Mindful Holiness

Right before the beginning of the new year, I went on a personal sabbatical.

I didn't really go anywhere in particular. I merely set myself apart from mindless activity such as watching TV and made a conscious effort to remain mindful and focus on holiness. And not only focus on it but to find a way to put holiness into action.

I used this downtime for deep meditation, contemplation, and prayer. Instead of watching TV, I read inspirational books. I read everything from the Bible to Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, and Islam.

It was during this time that I discovered mindful holiness. The act of being mindful of each moment and concentrating on holiness and just being holy. And what it means to be holy.

In essence it is what Buddhist refer to as Right Concentration, Right Mindfulness, Right Effort, and Right Action.

It boils down to total awareness in every moment and acting appropriately in each moment.

The result of putting mindful holiness into practice has been astounding!

I have never, ever, felt closer to God, to life, and to people! There is no separation from me and God and others. I can only define it as complete unity with the universe.

And not only that but things seem to be coming to me so much easier such as money, solving problems, getting the things we need, making things come to fruition and so on. Things seem almost effortless.

But, the single greatest benefit from practicing mindful holiness by far is the sheer joy and bliss that I have discovered! I haven't laughed this much ever before! And I laugh a lot!

Now I get why God in the the Christian Bible urges everyone to, "Be holy for I am holy."

God is not up in heaven pointing His finger down at us and bullying us to be holy!

He is lovingly wooing us to be holy and to be mindful of every action we do for our own good so that we can experience His very best continually without cessation.

The Error Of My Silly Thoughts

The other day I had probably one of the silliest thoughts I have ever had! Of course at the time, I thought it made perfect sense.

Sad thing was, I put it out in the universe and my husband picked it up.

I was in one of those reflective moods and I mentioned to my husband that I wished I had made better choices/decisions in my younger years.

My husband sat there for a beat and then asked, "You know that if you had, we might not be sitting here together right now?"

I sat there baffled for a moment. Contemplating exactly what my husband was saying and where he was going with his train of thought.

He went on to add, "If you had, we might not have ever met nor have had the wonderful children we've been blessed with."

Again, I sat there quietly wondering what my life would be without my children and my husband. And a sadness came over me. Tears (which I tried to hide from my husband) began to well up in my eyes and I got a big knot in my stomach. My heart felt as if it were being torn apart and ripped right out of me!

Immediately, I repented of such foolishness! (Silently in my heart to God!)

As I sat there and thought about it more, I could not help but honestly ask myself, "Really Dianna? What would you have done differently?"

More importantly, how crazy is it to live in a world of woulda, coulda, shouldas? It is what it is! Get over yourself Dianna!

Somebody slap me!!!

As my husband and I talked more about these 'choices/decisions' it was apparent to both of us that it was just OLD GUILT that I was still lugging around weighing me down. Guilt that was keeping me from TOTALLY moving forward. It wasn't the decisions at all!

Ah, the mind can play such silly tricks on us if we are not diligent and fully mindful.

Silly old me! I am feeling much lighter today!

Ode To Earnest

What does one do when one wakes up nearly every morning to a partner of 17 years and the first thing out of his mouth and sounding like a little child is, "Where's my love?"

What is one to think about someone who as soon as he gets out of bed he is singing a new song? (The song usually being an old '70's song. And to this day, he has never repeated any of the songs to my recollection!)

What is one to do when their partner, while putting his clothes on for the day, is dancing? And it is usually to a drum cadence that he made up some 17 plus years ago as he marches around the room mimicking the Grambling Band Drum Majors!

What is one to believe about their partner when after he finishes his morning meditation, he pretends to fall off the meditation cushion and back into reality? And is so dramatic about it!

What is one to ponder when throughout the day, their partner has a child-like attitude towards life, not letting anything ruffle his feathers? And as he works on various projects, he literally changes his hats all day long! The funniest being a Saints helmet that is really a snack bowl, but it fits!

Answers: I haven't a clue!

All I know is that life with Earnest Harris is always an adventure. With him, all day long is play time, and yet he one of the busiest people I know!

I don't know how he does it because he finds time to be a remarkable father, a loving and doting husband, an inspiring writer, a wonderful film producer, and a talented director. And so much more, but that is another blog!

What I do know is that in his presence, he inspires me and everyone around him to be a better person and personally, I am better for having known him.

Thank you Earnest!

A Child's Innocence

Happy New Year Everyone!

Thought I would start out the year with a very light and cute family story.

As I was putting away Christmas decorations the other day in our storage, I somehow pulled a muscle in my lower back lifting a heavy box.

Later that evening, I asked my 12 year old daughter to please do me a favor and massage my lower back for me. (My daughter is our family resident nurse and loves to heal us if we so much as say something hurts us!)

As she was massaging my back, I commented and said, "Sweetie, you are such a great masseuse!"

My daughter asked innocently, "What's that?"

"Someone who does a full body massage for people," I responded.

After a brief silence, my daughter asked, "So is a person who massages people's feet called a footseuse?"