Day Eight:
Cacao Smoothie
Enjoy raw foods.
Why?
They are full of enzymes.
They are easy to make.
They seem to promote anti-aging.
They are fun.
They are delicious.
Today you might try this mix. (Keep doing any or all of the prior day’s games. Especially writing in your gratitude journal. And some form of touching compared to non-touch sharing.)
Raw cacao. This brand I like. Just make sure you get raw and organic.
Coconut butter.
A little Stevia, preferably in the leaf form. (http://mountainroseherbs.com, is a fine source)
A few soaked almonds and walnuts and pecans (any nuts you like. Soak overnight first)
Ginger.
More ginger.
A Granny Smith apple.
Put into a blender or Vitamin or Blendtec.
Stir it up.
Pour.
Enjoy.
Day Nine:
Love as Taking a Walk
By Yourself
With a friend
With Nature (and God) no matter what
What to do?
Today is a second cousin to the enlightenment game of sitting and doing as little as possible.
Today we’re going to take a walk.
You and your partner.
Or, you and your awareness.
Or, you and your God.
If I hadn’t loved the God of Now and the God of Nature I wouldn’t have walked out of my apartment one morning in March of 2014 and walked down the street to the park.
And walked back, and there was Carol talking to the former owner of the house she’d just bought.
This was a house she’d fallen in love with, and bought to come “retire” from her executive life in the retail industry. (The quotes are because she/ and I have an amazingly full life now. Beyond what either of us could ever have imagined)
Anyway, I knew the owner and actually had fallen in love with the house from prior walks. One walk allowed me to see from the alley what an amazing addition the architect/ prior owner had created. Another walked allow me to meet him and praise his job and get a tour.
So I knew why Carol loved the house.
What I didn’t know was that the house would be our matchmaker.
Anyway, today:
Get your partner.
Go outside.
Take a walk.
If you have a park within walking distance, walk there.
If you don’t, move.
But for today, just walk in the most nature laden path you can take, the most trees and blue sky and gardens.
If this is your honey, hold hands.
If not, walk together.
Put your attention on:
Sensing your arms and legs as you walk. Walk is an incredibly complicated and beautiful part of human life. Sense this as much as you can.
Follow your breathing as you do this.
If you talk, talk about:
Gratitudes.
What you are liking, in that moment, on the walk. Colors in trees, of houses, birds. The sky.
Don’t be afraid to be silent.
Do go slowly in taking your turn to talk. This isn’t timed, and DO take advantage of any skills the timed talking is building to help you JUST LISTEN when another is talking.
And if you don’t have any partner: walk with yourself.
And pay attention as above, to arms and legs and the beauty of walking and your breathing.
Think about gratitude and about what you like.
Or think about nothing and just sense your walking arms and legs and weight shift and air shifting in and out.
And enjoy.
Smile.
Smile whether you are with a partner or not.
You are alive.
You are in Nature.
This is good.
Now, Nature and Love are a wonderful trinity.
What you like is the shy path toward what you love.
Sensing your arms and legs and breathing in now.
Nature is being outdoors. The ceiling five miles high reminds us where we came from as a species.
Life is big.
Take a walk and remember and rejoice in that.
Good.
