Thursday, July 31, 2014

Superhero Mantra: Everything is Perfect

Everything
Is
Perfect
 
(Yes! Everything, Everything, Everything!)
 

I shared this mantra with a friend who is just recently divorced. This week she and her two kids moved into their new home.  In the face of those circumstances, and many of the slip-slidey circumstances we are thrown into as humans, it's sometimes hard to believe that everything is perfect.   

But my friend is a Superhero of Love in training.  She is taking it on with gusto.   She reported that she is using the above mantra "All the time....When I feel most sad - and when I'm feeling grateful - when the kids climb into my bed at 4:30am!" 

Honestly, I think "EVERYTHING IS PERFECT" is the best Superhero of Love mantra for two reasons:  1) It keeps you in the present and 2) It thwarts our very human need to label difficulties as bad and wrong.  

And when you live by it, you get little proof puddles that you can splash in from time to time. 

Like today.   I've been managing my Uncle's estate for the last few weeks.  He died as a result of injuries sustained in a bad car accident, which was caused by a heart attack.  He and I had been estranged since my dad died four years ago.  There were healthy reasons for that separation that don't matter here, except that my being the most appropriate person to handle this drew up some less than savory feelings.  Mostly I felt love and compassion, but when I was on hold with Social Security for 1.5 hours, I will admit I was cursing my fate and my uncle.  I had to keep veering myself toward the mantra:  "Yes, my dear, even THIS is perfect!"

My aunt is next of kin but she doesn't have the means to pay for the expenses associated with his death, so I've been doing that.  I knew it was the right thing to do.  His brother, my dad, would definitely say it was the right thing to do - up to a point.  But we hadn't reached "a point" yet.  It really was all perfect because it all needed to be done and I could do it. 

Yesterday, though, my Aunt called me specifically to firmly insist that she wants my Uncle to reimburse me for my expenses, i.e., she wants his life insurance proceeds (that she will be receiving) to pay me back. I protested.  She truly needs the money --all of it.  She insisted.  I agreed to talk about it down the line. 

I just got my Uncle's "effects" in today's mail.  I am assuming his clothes were cut off and he had arrived at the ER as a John Doe, because his wallet wasn't in his pants when they extricated him from the car.  So the envelope contained a belt and a huge wad of cash.  Total: $789.23. 

Once I pay for some shipping costs, the sum total I will have spent up to this week will quite possibly total up to the exact amount found in his pocket.

Wild stuff, this perfection, eh?

Monday, July 28, 2014

An Honest to God Real Life Superhero: Kathy Eldon

Check out my latest Huffington Post article -- particularly if you know someone who has ever suffered a loss:




 


This lovely woman, Kathy Eldon, lost her son, Dan, in the pre-Blackhawk Down incident in Somaiia in 1993, when he was only 22.

How she has dealt with the loss with the superpowers we all have inside us. 

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Oh to Be Easily Amused & Enthused!

I stumbled upon a beauty secret ...and the secret to attracting Italian men on my recent trip to Rome and Puglia!

Check out my latest HuffPo article on the topic!

http://
Huffington Post: Oh To Be Easily Amused & Enthused!


And here's a bonus pic of three of my friends being easily amused and enthused just outside our villa!