Tired of speaking sweetly - Hafiz

TIRED OF SPEAKING SWEETLY

Love wants to reach out and manhandle us,
Break all our teacup talk of God.

If you had the courage and
Could give the Beloved His choice, some nights,
He would just drag you around the room
By your hair,
Ripping from your grip all those toys in the world
That bring you no joy.

Love sometimes gets tired of speaking sweetly
And wants to rip to shreds
All your erroneous notions of truth

That make you fight within yourself, dear one,
And with others,

Causing the world to weep
On too many fine days.

God wants to manhandle us,
Lock us inside of a tiny room with Himself
And practice His dropkick.

The Beloved sometimes wants
To do us a great favor:

Hold us upside down
And shake all the nonsense out.

But when we hear
He is in such a “playful drunken mood”
Most everyone I know
Quickly packs their bags and hightails it
Out of town.

~ Hafiz ~

(The Gift – versions of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky)

Delightful thoughts

A pot of orange pekoe tea.

Completing a purple and gold necklace.

Sitting out on the deck in the late evening, watching the stars come alive.

Reading White Teeth.

Sleeping between crisp, cool, clean white sheets.

A new fountain pen.

A long walk on the beach this weekend.

Crab cakes.

Red nail polish.

Afternoon naps in the hammock.

Consistent joy

Surely joy is the condition of life - Henry David Thoreau

I really do get it that I am not going to feel good unless I am in alignment with who I am.

When I have to go out and water the plants in ninety degree temperatures, I don't say to myself, "I don't feel like it". Instead I focus on how the plants would appreciate this drink of water and how I won't mind getting a few sprays on me as well. I focus on the wellbeing of the plants as I make my way around the garden.

When I ask others to accompany me, I usually get, "In this heat?" or "I don't feel like it." Or "Not right now."

But the plants doesn't know of those answers, and if I were to think like that I won't ever go out and tend the garden, in fact I shouldn't have a garden at all, if I were to harbor this kind of self-limiting thinking.

Therefore a shift in perception is self empowering. I am happy to be tending to the plants because the thought of me quenching their thirst is a happy one. I feel joyful whenever I think of my plants, whenever I look at them or tend to them. All aspects of gardening brings joy in one form or another and even when the chores are burdensome and inconvenient, I deliberately focus upon the wellbeing of the plants so that I may continue to carry on with the chores without resistance.

Consistent joy and happiness requires only a shift in perception.