gracias a la vida

It is raining, but temperatures are hovering around the freezing point. I refilled the bird feeders. I had to repair one first. Well, it really wasn't a repair job. Red/Green would have approved: I used electrical tape and a split clothes peg to secure one of the plexiglass panels to the frame. Part of the wooden frame, a vertical piece of molding, had been split off. It had formed part of the groove into which the plexiglass fit, and with it gone, the plexiglass was not staying in place. It looks bad, but it works.

With the temperatures a bit milder, I was able to break up some of the ice on our back steps and sweep it away. Despite practicing my yoga faithfully everyday, I still found just that little bit of exertion caused my shoulders and neck to protest! I keep reminding myself to be patient. Seems I should stick to nothing heavier than a tea cup!!

What was that quote in my yoga-photo book about limitations?

"We can do yoga practices that may reveal to us where we are resisting happiness. Once we are made aware of our tightness and uptightness, we can then begin to let go."
~~Sharon Gannon and David Life, The Art of Yoga

"Happiness is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you."
~~Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."
~~Albert Schweitzer

"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."
~~His Holiness, the Dalai Lama

"Neck tensions usually arise from fear of failing, of making mistakes, from a feeling of inadequacy in a given situation.....Also, remember that you are often biased in your self-criticism, that you see failures where an objective observer would never find fault."
~~Rosina-Fawzia Al-Rawi, Grandmother's Secrets, the ancient rituals and healing power of Belly Dancing

Interesting, isn't it, how synchronicity seems to lead me in my reading to what I need to think about! As I may have said before, I have about 40 to 50 books at my bedside, with bookmarks in them. I pick up a book, seemingly at random, before I go to sleep, or, as now, when I'm thinking about things, like my pain. The mysterious and profound connection between one moment and the next is very moving to me!

(What I'm listening to: Mercedes Sosa "Gracias a la Vida", Trance Planet compilation.)