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Happy Holidays to You from Barbara
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Giving and Receiving: Two Steps in the Delicate Dance of Life.
Give… two, three, four, Receive… two, three, four. Give… two, three, four… Give… two, three, four…
Remembering to dance is remembering to move. To move, is to remember to live. When we stop moving we die. One of my favorite quotes is, “Live your life like a beautiful prayer.” What if each of us lived our life like a beautiful prayer or a beautiful dance? What if we were in harmony and in step with each other and the natural rhythms of life?
Who Is Blessed Most? The Giver or the Receiver?
So, let’s learn a new life dance together. It’s a simple dance with only two steps, one is giving and the other is receiving. Some are comfortable with giving, but not receiving. Others are only comfortable with receiving but not with giving. We need balance. With practice the dance can become so precise that the two steps look like one, as expressed in the adage, “A deed is its own reward.” When you give from your heart and the other person receives and is appreciative, the joy you receive as the giver is so great that you wonder who was blessed the most.
Allow Yourself to Be Swept Away
When is the last time you just danced and allowed yourself to be swept away by the music and the moment? Think about your favorite song and your favorite dance. Go ahead, right now; close your eyes and take a stroll down memory lane. Or even better, get up and dance to it! Do you feel lighter, happier, and freer?
To dance, we have to get unstuck; we have to move. While dancing, at least for that moment, we let go of our stresses, our fears, and our inhibitions. Most of the time in this dance of life, we must dance with others, but sometimes we will dance alone. At first we may feel awkward, but that’s only until we stop caring about what others think and realize that we dance for our own enjoyment and to the beat we hear in our own hearts. We must each take some time out regularly to think about what makes our hearts and souls dance.
Giving and Receiving Are Not Confined to Physical Things
There are many dances in life and each in its own time shows up to shape our lives. There is a time for everything, “A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” (King James Bible, Ecclesiastes) Yes, we are told that “to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” So, there must also be a season or time to give and a season or time to receive. Sometimes we give, sometimes we receive. We can’t be the one giving all the time and we can’t be the one receiving all the time either, this makes our lives unbalanced. Giving and receiving are also not confined to physical things. We give love, compassion, and encouragement and we can receive love, compassion, and encouragement. Now this is the type of dance that enriches everyone. Care to dance?
Giving or receiving, which one is the greater gift? You decide! Give… two, three, four, Receive… two, three, four.
Barbara S. Talley is a speaker, author and poet. http://www.thepoetspeaks.com
The Power of First Words
We Have Creative Power
Today’s motivational message is on the power of first words. Spiritually speaking, we are told that in the very beginning, ‘was the Word’. We are told that words created all that there is and that we also have that same creative power. All the Holy Books, Spiritual Leaders, and Motivational gurus teach us that we are in control of our destiny. We create our reality through our thoughts, and the building blocks of our thoughts are our words.
All Thoughts Produce An Outcome
We know from experience that both loving thoughts and hateful thoughts, fearful thoughts or faithful thoughts, hopeful thoughts or hopeless thoughts all produce an outcome. They influence our actions and shape our lives. The Bible states, “As a man thinketh, so is he.” Buddhist Teachings state that ‘we are what we think, having become what we thought’. The Baha’i Teachings state, “The reality of man is his thought.” So if words have so much power, wouldn’t it make sense to monitor our words and thoughts and use them to our advantage?
Choose Carefully Your First Words Each Day
The first words you utter each day ‘prime your pump’. They get you going in a certain direction. Since we have free will, we can change that direction at any time. But since we are habitual creatures, we usually don’t. We just ‘go with the flow.’ One way to really get on track, on fire, and on purpose is to conscientiously choose our first words. Are they of gratitude or they complaining of something that’s not going your way.
What You Think About Multiplies
Since what you think about (good or bad) multiplies in your life, it’s essential that the first words (and first thoughts), having creative power, should be focused on what we want, appreciate, and love.
Take Some Action
So for the next few days, monitor and write down your first thoughts. Then conscientiously, plan to make them positive, affirming, and loving. Some may start off with prayer or meditation. Others may focus on what they have to be grateful for or on their goals. Just take control of your thoughts and you’ll be surprised at how powerful you really are!
Barbara
Native American or American Indian?
This is National Native American Month. Celebrate by learning something from the original Americans.
Borgna Brunner asked: “Are the terms American Indian and Native American essentially synonyms, in the same way that the terms black and African American are often used interchangeably? Or is using the term American Indian instead of Native American the equivalent of using Negro instead of black—offensive and anachronistic? Is the insistence on using Native American to the exclusion of all other terms a sign of being doctrinaire?“
One Answer
“As the publisher and editor of The Navajo Times, the largest Native American–owned weekly newspaper, puts it, “I . . . would rather be known as, ‘Tom Arviso Jr., a member of the Navajo tribe,’ instead of ‘Arviso, a Native American or American Indian.’ This gives an authentic description of my heritage, rather than lumping me into a whole race of people.”
Please read the entire article by Borgna Brunner, American Indian versus Native American: A once-heated issue has sorted itself out where she addresses Columbus, the Census, and stereotypes.
To find out the answer check out, http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aihmterms.html.
I’m Barbara Talley, The Poet who speaks and inspires. To find more about me, check out my promo sheet or visit my website.
Native American Heritage Month
About Native American Heritage Month
Information courtesy of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior
What started at the turn of the century as an effort to gain a day of recognition for the significant contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the U.S., has resulted in a whole month being designated for that purpose.
How It All Got Started
One of the very first proponents of an American Indian Day was Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian, who was the director of the Museum of Arts and Science in Rochester, N.Y. He persuaded the Boy Scouts of America to set aside a day for the “First Americans” and for three years they adopted such a day. In 1915, the annual Congress of the American Indian Association meeting in Lawrence, Kans., formally approved a plan concerning American Indian Day. It directed its president, Rev. Sherman Coolidge, an Arapahoe, to call upon the country to observe such a day. Coolidge issued a proclamation on Sept. 28, 1915, which declared the second Saturday of each May as an American Indian Day and contained the first formal appeal for recognition of Indians as citizens.
24 State Endorsements by December 14, 1915
The year before this proclamation was issued, Red Fox James, a Blackfoot Indian, rode horseback from state to state seeking approval for a day to honor Indians. On December 14, 1915, he presented the endorsements of 24 state governments at the White House. There is no record, however, of such a national day being proclaimed.
First American Indian Day Declared in New York
The first American Indian Day in a state was declared on the second Saturday in May 1916 by the governor of New York. Several states celebrate the fourth Friday in September. In Illinois, for example, legislators enacted such a day in 1919. Presently, several states have designated Columbus Day as Native American Day, but it continues to be a day we observe without any recognition as a national legal holiday.
George H. W. Bush Approves Resolution for Native American Month
In 1990 President George H. W. Bush approved a joint resolution designating November 1990 “National American Indian Heritage Month.” Similar proclamations, under variants on the name (including “Native American Heritage Month” and “National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month”) have been issued each year since 1994.
Theme for this year’s heritage month is “Pride in Our Heritage. Honor to Our Ancestors .”
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