Serenity Now

Meditation is a simple, fast way to reduce stress.  If there was ever someone who needed stress reduction, it's me.  I was a bit reluctant to attend the Adult Ed workshop on my own, but the course description sounded appealing so I decided to give it a try.  If nothing else, it was an opportunity to escape other demands for 2 hours per week.

I expected something mystical but it really just boiled down to various breathing techniques.  It was a little awkward at first sitting around in half-darkness with a few strange women practicing breathing while listening to soft, new age music, but it turned out to actually be very relaxing.  The basic stuff was pretty easy to master, though the real benefit for me was lending structure to some things I was already doing on my own to relieve stress.  I wound up sleeping more soundly too on the nights I had class, and awakened feeling more refreshed.

If you've never tried Meditation before, I'd highly recommend giving it a try.  It's easy, takes as little or as much time as you're willing to devote, can essentially be done anywhere, and yields surprising results.

Here's a useful link on meditation benefits - Click here

I'm looking forward to my next experiment - Reiki.

Empty Nest

The jelly is out of the doughnut. What? The bird has left the nest. Huh? The children have all grown up and moved out. Oh. 

Funny, I don’t feel that old but the sand in the hour glass never lies. I suppose it’s bittersweet. On the one hand, I loved having the kids around the house. On the other hand, I couldn’t wait for them to grow up and leave. Well, I’ve gotten my wish and it’s not quite what I expected. I’m sadder than I thought I’d be. I’m sure I’ll adjust. The trick is to focus on the benefits. More alone time. More time with my wife. (Hey, where did she disappear to anyway?) Okay, so maybe it’s just more alone time? Seriously, I’m looking forward to going out. We can travel a little. We can tidy up the house and actually wake up to find it just the way we left it. I can take a shower whenever I want. I can walk around wearing just my…never mind. The joys of living in the empty nest!

Of course, I’ll miss not having the kids around. No, really I will. The house feels empty sometimes – a little too quiet. I’m still catching myself wonder where they are before I remember they’re elsewhere. Then I’m sad… until I realize they took their mess (oops, I mean their stuff), their laundry, and their lizard. And then a smile creeps in slowly. If only I could figure a way for them to take the college debt too…hmmm. Hey, didn’t somebody mention doughnuts?

Monkey Prerogative

I thought I'd start slowly today and attempt to describe what you might expect from this blog.  Honestly, I'm not entirely sure yet.  I'm just one monkey.  In the jungle, one monkey or what he thinks doesn't count for all that much.  But if he manages to not get eaten by a lion, then he gets to keep on thinking, or in my case, writing.

For the most part, I'll aim to keep my opinions monkey-like.  In other words, I'll try to tackle complicated situations with ease, display sparkling wit, and hold on to the branches tightly, all while swinging from tree to tree in the range of topics I cover.  I hope I don't get too serious but I'm very much a serious monkey so I can't make any promises.  Monkeys are unpredictable.  In that vein, the predictability of posting will not likely follow any specific schedule.  I can't be swinging through the trees constantly because even a monkey needs to relax and eat a banana from time to time.  So I'm hopeful that I'll have some Guest Monkeys who'd occasionally like to swing by and share their experiences in the jungle.

Got a topic you'd like to see me explore?  Shoot me an email with your suggestion.  It's time for a banana now and if the lions don't get me, I'll be back to share some more thoughts soon.

Debut imminent!

Debut post expected Sunday, September 2, 2012!