Finally Friday

"It is easy to shield our bodies against poisoned arrows from without but difficult to shield our mind against poisoned arrows from within." Shakyamuni

"In general, I always state that I have three commitments in life. Firstly, on a level of a human being, my first commitment is the promotion of human values such as compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, contentment, and self-discipline." Dalai Lama

Two magnificent thoughts to bring this work week to a close. How often have we found ourselves muttering that we are our own worst enemy? How often have we called ourselves stupid when we do something that is well let's face it stupid? We have a real tendency to be much too hard on ourselves. It is the thing that bugs me the most about my Mom. She is always putting herself down.

Humans have a tendency to sabotage themselves. I know I do. I stepped on the scale this morning and went oops. Time to lay off of the Easter candy and start working out some more. I got a gift card for my birthday for Barnes and Noble and it is partially going to go towards getting some yoga books since all of mine are in storage and it is one form of exercise I can do with my arthritis. I hadn't been being careful of what I eat and not exercising enough and the weight I lost is creeping back on. Time to do something about it.

That is the wonderful thing about being human though we can do something about our faults. We can remember not someone else can do it for you. We can make our lives better if we really want to. A lot of people battle depression because of stress in their lives. We have the tools we need to try and overcome that stress. Their are others out there who can help. No man is an island. It is no shame to reach out and say I need help. It takes a strong person to admit that they need some help. When I was in the midst of an abusive marriage I reached out for psychiatric help because I couldn't cope with the stress any more by myself. It was the combination of the medicine and counseling that gave me the strength to get out of that marriage. I was flat out told that there was nothing wrong with me except that I was in an abusive relationship and I needed to leave him. It was hard to walk away from my marriage but with the help and love of family and friends I made it through.

In an era where the term "family values" is thrown around by politicians it is important to go back to what the Dalai Lama says are human values. They are compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, contentment, and self-discipline. Those are real values. Political posturing about family values seems to be aimed at denying people the respect they deserve as human beings. There is no compassion or tolerance in them. The politicians should go back and reread the words of our founding fathers. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Today as we observe the death that Christ endured for us let us remember that he died because of his love for all of us and that we need to show that love to ourselves and others.

The picture is called Guardian of Freedom.

The real counter is 4842