chicken soup

The Rules for Being Human



1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around.


2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a fulltime informal school called life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.


3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial and error, experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately "works."


4. A lesson is repeated until learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.


5. Learning lessons does not end. There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive there are lessons to be learned.


6. "There" is no better than "here." When your "there" has become a "here" you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here."


7. Others are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.


8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.


9. Your answers lie inside you. The answer to life's questions lie inside you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.


10. This will often be forgotten, only to be remembered again.


(Cherie Carter-Scott)

winter has begun to whisper her lyrics here in colorado this weekend. the snow began to pour down like rain, (actually started as rain) and a quiet settles in me and all around. it isn't my favorite part of the year, but i have learned i am not calling the shots, so i do my best to hunker down and muddle through. what has happened over the years though, is that i'm trying to learn to appreciate what it has to offer.

naturally, winter represents the letting go of old foliage, and the invisible regeneration of new patterns. in that sense, it's a great time for me to review my internal operating system, map out new goals, tweak the existing hard drive, make repairs, tweak what is necessary, and make plans to download the necessary updates.

there is an ongoing internal struggle that requires upkeep. it is the tendency to be satisfied with the status quo. but along with that tendency is the understanding that as this settles i slip into what seems innocent enough. but it is also said that it can be apathy and return to ego. don't get me wrong here, my ego is alive and strong. i have plenty of encounters with it daily. but i have already decided that i wish for something different than simply an ego driven life. that particular avenue has led to a land without light on several occasions. winter does that for me, so i don't need any extra help.

i made soup the other night to give away. the process of doing it has become therapeutic for me. cooking has a way of getting me out of my head and concentrating on something other than me. this is what works best for me. being busy and doing for others.

i have learned that i have challenges along with any talents i may have. these come together not isolated and i am wise to treat my life as such. there are things that come easy and there are just as many things with which i continuously struggle. but i don't really notice because thats' how i always roll.

CHUNKY CHICKEN VEGETABLE SOUP



1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes


1 tsp. oil


1 can (14 1/2 oz.) chicken broth


2 cups water


2 cups assorted cut-up vegetables (such as sliced carrots, broccoli florets and chopped red pepper *)


1 envelope (0.7 oz.) Italian salad dressing & recipe mix


1 cup MINUTE® White Rice, uncooked


2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

today's sound choice is from the film "the diving bell and the butterfly"  i think it a metaphor for the adaptability we can muster if the need arises. and on some level, it inevitably does.here is emmanuelle with "don't kiss me goodbye"





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