Thursday, April 30, 2015

Small Things

'Your base level of pleasure is determined by how you view your whole life.'
Oprah Winfrey

Learn to take in all the small things...EVERYthing. See the glass as half full, not half empty. Increase your pleasure factor exponentially by living in the moment and pausing to appreciate the everyday things you've been taking for granted. A good cup of tea; snuggling with a soft, furry kitty cat; a sunny day; spending time with a friend.

All these things and more contribute to the overall quality of our lives and our satisfaction with it.

Take your focus off what is 'wrong' and concentrate on what is 'right' in your life. And there are lots of things if you stop and take the time to think about it. Your home; your family; your health; the list continues. Look at them all with a different mindset. Increased happiness is guaranteed to follow.

And remember, the happiness you put out into the world will come back to you ten-fold.

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Meet Bruce


This is Bruce. It took me many, many attempts to get even a half decent photo of him. He moves fast and does not stay in one place very long. I apologize for the grainy photo.

Bruce and his lady live in the cedar trees in my front yard, clearly visible from the livingroom window. Now, Bruce is not the brightest bird in the neighbourhood. In fact, I would say that he epitomizes the notion of a 'bird brain'.

You see, every single day (often for hours at a time), Bruce purposely flies into our front window, wings splayed and beak tapping. And he does it not just once or twice and give it up. Oh no, not our Bruce. He is persistent. He smashes his face into the window twenty or thirty times a day (maybe more)!

Seriously though, if some guy was trying to impress me by slamming his head against an immovable object multiple times a day, I would not be hanging around him too long! His lady friend, however, seems to be enamored with him.

How did he come to be named Bruce, you ask? Well, two years ago a friend of my son met a tragic end, a victim of 'being in the wrong place at the wrong time' when knives were weilding and shots were fired. His name was Bruce.

The person, Bruce, was a very persistent fellow and when he got an idea in his head he kept pushing his point until everyone else saw it his way. My son casually commented one day that if he believed in reincarnation, he'd swear that this cardinal was Bruce coming back to haunt him, especially since the bird first showed up shortly after the funeral.

Hence, this persistent, window tapping bird became Bruce. We never did name his lady. Maybe we should. *smile*