feeling blessed

The Flame of Freedom

Ignition of the Flame of Freedom, courtesy of http://www.susantouwphotography.com/
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Today, May 4rth, is the day to remember the suffering of the past in the Netherlands. After last weeks post it may seem a little repetitious, however to me, feeling privileged holding two nationalities, it is important to appreciate the freedom I have enjoyed my entire life.

There will be a minute of silence to connect to the past and remember all the people that lost their lives in WW2, victims as well as freedom fighters.

Tomorrow, on the 5th of May, the freedom regained is celebrated in honoring all those foreign and Dutch soldiers that contributed.

Picture of Dutch citizens celebrating freedom after WW2, borrowed from http://www.piqueshow.com/bevrijdingsdag/

Picture of Dutch citizens celebrating freedom after WW2, borrowed from http://www.piqueshow.com/bevrijdingsdag/

2015 is the 70th anniversary of this event and it is good to see that the gratitude is still alive among the generations that have never been through it, that can only imagine what it was like to live under occupation of a dictatorship compared to what they are experiencing now.

A group of young people, from several countries involved, recently went on a bicycle tour, taking the “Flame of Freedom” to revisit several memorial monuments:

While remembrance is far from a fun thing to do, it is important to remember that we can do the fun things because of the sacrifices made. It is important to have gratitude for what was achieved in order to maintain the liberties and avoid similar mistakes in the future.

Only if things go back to what once was, will they have suffered in vain. We can choose to embrace our differences with compassion and understanding the connection all humans share, that ultimately we all want freedom and happy lives.

Unfortunately it takes those unhappy events to give us the perspective to recognize what happy free lives look like and appreciate what we have. Lets keep the Flame of Freedom alive!

What would we think of the light if there was no darkness?

Yin/Yang World picture courtesy of: http://feng-shui.lovetoknow.com/Yin_Yang_Pictures

Yin/Yang World picture courtesy of: http://feng-shui.lovetoknow.com/Yin_Yang_Pictures

Top image (Ignition of the Flame of Freedom) courtesy of http://www.susantouwphotography.com/

 

How I had fun hanging out the washing today

Fun washing
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Last night I felt a bit down for about half an hour due to late nights, early mornings and hard work in between and thought to myself better to practice what I “preach” today. I was hanging out the washing in a bit of an improved mood already, because I had a better night sleep and it simply was a gorgeous day to be out there with the sun shining happily upon our back yard and a stiff sea breeze keeping things very pleasant.

That does not include hanging out the washing on a hoist! I was struggling to put the pegs in the right spot while hanging onto the lines for dear life in an attempt to keep it still for long enough to accomplish that. The large towels I put up from the load before were catching a lot of wind and made the hoist turn like a chairoplane! That was it! I had enough!

I gave up my resistance and decided to go with the flow and use my Glad Game. I stopped for a brief moment and looked around the garden, said thanks for the beautiful day, looked in appreciation at all the beautiful flowers beaming smiles at me and proposed a little game in my mind. If thoughts really create reality, prove this to me again and stop the wind for long enough to peg down my next item in a perfect spot for it.

Next I grabbed a piece of clothing and stepped back from the laundry basket. I looked up and to my amazement found a perfect empty spot of line and sufficient time to do the pegging in comfort! I giggled to myself saying: ” yea right, that was just a coincidence!” I tried again, same thing, grab the first item on top, step back, looked up and found another moment like the one before! Now I was giggling even louder! Ok, This is a really fun game! It kept going till the basket was empty!

Not only did I get my task done in no time, I also had a ball doing it! The feeling of lightheartedness stayed with me until now! I am normally not a fan of chores, but they need to be taken care of and you may as well have fun, go with the flow and see what happens playing the Glad Game while you are at it! Where can you use the Glad Game? Feel free to share in the comments below.

The lesson my dog taught me

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Gibbo

Gibbo

My dog, “Gibbo”, an 8 year old black and white Kelpie cross Labrador managed to totally surprise me in the last few days. I have been busy digging in the garden to create room for some old bricks that I want to move and pave under the old woodshed roof. This will be the floor of my new potting area, which was previously under the car port. Seeing that all the posts are rotten, I am expecting it to fall down sooner or later, so it is best to prepare for that day and move things away. The roof of the new potting area is not very high and I just fitted under it, standing up straight, leaving only about 3 cm’s to spare, so in order to put the bricks down, I had to lower the surface. It is a pretty massive job, seeing the clay is very dry and of course rock hard, so it feels like I am carving rather than digging!

Towards the end of the afternoon, Gibbo always gets a little restless in anticipation of our evening walk and indicated that he wanted me to stop digging and play with him instead. Unfortunately he does this by barking loudly, so I jokingly said to him to come and help me dig to shut him up. To my amazement he started digging! Not quite in the spot where I needed it most, but in one of the softer corners. That showed to me that he’s not silly! The last time I asked him to help me dig anything, was at least 7 years ago, when I had to dig some holes for the tree ferns I was relocating in my back yard. So he showed an incredible memory as well!

Next, my husband came home from a short visit. He yelled out to me over the gate, because he did not take his keys and needed me to open up the front door for him. I had locked it, because I could not hear if anyone would come into the house from the back of the yard. I went to open the door and as usual Gibbo followed me there to welcome my husband. He always greets you at the front door by picking up his favourite tennis ball, to show he is ready to play with you and excited you are home again, so he dropped the one he was playing with in the backyard and picked up a tennis ball. I went back to what I was doing and shortly after, Gibbo comes out again to check what I am up to. He decided he wanted to play some more and started his annoying barking routine again. This time I said to him to go get his ball. He looked around puzzled as to where it could be. Because he gets so excited about what is happening he does not seem to realize where he drops it, so I told him where he left it. I said: “You left it at the front door where we go out to do walkies”. I pictured it in my mind as I said it. I went on with what I was doing and he disappeared into the house, through his doggy door. A moment later, he was back with his beloved back yard ball! I was totally amazed at his comprehension and praised him for his cleverness and started to play with him and his ball.

This event proved to me that pets understand a lot more than we generally give them credit for! If you look into their eyes, you can see their soul and how they feel. If you respect them as an entity with feelings, just in a different body, they know this and you will be rewarded by their love and respect. You will gain a special bond that is different from any human interaction. I feel very blessed to feel so loved by Gibbo and have this understanding and communication with him. I am glad he came into my life, not only to learn this important lesson. What are your experiences with this? Please share in the comments.