Here is something inspirational that I posted at the prosperity project today:

I found this article at the Daily Om today, It seemed appropriate and so I thought I'd share it as I am still putting the finishing touches on our gratitude project.

A Reason To Smile
Five Minutes To Happiness

It can be so easy to get caught up in the rigors of modern life that we tend to forget that happiness need not come with stipulations. Happiness becomes something we must schedule and strive for—a hard-won emotion—and then only when we have no worries to occupy our thoughts. In reality, overwhelming joy is not the exclusive province of those with unlimited time and no troubles to speak of. Many of the happiest people on earth are also those coping with the most serious challenges. They have learned to make time for those simple yet superb pleasures that can be enjoyed quickly and easily. Cultivating a happy heart takes no more than five minutes. The resultant delight will be neither complex nor complicated, but it will be profound and will serve as a reminder that there is always a reason to smile.



So much that is ecstasy-inducing can be accomplished in five minutes. Alone, we can enjoy an aromatic cup of our favorite tea, take a stroll through the garden we have created, write about the day's events in a journal, doodle while daydreaming, or breathe deeply while we listen to the silence around us. In the company of a good friend or treasured relative, we can share a few silly jokes, enjoy a waltz around the room, play a fast-paced hand of cards, or reconnect through lighthearted conversation. The key is to first identify what makes us dizzyingly happy. If we do only what we believe should bring us contentment, our five minutes will not be particularly satisfying. When we allow ourselves the freedom to do whatever brings us pleasure, five minutes out of 14 wakeful hours can brighten our lives immeasurably.

It is often when we have the least free time or energy to devote to joy that we need to unwind and enjoy ourselves the most. Making happiness a priority will help you find five minutes every day to indulge in the things that inspire elation within you. Eventually, your happiness breaks will become an established part of your routine. If you start by pursuing activities you already enjoy and then gradually think up new and different ways to fill your daily five minutes of happiness, you will never be without something to smile about.

What do you think?

At Way Cool Pictures
we have murals on buildings, they are really cool.
here's my favorite one:

At Mandala Madness
I uploaded a really nifty desktop wallpaper.
This is it:

This is so way cool that I just had to share it here.
I found it for Way Cool Pictures, and it absolutely inspired me.

Look at what a labor of love can become...
Look at what you can do if you set your mind to it...
How awesome would life on this planet be if everything we created ... and I mean every single thing... was created with this much love and passion...

Yes, it is a car made out of wood, and it's not just a fancy piece of art. This car actually runs! I wonder what the gas mileage is on it...

Jerry Nickel spent nearly four years building this masterpiece.

There’s little doubt that this car is one of a kind. Nickel got the idea to build a wooden car from an article in a 1955 issue of Hot Rod magazine. Once Nickel retired from the waste collection business, he began making his dream come true. He decided to use two 500-cubic-inch Cadillac V-8 engines because someone told him it wouldn’t work. One engine and transaxle, from an Eldorado, drives the front wheels. The other engine, from a Deville, drives the rear wheels. Although the engines aren’t synchronized, Nickel said they work fine together.

It took Nickel more than four years to form the body by laminating 1-inch strips of mahogany. He used 1,000 board-feet feet of wood cut into 4,183 individual pieces, five gallons of glue, 60 pounds of drywall screws and four gallons of varnish.

Aum! Let us listen with our ears to that which is auspicious, adorable one. Let us perceive with our eyes what is holy and auspicious. With strong, stable body and limbs, may we seek the divine grace and accept the noble order of all our life.

I surrender to you, Lord Ganesha. You are the speaker. You are the listener. You are the giver. You are the sustainer. I am your disciple. Protect me from the front and back. Protect me from the north and the south, from above and below. Protect me from all directions.

You are full of perfect knowledge of truth and awareness. You are full of bliss and pure consciousness. You are truth, consciousness and bliss. You are the absolute awareness. You are full of supreme wisdom and knowledge.

You are the earth, water, fire, air and the space. You are the root foundation of speech. You are beyond the three gunas: sattva, rajas, and tamas. You are beyond the physical, mental, and causal bodies. You are beyond the three aspects of time: past, present, and future. You are eternally established in the muladhara chakra. You have three shaktis: action, knowledge, and will.

Salutation to the Ganapati whose seed mantra is Aum Gam. We know Ekadanta, the One-tusked God, the unique God. We meditate upon Vakratunda, the curved-trunk God. May that unique elephant God illumine our consciousness and direct us along the right track.

One should meditate upon Lord Ganesha having one tusk and four arms; holding the noose and goad with two of them; with the other two indicating varada, the giving of boons and blessings, and abhaya mudra, the fear removing gesture; having a mouse as the emblem on his ensign; possessing a big, beautiful belly and large, lovely ears which look like winnowing baskets; having a red cloth and His whole body covered with red sandalwood paste. He should be worshiped with red flowers. He manifests Himself as the universe and is beyond pakriti, matter, and Parusha, the manifest God. One who worships Ganesha in this way forever is the best of yogis.

Prostrations to Vratapati, the Lord of Plenty. Prostrations to Ganapati, the Lord of various groups of Gods. Prostrations to Pramathapati, the Lord of Shiva's hosts. Prostrations to Lambodara, the full-bellied God with a single tusk, destroyer of obstacles, the Son of Shiva, the Bestower of all Blessings.

He who chants this Ganapati Upanishad will verily get established in Brahman, the pure awareness. He will never encounter any obstacles. He will be happy everywhere. He will be free from the five great sins and lesser ones. By reciting this in the evening, the day's sins are destroyed.

By reciting this in the early morning, one becomes free from the sins committed at night in dreams. Reciting this morning and evening, one becomes totally free from all sins. He becomes totally free from all obstacles. He achieves the four divine ends of life: dharma, artha, kama, and moksha; virtue, wealth, pleasure, and liberation.

Aum Ganesha saranam saranam Ganesha.

Exerpted from Ganapatyatharsirsham
translation by Dr. Vasant Lad

I was just thinking today, that I needed some connection with the "remover of obstacles"... so here it is, a powerful affirmation and meditation.

Here's something interesting. Today is the day the Fourteen Holy Helpers are venerated, or at least this used to be their feast day before the reformation of 1969... They were first collectively invoked during the black plague, a time when people died horrific deaths, many, many domestic animals died, violence broke out, religion failed and family structure broke down.

• Achatius, against headaches, helpful advocate in death, grant us a happy death
  
• Barbara, against fever and sudden death, mighty patroness of the dying, receive us in heaven
  
• Blaise, against ills of the throat, zealous bishop and benefactor of the poor, confirm us in hope
  
• Catherine of Alexandria, against sudden death, victorious defender of faith and of purity, shorten our purgatory
  
• Christophorus, against plagues and sudden death, mighty intercessor in dangers, preserve us from sin
  
• Cyriacus, against temptations, especially at the time of death, terror of Hell, grant us resignation to Thy holy will
  
• Dionysius, against headaches, shining mirror of faith and confidence, give us tranquility of conscience
  
• Erasmus, against abdominal maladies and for protection of domestic animals, mighty protector of the oppressed, enkindle in us Thy holy love
  
• Eustachius, against family trouble, exemplar of patience in adversity, give us patience in adversity
  
• George, for protection of domestic animals, valiant Martyr of Christ, preserve us in the faith
  
• Giles, against plagues and for a good confession, despiser of the world, grant us a merciful judgment
  
• Margaret of Antioch, for safe childbirth, valiant champion of the faith, preserve us from Hell
  
• Pantaleon, for physicians and for the protection of domestic animals, miraculous exemplar of charity, give us charity for our neighbor
  
• Vitus, against epilepsy and for protection of domestic animals, special protector of of chastity, teach us the value of our soul

INVOCATION OF THE HOLY HELPERS:

Fourteen Holy Helpers, who served God in humility and confidence on earth and are now in the enjoyment of His beatific vision in Heaven; because thou persevered till death thou gained the crown of eternal life. Remember the dangers that surround us in this vale of tears, and intercede for us in all our needs and adversities. Amen.

Fourteen Holy Helpers, select friends of God, I honor thee as mighty intercessors, and come with filial confidence to thee in my needs, for the relief of which I have undertaken to make this novena. Help me by thy intercession to placate God's wrath, which I have provoked by my sins, and aid me in amending my life and doing penance. Obtain for me the grace to serve God with a willing heart, to be resigned to His holy will, to be patient in adversity and to persevere unto the end, so that, having finished my earthly course, I may join thee in Heaven, there to praise for ever God, who is wonderful in His Saints. Amen

The Litany (which is quite lengthy) can be found here.

I actually took the time to prayerfully read the entire thing. And it was very powerful. I highly recommend it even though I am a buddhist and this is a little bit out of my box.

This is the Basilica Vierzehnheiligen... here is the story:

On September 24, 1445 a Franciscan monastery’s young shepherd, Hermann Leicht, saw a crying child in a field. As he bent down to pick it up, it suddenly disappeared.

A short time later, the child reappeared in the same spot and this time, two candles were burning next to it. In June 1446 the shepherd saw the child a third time, this time carrying a red cross on its chest and accompanied by thirteen children.

The child said to the shepherd: ‘We are the 14 helpers and wish to erect a chapel here, where we can rest. If you will be our servant, we will be yours!’ Shortly after, the shepherd saw two burning candles descending to this spot. Soon, miraculous healings began, through the intervention of the fourteen helper saints....

And if you still haven't had enough, here's a link to a slide show of the basilica. Have a blessed day!

I guess I'm having a green day today.
I uploaded some really yummy images to Way Cool Pictures, here are two of them:




And then at Mandala Madness,
I uploaded a desktop wallpaper that I made just this morning.

Today I was rummaging through The Prosperity Project posts from way back when, and I found this post:

This morningI ran into a huge traffic jam on my way home from work and it took me an extra hour to get home. The traffic was at a dead stop for at least 7 or 8 miles of highway. It was very interesting because the longer I sat there, the more anxious I became. I was worrying about my dogs waiting to be let out to go potty, I was worrying about my blog post being late, and then I started worrying that maybe I was in the "slow" lane and I couldn't decide if I should try to change lanes or not, and then (40 minutes later) as we began to inch along I started worrying that my car wasn't running properly, and what if I had a flat tire, and what if my brakes were going out.. It was just plain silly.

I finally made it home, and my tire was fine, my brakes are fine, my car was running fine, and my dogs were fine. But I had a head ache and a stiff neck from all the worrying. And it occurred to me that this is a pattern for me. If things are moving too slow I begin to worry about all kinds of stuff.. Ridiculous stuff usually.. And I get all stressed out. But when things are moving along at a good clip, I am happy and exhilarated.. And feeling good.

So that was interesting, and something to think about. It reminded me of a quote I found a while back, here it is:

Anything worth doing is worth doing slow.
~Mae West

And when I look back at this, it also occurs to me that if the traffic hadn't slowed down, if every car had just continued on at our normal rates of speed - we would have all crashed and burned because the slowdown was caused by a 4 car pile up and they were having a hard time getting all the cars off the road.

The other thing I found interesting was that I am in that same place again today. No traffic jam, but that same feeling of impatience and worry and being in a hurry. And it occured to me, that I tend to keep things going at breakneck "roller coaster" speeds, and in no time at all I'm wishing for quiet and relaxation - even as I keep that accelerator floored - and then when I do get that much needed space for quiet and rest... maybe I "run off the road"... or "crash and burn"... maybe I get "pulled over" by my "inner cop"... 

So, why not find the delight in the obstacles that require my attention... the things in front of me that compell me to slow down and take it easy. Why not say thank you for keeping me sane and safe?

And it also occurs to me that I can talk about getting centered, and I can post about all kinds of spiritual stuff - but unless and until I can learn to really live in my center... to calm down and be here in this now moment... it's all just a bunch of bla bla bla.