Dear Friends,
This is Julia again. How are you?
When I learn how to I will add some videos etc. to make this more exciting for you. Until then I will just write to you.

Today I thought I would write to you about the Mind and expectations.
Its just past Easter now and as I reflect back on my weekend I think some of my pain on Friday was due to expectations of how Easter SHOULD be!!!

I have memories of happy Easters when my children were small. Happy Easters even as a child. The warm weather, the relaxation, the Easter egg,s the laughter and more.

But life never stays the same, life is change.

And so the mind - the mind doesnt like change, it wants to hold onto joy and happiness. It wants everything to be just perfect and lovely all the time.  And then we can get angry because of this desire. And then we get depressed because we can't MAKE it how we want it.

Of course, we do have the power to create a happy day. It may be a different kind of day than we have been used to, it might be a quieter day, or a noisier day, or a busier day or whatever, but if we can just ACCEPT what it is, and what we can do to make it how we want it, that is, Happy, then we will be happy!!

But we have to catch the mind and what it is up to!!! There's the catch, we have to start watching our mind. Noticing its little sneaky thoughts that start to build until suddenly we have a strong negative EMOTION. Try to catch it before that and ask yourself, What can I do to make my day enjoyable even if its not what I think it should be.

We could save ourselves a lot of pain if we just did that and nothing more.  But we do have to take action and find something to do that will fill us with joy.. For example if the children come over and expect a nice lunch from us and we're grumpy because we feel like lying on the couch reading a good novel, How about changing the thinking to GRATITUDE and enjoying their company while we have it.  Make them laugh, make them sing, bring joy to someone else and WE  will experience joy.

Or if no one is coming and we are lonely we could think of all our friends and family and send them LOVE, sing I LOVE YOU, dance and sing I LOVE YOU.
We can also chant: I am so grateful for everything I have received in my life.

Here's just a few thoughts, based on my own life experience that I am still learning to do.

Much love to you all,
Julia