Child of the Universe

Desiderata, written by Max Ehrmann in 1920... circled back into my life...and I STILL love it!!

Aside from just the inspired words...some facts that I'm just now aware of making this "reconnection" with the poem somehow more special....Max's birthday (Sept 9) is very close to mine, so he was a Virgo...and was from Terre Haute, IN...which is less than an hour from my family's ROOTS....just sort of coinky-dinky to find all of this out....this time around.........

...Story of the Day...Old Spirit....

McDougall’s Creamy Garlic Soup

2 whole heads of garlic

2 medium onions, chopped

4 white potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks (2 lbs)

5 cups vegetable broth or water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Remove the loose papery skin from the garlic. Slice a thin strip off the top of the head and discard. Place the garlic in a dry baking dish and bake for one hour. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Place the onion is a large pot with a small amount of liquid. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until the onion softens slightly, about 3 minutes. Add the potatoes, broth or water and soy sauce. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.

Press the cooled garlic cloves out of the skins and discard all the skins. Add the garlic to the soup pot. Continue to cook for 25 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Puree the soup in batches in a blender. Return to the pan and heat through. Season with pepper, if desired.

Number of Servings: 5

Living

Mary Anne Radmacher’s  Live with Intention

Walk to the edge.

Listen hard. Laugh. Play with abandon.

Practice wellness.

Continue to learn.

Choose with no regret.

Appreciate your friends.

Lead or follow a leader.

Do what you love.

Live as if this is all there is.

An excerpt from The Power of Positive Doing, by BJ Gallagher

 ACTION ALLEVIATES ANXIETY

For many years, I suffered from tension headaches with painful symptoms: impaired vision, sensitivity to light, excruciating throbbing in my temples, and sometimes nausea. They were awful. I consulted with doctors and dentists; I tried various medications; I took up meditation and tried bio-feedback. Some things helped a little bit—but nothing seemed very effective for any length of time.

Then I discovered something interesting—that taking action eased my headaches. Physical action was the best—anything that got my body moving. I could mow the lawn, wash the kitchen floor, workout in the gym, do some laundry, work in the garden, wash windows, wax the car—anything physical. Getting my body into action enabled me to work out the tension that was causing the headaches.

Other types of action worked, too—calling a trusted friend and having a good conversation; having sex (though that isn't always an option); writing in my journal; going for a long, relaxing drive. In short, any action that I can take to dissipate the pent-up tension in my head will do the trick. My head feels better; my neck and shoulders relax; and I feel the satisfaction of having done something.

Perhaps your anxiety doesn't show up in headaches. Maybe you carry your tension in some other part of your body—your back, your stomach, your shoulders, your intestines, your sinuses. Doctors estimate that as many as 80 percent of the physical problems their patients report are stress-induced!

Taking action to discharge the pent-up energy caused by stress can prevent health problems, and can even cure some of the ones you might already have.

Getting started is half the battle. A body at rest tends to stay at rest and overcoming our own inertia is a huge step forward. If you can get yourself to take just one step forward, you're now in motion—and a body in motion tends to stay in motion.

When my car won't start, I call on AAA. When my happiness won't start, I call on the other Triple A—Action Alleviates Anxiety. So can you!

McDougall's Lima Bean Soup

Servings: 6

1 cup dried baby lima beans

6 cups water

2 leeks, cut in half and thinly sliced

2 stalks celery, sliced

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 ½ cups chopped potatoes

1 bay leaf

½ pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 tablespoon soy sauce

½ cup uncooked orzo pasta (whole wheat)

¼ cup chopped fresh dill weed

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Place the lima beans and water in a large pot. Soak overnight, OR quick soak by bringing to a boil, cooking for 2 minutes, removing from heat and letting rest for 1 hour (OR no-soak and pressure cook on rapid rattle the ingredients up to and including the bay leaf with 3 cups of water for 10 minutes, let pressure fall on its own, then open add remaining water, mushrooms, and soy sauce and continue with recipe below).

Then, bring beans and water to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.

Add the leeks, celery, garlic, potatoes and bay leaf. Continue to cook for 30 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and soy sauce and cook an additional 20 minutes.

Add the orzo and dill weed and cook for another 10 minutes until the orzo is tender. Season with some freshly ground pepper, if desired.

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day...hugs and kisses to all the wondrous collective souls who helped heal a heart...You've Got a Friend, too........wishing you light-hearted Valentine's Day fun with those you love.....

Iris from The Holiday: I understand feeling as small and as insignificant as humanly possible. And how it can actually ache in places you didn't know you had inside you. And it doesn't matter how many new haircuts you get, or gyms you join, or how many glasses of chardonnay you drink with your girlfriends... you still go to bed every night going over every detail and wonder what you did wrong or how you could have misunderstood. And how in the hell for that brief moment you could think that you were that happy... And after all that, however long all that may be, you'll go somewhere new. And you'll meet people who make you feel worthwhile again. And little pieces of your soul will finally come back. And all that fuzzy stuff, those years of your life that you wasted, that will eventually begin to fade.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Take this Waltz...new love can just sweep you up...even if you already have a love....that makes sense now........Brideshead Revisited, Season 1: Episode 2...imagining the new loves together....

StoryPeople... Hide and Seek...

I was never good at hide & seek because I'd always make enough noise so my friends would be sure to find me. I don't have anyone to play those games with any more, but now & then I make enough noise just in case someone is still looking & hasn't found me yet.

...this Maja hopes you find her....

McDougall's Hearty Dal Soup

Servings: 4

3 1⁄4 cups water

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 1⁄2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1⁄4 teaspoon ground cumin

freshly ground black pepper

1 cup red lentils

1 15 ounce can garbanzos, drained and rinsed

1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes

2 cups chunked Yukon Gold potatoes

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1-2 teaspoons chili paste (Sambal Oelek)

2 cups fresh chopped chard

Place 1⁄4 cup of the water in a large soup pot. Add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally for 3-4 minutes, until softened. Add the ginger, paprika, cumin and several twists of freshly ground pep- per. Mix in well, then add the remaining water, the lentils, garbanzos, tomatoes and potatoes. Bring

to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 50 minutes, until lentils are tender. Add lemon juice, chili paste (start with 1 teaspoon and add more to taste) and chard. Cook for an additional 5-7 minutes, until chard is tender. Season with a bit of sea salt, if desired. Serve hot.

100%

An excerpt from The 100/0 Principle  called All or Nothing...by Al Ritter:

My mom used to say, "If you want to change someone, change yourself first." What my mom was saying was consistent with The 100/0 Principle. Most of us, however, are more familiar with a quite different notion...that a good relationship is based on a 50/50 proposition. I'll do my 50%, you agree to do your 50%, and we'll have a great relationship. The problem, of course, is that when something breaks down in the relationship, each person tends to blame the other—to point the finger as if it were the other person's fault.

A few years ago, a philosopher came up with a new relationship theory: the 100/100 proposition. It goes like this:

"I'll take 100% responsibility, you do the same and we can't miss."

This looked good at first; however, in practice it had the same shortcoming as the 50/50 proposition, namely the blame game. The 100/100 idea has another inherent flaw:

Each person has high, even unrealistic expectations of the other. After all, each person expects the other to take full responsibility.

Roadblocks to 100/0

Jack Canfield, the co-author of the Chicken Soup series of books, has a favorite quote, "If we're not a little uncomfortable every day, we're not growing. All the good stuff is outside our comfort zone."

The roadblocks to effectively implementing The 100/0 Principle are captured in that quote. When we allow our automatic, knee-jerk tendencies to govern our relationships with others, we almost surely stay inside our comfort zone, and avoid the good stuff—the learning, the growth, the unprecedented results available to us.

Most often, the only roadblock to 100/0 is...

Your willingness to suspend judgment and take full responsibility for the relationship.

When you do this authentically, most of the time truly great things will happen.

******************************

The 100/100 idea sounds good for this Maja!!....Story of the Day...Treasures....

Creamy Kale Soup

Serves 2-3 dinner sized portions

Veganyumyum.com

1/2 Cup Green Lentils


1/2 Cup Quinoa (I like to use half-and-half)


1/2 Medium Onion, finely chopped


4 Tbs Olive Oil


1 Small Bunch Kale
5 cups water

Spices


1 tsp Cumin, heaping


1/2 tsp Curry Powder


1 Veg Bouillon Cube


3 Tbs Tahini


2-3 Tbs Tamari or Soy Sauce

Wash and de-stem kale (I use kitchen scissors to cut along the sides of the stems), tear the leaves into smallish pieces.

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat, and add quinoa and lentils. Saute for a few minutes, add spices and kale. Mix well.

Add water and bouillon cube and bring to a boil.

Cover and turn down heat to low. Simmer for 35-40 minutes.

Carefully blend the hot soup in a food processor or blender and return to pot.

You can skip this step or blend only half of the soup if you want some texture, but I think it’s nicest smooth.

Add tahini and tamari to taste.

To garnish, mix 1-2 Tbs of tahini with a small amount of water until it becomes smooth and bright. Drizzle on top of the soup and serve.

Extra Effort

So...could we all put forth just a little extra effort today??  Wouldn't this world be super fantastic if everyone did??

Here is a great Simple Truths inspirational video....

212-the Extra Degree

...Story of the Day....Leaves of Music....

McDougall's Curried Split Pea Soup

Servings: 6-8

1/4 cup water 1 onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated

8 cups water

2 cups split peas (green or yellow)

2 teaspoons curry powder 1 teaspoon ground cumin

1⁄4 teaspoon ground coriander

1⁄4 teaspoon cardamom

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1⁄4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Place the 1⁄4 cup water in a large soup pot with the onion, carrot, garlic and ginger. Cook, stirring frequently until onion softens slightly, about 3 minutes. Add the 8 cups water, the split peas and all the seasonings except the cilantro. Mix well, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook for about 1 hour until peas are tender. Stir in the cilantro just before serving and season with a bit of sea salt, if desired.