs, Work Bis and Tris

Feel the tension build in each muscle
After much pain, relieve with a release
Pump the heart, move and hustle
Feel it beat and swiftly increase

Nothing like the rush of strength
To rid the frown and sighs
Lunge with lots of length
Curl and extend the bis and tris

Soul: Joy Gives Us Wings

While reflecting on both real frustrations and true happines, one recalls that joy can give us wings to fly and spirit to soar! Striving to seek joy in all things and at all times.

"The realm of joy hath been ushered in; be not sorrowful! The hidden mystery hath been made manifest; be not disheartened!" -- Bahá’u’lláh

"In this world we are influenced by two sentiments, Joy and Pain.
Joy gives us wings! In times of joy our strength is more vital, our intellect keener, and our understanding less clouded. We seem better able to cope with the world and to find our sphere of usefulness. But when sadness visits us we become weak, our strength leaves us, our comprehension is dim and our intelligence veiled. The actualities of life seem to elude our grasp, the eyes of our spirits fail to discover the sacred mysteries, and we become even as dead beings.
There is no human being untouched by these two influences; but all the sorrow and the grief that exist come from the world of matter—the spiritual world bestows only the joy!" -- ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

The world may be dark and gloomy
But inwardly, He is a blessing unto me
He gives me strength when I may be weak
He places the dimple in each cheek
He causes me to smile
And makes sure it lasts a while
He can be seen in the sun and the moon
Can be reached at dawn and at noon
He shines within and all around
Can be loudly heard or without sound
Provider of joy, creator of all things
Founder of the sky, and merchant of the wings

Mind: Mazloom Strives For Courtesy

FACT:
مَظـلوُم "Mazloom" is an arabic meaning "Wronged One"
Courtesy is a virtue

BACKGROUND:
This morning, I was engaging in some daily reading and reflection -- seeking encouragement to neither offend nor be offended as I start off my day. I came across the below and it has really help to set a great tone for the day.

QUOTES:

Bahá’u’lláh says:—

O people of God! I exhort you to courtesy. Courtesy is indeed … the lord of all virtues. Blessed is he who is adorned with the mantle of Uprightness and illumined with the light of Courtesy. He who is endowed with Courtesy (or Reverence) is endowed with a great station. It is hoped that this Wronged One, and all, will attain to it, hold unto it and observe it. This is the Irrefutable Command which hath flowed from the pen of the Greatest Name.—Tablet of the World.

Again and again He repeats:—“Let all the nations of the world consort with each other with joy and fragrance. Consort ye, O people, with the people of all religions with joy and fragrance.”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá says in a letter to the Bahá’ís of America:—

Beware! Beware! Lest ye offend any heart!
Beware! Beware! Lest ye hurt any soul!
Beware! Beware! Lest ye deal unkindly toward any person!
Beware! Beware! Lest ye be the cause of hopelessness to any creature!

Should one become the cause of grief to any one heart, or of despondency to any one soul, it were better to hide oneself in the lowest depths of the earth than to walk upon the earth.
He teaches that as the flower is hidden in the bud, so a spirit from God dwells in the heart of every man, no matter how hard and unlovely his exterior. The true Bahá’í will treat every man, therefore, as the gardener tends a rare and beautiful plant. He knows that no impatient interference on his part can open the bud into a blossom; only God’s sunshine can do that, therefore his aim is to bring that life-giving sunshine into all darkened hearts and homes.

Again, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—

Among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is one requiring man, under all conditions and circumstances, to be forgiving, to love his enemy and to consider an ill-wisher as a well-wisher. Not that one should consider another as an enemy and then put up with him … and be forbearing toward him. This is hypocrisy and not real love. Nay, rather, you must see your enemies as friends, your ill-wishers as well-wishers and treat them accordingly. Your love and kindness must be real … not merely forbearance, for forbearance, if not of the heart, is hypocrisy.

Such counsel appears unintelligible and self-contradictory until we realize that while the outer carnal man may be a hater and ill-wisher, there is in everyone an inner, spiritual nature which is the real man, from whom only love and goodwill can proceed. It is to this real, inner man in each of our neighbors that we must direct our thought and love. When he awakens into activity, the outer man will be transformed and renewed.

REFLECTION:

Running deep, a sincere love for humanity

Person to person, our differences, true beauty

Differently, we appear, we act, we believe, we seek

But I honestly believe we are climbing to the same peak

Each one finding their own direction

Along winding pathways, a massive collection

Of differing perspectives and beliefs

Choosing to soar in the sky or swim in ocean reefs

Whether of the school of fish or the flock of birds

May feel much different than the cows that run in herds

But at the end of the day, we're one in the same

Witnessing His Glory through perhaps a different name

In order to love one another, having faith and trust

In God as well as each other is quite a must

Courteous ways, an open mind, and a kind heart

Striving. Perhaps one can bring together that which is apart

Body: Hip Set

Stride by stride, we took our run
Dips and squats, we lifted for fun
Kettle bell squats, down, up, and thrust
In my body, I placed a whole lot of trust

Grieving the potential break in my workout routine
Training causes my mind to be both clear and serene
Wanting to leap forward, increase my pace, and sustain
Very difficult to see how this pain will cause me any gain

Hips set in place, shoulders down and back
Tail bone tucked in, Chest popping out the rack
Have prided myself in perfecting posture and stance
Feeling like a ballerina who can no longer leap or prance

Forcing me to relax, to center, to take a break
Forward fold, deep breaths and stretches by the lake
Praying these hips will heal soon
So I can sing to my usual tune