I'm writing this post on Wednesday morning Nov 6 long after reading about the election results from the previous night and early morning.

First, let's back up to the night of Nov 5. Ashara and I stayed away from all news sources and social media. Instead we watched an episode of The Lincoln Lawyer with Manuel Garcia-Rulfo playing Mickey Haller who is a defense lawyer based in Los Angeles. Really good writing, acting, and producing! Next we watched an episode of Monk played by Tony Shalhoub, a former San Francisco police detective who helps his former partner and police captain in each episode. It's quirky, funny, and has the right amount of pathos to keep us engaged with the show.

We basically didn't want to know what was happening with THE ELECTION. We were already feeling stressed, our own, and from half the population of the world.

It ain't easy being an EMPATH!

I avoided looking at email before meditating this morning (Nov 6) even though intuitively I knew who won. Hell, we all...

The Enlightened Squirrel at BMSC

Whaaaaat the actual acorn is this?

Who is this enlightened squirrel anyway?
What the heck is BMSC?
Why do I care?

All great questions young Padawan.

The Enlightened Squirrel was an inspiration while Ashara and I drove from Colorado to Wisconsin last year when we thought we were moving to the badger state to become resident cheese heads. We were on a 'home and land finding' mission for several days before returning home. Long story short: we’re staying in Colorado for the foreseeable future. We love where we live, we have fantastic views of the Rocky Mountains, our family is happy living on the farm, and we live in a very agricultural community where actual deer and antelope play. Read Ashara’s latest blog post about them antelopes.

 
Home on the range where the antelope play.

OK, so what about this Enlightened Squirrel dude?

Come closer and let’s explore!
[Yah, yah. We’ll get to BMSC later.]

So, Ashara and I are driving and...

How best to describe equanimity?

According to Wikipedia:
Equanimity is a state of psychological stability and composure which is undisturbed by the experience of or exposure to emotions, pain, or other phenomena that may cause others to lose the balance of their mind. The virtue and value of equanimity is extolled and advocated by a number of major religions and ancient philosophies.
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equanimity

Another way of describing equanimity is:
I didn’t lose my sh*t during a time of high emotional stress. Instead I maintain an even keel by recognizing the moment when the stress-o-meter starts to rise and BREATHE before speaking what’s already on the tip of my tongue and ready to lash out.

Wouldn’t be a good look.
Wouldn’t be a good time.
Wouldn’t be the right thing to do.
Wouldn’t be right speech.

And, so I practice equanimity daily while I accept the situation and my response to the situation with as much grace as possible....

Quite recently Ashara and I were working with a corporate executive to have one of his teams come out for a day-long team building event with the horses. I happen to be one of the team members so I know this executive pretty well. My teammates were really looking forward to this event.

After several discussions and his assurances that he wants our team to have an event he was unable to approve due to budget constraints. When I heard this news I felt an immediate sense of loss for our team as we would miss out on effective team connection and bonding and for Ashara since the potential income was good for the books.

More than that I felt a sense of loss because I remembered that coaching is so important to me and how I define myself as someone who is in service to humanity. The decision meant that we would not be serving this small group of people and that bummed me out for a few moments. The reason was totally understandable from the executive’s budget constraint perspective. My...

Oh, yes! I love this fun and tasty subject for the week.

Firstly, let’s look at some definitions of the word confidence courtesy of Merriam-Webster.com:

1a: feeling or consciousness of one's powers or of reliance on one's circumstances
Examples: had perfect confidence in her ability to succeed
                  met the risk with brash confidence

1b: faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way
Example: have confidence in a leader

2: the quality or state of being certain : certitude
Example: they had every confidence of success

3a: a relation of trust or intimacy
Example: took his friend into his confidence

3b: reliance on another's discretion
Example: their story was told in strictest confidence

3c: support especially in a legislative body
Example: vote of confidence

4: a communication made in confidence : secret
Example: accused him of betraying a confidence


Attribute:...

Recent posts have shed light on mediation and mindfulness, two practices that help me each and every day. Without those practices in my life I’d be a quivering mass of goo.

Like a cylinder of red jello the size of the Empire State Building attempting to hold still during a 7.6 magnitude earthquake. Fortunately, earthquakes are rare in the New York metropolitan area, so, you know it’s fairly safe to say the 1,454 foot tall jello being would be okay to stand next to.

This morning I checked email as Ashara and I were getting ready to meditate.
Word of advice. NEVERRRR CHECK EMAIL BEFORE MEDITATING.
What was I thinking?

One of the emails that caught my attention was from Badlands Ranch, a company that sells food and treats for dogs.
Not just any dog food mind you.
Just ask Katherine Heigl.
She’s the founder.

Anyway, our recent order arrived on Tuesday which was confirmed by email. The delivery address listed our street address which is strange because we use a post...

“There’s something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.”

Winston Churchill said that and from my perspective he was right!

The other evening after attending a 2-day training session from which I was somewhat brain tired my wife said to me “the water tank for the horses needs to be filled” as she made her way to an online meeting.

Usually this is not a big deal since we fill said tank every couple of days. BUT….this time I was in the middle of a mini-project attempting to get plastic sheeting over a raised garden frame to protect newly planted tomatoes and peppers all the while fighting the wind that threatened to blow the plastic sheeting over to the next county with me still holding on for dear life.

SERIOUSLY!
The wind here could lift a 1,200 pound hog if it had wings.

Looking at her with my best incredulous facial expression I said “I’m in the middle of something” while thinking YOU MUST BE OUT YOUR...

Hey, You!
Yes, You!

It’s me!
Your Inner Critic, aka, the snarky ‘what in the actual HELL are you doing?’ troll or gremlin voice in your head.

Oh, you know this voice SOOOOOOO well, dontcha?
Dontcha! Dontcha!DONTCHA!!

“Why, if you knew half things you think you knew, you’d be half-assed.”

You know whose voice that really is?
Anyone who criticized you during your formative years.

Let’s list those buggers.

Your father.
Your mother.
Your brother.
Your sister.
Your teacher.
Your classmates.
Your friends.
Your neighborhood bully.

Those blasted trolls are still running your life by telling you all that downer shit, only, you hear them as yourself.

I can’t do ________.
I can’t have _________.
I’m not good enough for ________.
I’m not worthy of _________.

Oh, oh, ANNNNNND, you hear it from your current friends or people you hang out with.
Because.
Misery.
Loves.
Company.

Will it ever end?
When will it end?

The answer to that question lies within.

When...

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, which was established in 1949 to increase awareness of the importance of mental health and wellness in our lives. To honor this very important part of healthcare, I’ll offer mental health resources available to all of our communities.

If you need it, help is out there. You are not alone.

Did you know that according to the National Institute of Mental Health it is estimated that more than one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness (57.8 million in 2021).
Reference: Mental illness

That’s a hard number to digest! It’s no wonder we’re feeling out-of-sorts with all the lunacy (my word) for the current state of events: threats to democracy, dignity, and human rights around the world; and the lack of ethical and moral leadership in our country!

How trauma can be passed down
Mental health is known to begin with our family of origin. That’s right! Our parents, grandparents, and on up the line of our lineage may be a...

Have you ever wondered what it’s like living with Post Traumatic Stress? Actually, I hope you never have to personally experience it.

Do you know anyone who lives with Post Traumatic Stress also known as PTSD? Perhaps a family member or a friend of yours lives with PTS. Do you know how to help someone when they are triggered?

I can tell you from personal experience exactly what it’s like living with post traumatic stress and how my meditation practice has helped me overcome trigger points over the years.

First, let’s dive into what Post Traumatic Stress is.

The information below is borrowed from The Mayo Clinic, specifically, this website: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355967#. The bold items indicate my personal account of post traumatic stress.

Causes
You can develop post-traumatic stress disorder when you go through, see or learn about an event involving actual or threatened death, serious injury...