Five Minutes....

Good Morning My Confidants

I hope this finds you happy and well and counting your blessings. Think about stopping right now and listing five. That's all. Five

For me....

1) Having heroes I can look up to like Harvey Milk and Joe Gatton and Pam Crocker and Troy Perry and Ed Wolf and Cleve Jones and so many others. Men and women who led by example, and I needed them coming out when I was thirty in 1990. I wasn't aware of all these people in 1990, but I know in retrospect what they were doing and how they were changing my life for the better.

2) Dear friends like...no, no names. I won't slight anyone. Know that I close my eyes now and let the names and names and names flow over me....

3) Trans friends who helped "wake" me up. There is a time in my life where I might have said some stupid shit when it comes to trans people. I don't know if they would have been as bad as what a certain writer has said, but I truly didn't understand being a cis as l am. I am so grateful for those who have been examples, and now their cause is close to my heart.

4) My family... husbands, daughter, mother, brother.... And my father who is no longer walking this earth. I love you all so much. Thank you for never giving up on me.

5) My blog. It's "struggling" a long, but that was never its purpose....to be famous or something. It makes me start my day constructively and positively, and not embroiled in politics are hurt or anger. Starting my daily vibration in a good space.

These are five things I'm grateful for. You don't have to go into this kind of detail. Just list five things. Home. Job. It's Friday. A pet. A spouse or spouses. The weather. Health. A cup of coffee ....

Start your vibration right.....

Yesterday, things got overly dramatic with my daughter. She is me x10. High anxiety often. But we spent a good day together and I kept my cool for about 98% of it no matter where her moods took her, I think I owe that all starting my day right yesterday. And quiet and contemplation and gratitude. And the determination that I would be calm no matter what happened. Right out of the gate it was dramatic. Her aunt fell on our stone walkway getting out of that car because she wasn't paying attention to what she was doing. I was upstairs writing. It mood music playing downstairs and did not hear them outside. I didn't know anything was wrong. Her aunt bruised yourself fairly good and my daughter was yelling at me because I didn't know what was going on. I took deep breaths, many, didn't raise my voice (I don't think I did) and calm things down quickly. Apologized about the new stone walkway and never said anything about "why weren't you guys watching what you were doing?" That's not constructive.

But we got a lot done for her, my daughter that is, and it was nice helping her out. And she gave me a very rare MiniVerse ball/kit that people are paying real high bucks for. She charged me cost and $1. That's really nice. And I wouldn't trade her in for anyone. She is who she is and I love her.

Today I'm going to help out a friend. One of my closest dearest friends. I hope I get as much done as possible. When she comes to my house she helps me big time. I hope I can do even have what she would do.

And here's another thing. A great big deal for me.

I officially started true meditations this morning again. I really slacked off. I would do my good thoughts for the day for a few minutes, I try and do that all the time, think of those that I love and wish them well.... My version of prayer.

But today? Today was official meditation. I set the timer for 5 minutes. It was a disaster. LOL. Well, not really. But 5 or 10 seconds in I was thinking about what I was going to do or thinking about my daughter or what I should write about this morning or how good meditation would be for a few people that I know or....

But as I learned in my Buddhism classes years ago, don't beat myself up, start again. I must have started over again 30 or 40 times in the 5 minutes that I went for this morning.

Science has shown just 5 minutes a day of meditation can help change your life. "For instance, a 2015 study exploring the impact of short meditations on 61 mental health professionals found that the group who meditated for just five minutes a day over a seven-day intervention experienced significant reductions in stress." *

Research-backed physical benefits of meditation along with a healthy lifestyle can include:

Ω Reduced hypertension in young adults

Ω Lessened inflammation

Ω Decreased symptoms of menopause

Ω Improved pain responses

Ω Mitigated risk of stress-induced or exacerbated conditions xacerbated conditions

I'm going to get back to a half an hour. I did it before and it became one of the most important things in my life. And I don't have to work anymore. I don't have to worry about how in the world am I going to meditate for 5 minutes in the morning. I can do it. No excuse.

This morning it was 5 minutes. I am going to do it every morning for 5 minutes. Clear my mind. Stop the busy busy busy busy busy busy busy chatter. Stop the drunken monkey. Empty. Clear. Quiet. Five minutes.

Today is Friday. I hope your day is wonderful. I hope you're one of those people that gets the whole weekend off and that you're going to do something really wonderful. Even if that's nothing more than sitting on your porch where your balcony or a comfortable chair and clearing your mind for five minutes.

Maybe you're going to have a great adventure. A friend of mine that arrived in Paris this morning. But wonders await him? I can't wait for my first Paris!

Or maybe I can.

For "whether it is clear to you, no doubt the Universe is unfolding as it should."

May your day and your weekend be a blessing.

Namasté,

BG "Gentle Ben" Thomas

* The Benefits of a 5-Minute Meditation: https://choosemuse.com/blogs/news/the-benefits-of-a-5-minute-meditation