Guest Blog: Violet Love Goode

My strong Irish roots mean I am stubborn and love to laugh. I always take my grandmothers advice. I love blueberries, beards, bald heads, getting lost, getting found, muddy happy dogs, photography, traveling, making stuff, growing things, crushes, recycling, waterfalls, the coast (oh yea - the coast!) I believe in the universe and doing nice things.

one Go where the wind blows you! Take it from me, a mountain loving (think green and lush) Oregon girl who let the wind blow her all the way to flat (think hot and dry) Kansas! You can’t make these sorts of dreams up. Oh the places you’ll go! Take the road less traveled, wait scratch that … take the road you would have never dreamed of traveling, plan on meeting many wonderful people along the way, and have fun when you least expect to.

two Find your joy and pursue it relentlessly. Do this daily! The endless list of annoying to-do's can wait- It WILL be there tomorrow. Your joys can be big or small, simple or complicated, quiet or loud … whatever you want; they are all yours! Love them and they will love you back. Nothing will provide you with more pleasure or help you skirt through the rough patches in life more than this one thing. When it finds you, embrace the gift fully and thank it for showing up. You may lose it sometimes, that’s okay - it’s not really lost - it’s there, right there…yep, you got it!

three Consider the worst when faced with an unkind person. Huh, wait, what? I know, it sounds crazy, right?! When your path crosses their path, always assume that this must be the worst day of their lives. Dramatic, perhaps; but maybe, just maybe they just lost a loved one, maybe their dog died, or maybe they live with someone who is mean to them. Its tough stuff to think about, but life is messy and some people really suffer. You just never know. Consider the worst, smile, and be double (or triple) kind. Oh, I almost forgot the most important part: Do NOT take it personally, absolutely never take it personally. 

© moemasters, thesethreethings, violetlovegoode 2011

happiness and peace

one Remember that all you have to do to be happy is decide to be happy. There will always be people who need to share their discontent and test your resolve. There will always be situations that test the limits of your good humor. You will always get to be fine if you decide that's what you want. That is what I want for you. This choice does not mean that you won't be unhappy or mad sometimes, but your own happiness is all you can control. So, control it - you are the boss of you.

two Learn how to be happy doing nothing. Being quiet and alone with yourself could be one of the best ways to find out what is going on in your heart and your head. This isn't as easy as it sounds and you may have to work at it. Find ways to marinate in silence without TV or music or video games. Learn how to shut down your brain and just breathe.

three Know that almost everybody does the best they can and almost nobody wakes up in the morning and thinks "I'm going to ruin some lives and destroy things today." To that end, it's kind-of your job to mind the people you surround yourself with. You will know, pretty quickly, if you've let someone on your island who is filled with anger and poison intentions. It's pretty unlikely that you will change that in anyone and the chances are great that you will get some of their malcontent on you, so learn to walk away and let it go.

copyright 2011 moemasters thesethreethings

Quiet Walks to the Masseuse

eerste Learn to retreat and spend time with yourself in peace. Meditate. Think about it. Spend a few hours (or days) not speaking or writing. Be still enough for everything within you to percolate and solidify. It will happen, I promise. It's a bit like an extended version of a "Time Out" chair. My adults always said something to the effect of, "You just go and think about what you've done." This is a kinder version of that. 

Love yourself enough to sit and be quiet with you. Just you. When you're doing it right and you've run out of things to think about (which you will) - you will think about nothing, and man, I swear, this is some good stuff. I love it when I hit the thinking about nothing place in my head. It's far too rare for me and I wish better for you. Practice this and get good at it.

tweemaal Never underestimate the restorative powers of a good walk. A walk with a friend, a walk with just yourself, a walk to someplace or a walk to nowhere - walks are just some really cool things. Wear good shoes, too. You'll find this is a reoccurring theme with me: Those are the only feet you are going to get, you had best take care of them.

derde If your knees hurt when you bend to lift a 1-ton stone, stop doing that. If it hurts your body to do something, then stop it. Don't do it. Learn your limitations. Pain is our body's way of telling us that we're not doing something right. Pay attention to it and never let it get worse if you can avoid it. Sometimes you may just need a massage too, we will discuss this soon. 

copyright 2010 moemasters