Thanks~living ...

  I've been following a woman on YouTube, Victoria Jazwic, The Soul Nurturer, [< link to the video I mention below] in my journey to heal my past relationship traumas.  Among many things, she is a (my term:) life coach and speaks of astrological things happening in the sky and how they relate to life.  She posted a video the other day about how Thanksgiving should actually become a thanks~living.  Changing our focus to express gratitude every day.  She has also been talking about "shadow work" and I've seen a lot on Instagram about that but didn't know what it was until her video clip the other night.  I've now ordered a Shadow Work workbook, and another one based on the book The Body Keeps Score that a counselor also suggested.  

  On this journey, I've been reading similar thoughts on gratitude, one of them a book [link>] by Kawaljit Singh called Thoughts to Heal ~ the Shri Guru Granth Sahib Way.  Which often prompts me to have thought-provoking conversations with Bipin.  Something I read that so far has had the most impact on me was this:

The spiritual ones treat everyone with equality, because they know that it is one soul of the universe that is running through everyone.  The ones who are out there to divide people in the name of religion are not spiritual at all in the true sense. Nature may manifest itself in diverse forms by giving everyone and every specie a different appearance.  But taken collectively, we are one big family.  The difference between human beings is because of the manmade parameters on which everyone is judged. [underlines, bold and highlight added by me for emphasis]

 I also purchased [link >] The Buddha and His Dhamma which was written by the Indian Statesman Bhimrao R. Ambedkar and is the faith that Bipin most closely relates to.  Much of what I've read, and many of our conversations, have confirmed something that Bipin once said, which was that it was essentially all the same, just worded a little differently from what the Christian Bible does.

  Tuesday afternoon, Charlie took a fall down the stairs that I didn't witness, but his body language told me later that it scared him a great deal.  To be safe, we went to the veterinarian's office early Wednesday morning for X-rays.  Nothing was broken, thanks given, but she thought he probably had a great deal of muscle soreness.  Anti-inflammatories were prescribed, and he is taking advantage of the extra attention and being carried up and down the stairs for now.  Weightlifting for strength was on my list of things to start in 2024, but carrying a 20# dog up and down the stairs was not what I had in mind.

  We shared turkey sandwiches today, and this weekend we will be going to see my nephews and sister.  But for the most part, it is going to be four days (well now three) of taking things slow and easy.  I want to be sure that he is not pushing himself too much with jumping down after I've lifted him up, or charging down the stairs.  I've ordered fabric treads to make it easier on him since it looks like we will be in this house at least until the end of July next year.

  I hope your weekend is restful and filled with gratitude.  ~ Ci