Category: Words To Live By

As I sit out in my backyard typing this, enjoying probably one of the last of the warm days before the depth of the fall weather arrives, I look around and find myself admiring the job I just completed for the umpteenth time already this season, that of cleaning the leaves up.

On average, I’m usually out in the yard doing this task at least once a day during the fall timeframe. And while to most it may seem obsessive and unnecessary, including my partner and many of my neighbors, I find a sense of peace in doing it.

It is said through many of the Buddhist books I’ve read that one can mindful and at peace within while doing any of life’s daily routines. So why can’t that be applied while doing my day-to-day fall yard work. The reality is that it can, which is why I specifically do this task.

To be mindful of a chore is to focus solely on the actions surrounding doing it. Thus I find when I’m out in the yard sucking all those leaves up with my new Toro leaf vacuum, I do my best to focus only on that action and nothing more. In other words, all my constant frustrations and worries, especially with my health, take a back burner to watching as the machine pulls in one leaf after another.

It honestly helps a lot and in some ways is really just a form of meditation in itself. This can be true of any other chore in life as well such as cleaning the dishes, washing the windows, or dusting the house. Most of us though don’t do this at all. Instead, we allow our minds to race from one thing to the next during whatever we find ourselves doing in any given moment. And all that achieves is a restless, irritable, and discontent state of being.

So while most might find it rather comical that I clean up the leaves in the yard more than not during the fall season, I personally find great enjoyment in doing so because of the benefits it provides, benefits that aid in my healing, and benefits like many a compliment from a passerby.

Thus I’m feeling overly grateful to my Higher Power as I type these words right now because of the finished product I just completed and am now admiring once again in my yard. And while I know more leaves are only going to come down again soon enough, I’m at least finding a little serenity and joy in life doing something that most just seem to find a hassle in the Fall.

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

I bought a new computer recently through Apple that had a few hiccups along the way to purchasing it. Each of those hiccups was out of my control and was due to some glitches on Apple’s ordering system’s end. And because of those glitches, a kind member of the Apple customer service team took $150 off the total purchase price without me even asking for it, of which I was more than grateful. But something happened after all this took place that I felt tested an old negative pattern of mine, and it deals with greed.

Within no more than an hour or so after receiving that $150 credit, I had a phone call from a friend of mine who ironically works for Apple. When I told him the good news of me finally buying a new computer from his employer, he told me I needed to immediately cancel the order, which I thought was a very odd response. When I asked him why he would say such a thing, he said he could get me a 15% discount off my total purchase price. After doing the math for me as well, he said it would save me several hundred dollars more in doing so.

For several minutes I debated on whether to take my friend up on his offer or not, but deep down I kept hearing this voice within me saying “No!” the entire time. Interestingly enough, my old self wouldn’t have had any hesitation whatsoever on being able to save some more money on this purchase, but the person I’ve become today definitely is seeing things differently, especially when it comes to money.

I allowed money to control me for far too many years and all too often I’d do behaviors that often screwed other people just to save a buck. In this case with the computer purchase, I asked myself at the precise moment my friend said he could save me more money on it, whether the Apple support person’s time was worth anything. I then thought about how I spent more than an hour on the phone with them working through those glitches and getting the computer reordered given the first one had gotten cancelled somehow. Even further, I thought about how they promised to monitor the order until it got shipped out successfully and that they would call me if any issues were to arise. And finally, I thought about the $150 credit she gave me for all the inconveniences I had gone through and asked myself, why isn’t that enough of a discount?

Look, I truly believe in karma and although saving more money usually seems like a good thing to do, I’ve learned along the way through plenty of past unfortunate experiences that when I cut one corner it usually catches up with me somewhere else pretty quickly. And while my ego did its best to convince me that this woman wouldn’t mind if I cancelled the order and had my friend make the purchase instead, I went with my gut and decided having $300 more in my pocket would only be about greed.

You see that’s the problem with money. The ego tends to think it never has enough of it and because of that, it often ends up controlling so many, causing people to make decisions without regard for anyone or anything else. I honestly don’t ever want money to do this to me anymore in life like it once used to with such regularity.

So in the end, I turned my friend’s 15% discount down and I have to say I felt a lot better because of it. I have no guilt and no buyer’s regret, and somehow I think my Higher Power was telling me I made the right decision when that friendly Apple customer service agent called me again later that day and told me my order was fully processed and my computer would soon be on its way…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

Do you ever find yourself suddenly thinking of someone out of the clear blue that you once loved dearly who passed away long ago? I have and often wonder when that happens if it’s because the spirit of that person was visiting me at that precise moment.

During my meditation this morning, I found myself experiencing that very thing with my father’s mother. Her name was Elsa, and she was an awesome grandmother to me. After I remembered a few fond memories of her as I sat there and continued to meditate, I decided to dedicate the next blog I wrote, meaning this one, to her.

Grandmother Elsa was from Glen Cove, Long Island in New York and I used to see her several times every year. She was a very prim and proper woman, elegant in her own way, and what I admired most about her was how smart she was. We used to carry on conversations about so many things, especially current events and the latest news. In fact, she used to get the Newsday newspaper and it generally made for plenty of morning conversations between us.

Speaking of morning conversations, most of those came during my summer visits to her. I used to stay at her home for a week or two and most of my fondest memories are from those times. Every morning during them she had a fresh batch of homemade popovers baking in the oven, usually ready for me to delve into with a huge slab of butter once I came downstairs. And to adorn that breakfast meal each day was some Quaker Oats oatmeal made on the stove with raisins and brown sugar, of which I still eat to this very day on many a cold days.

How we occupied the rest of each of our days together was always different. Some of the things we did included swimming in the Long Island Sound or at Jones Beach, going into New York City for a meal or a show or to visit her sister while being driven there be a driver, seeing a movie at the theater, doing some shopping at the mall, playing tons of games of Ping-Pong on her table in the basement, playing various card games while staring out into her pristine backyard, hanging out at summer barbecues with local relatives and going to plenty of restaurants (one of which I remember clearly because of their cheesecake and that was Steve’s Pier One in Bayville), and really just taking a lot of time talking about life to be totally honest. I really that last one the most because Grandmother Elsa frequently made me feel like I was a grown-up.

Beyond my summer visits, there was one other regular time I knew I’d get to see her every year and that was at Thanksgiving. Our Thanksgiving meal was always held at her home and I truly enjoyed spending that holiday there. I can still recollect watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with her, playing more games of Ping-Pong than I can count, and taking walks around her neighborhood during those holiday trips. And as for the meal itself, well if I were to close my eyes right now, I can still picture myself sitting there at her old but rather ornate wooden dining room table feeding my face out of all her collective milk glass dishes.

As I sit here and write all this about my Grandmother Elsa, I can safely say she was one of my best friends for much of my earlier years in life, especially during all those grammar school days when I was mostly friendless. I’m not sure if I ever had any dull moments with her, which is why I truly hope I get to see her again one day.

So whether she was with me or not during my meditation this morning doesn’t really matter. What matters is the joy I felt within when I thought of her. I think the image I will always have with her is the same I had during that meditation and that was of me sitting at her kitchen table like we always used to do, talking about life and current events, while eating her delicious popovers and enjoying a bowl of hot oatmeal.

I love you Grandmother Elsa. I really do miss you…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew