Little gestures.

This is a good start*:

*thanks to Karyn Murphy for the beautiful picture.
Every single day I see miracles all around me.  Every single day I wake up ready to be surprised by life and what it drops at my feet. Every single day I am more grateful than the day before.
I keep understanding what I have taken as one of my personal mantras in life: "Whatever we do to others, we do to ourselves first."  The more I live, the more that it becomes clear that we are all one, that there´s no ´you´and ´me´ there´s US.  I was raised to treat others with kindness and sometimes I did, sometimes not so much.
As time goes by I have learned that it is the only way to go.  I know that I will never know what you are going through, where you come from or how you are doing, but, I do know that being kind to you is not a sacrifice and by doing so I am just being kind to myself.
It´s amazing to me how little gestures can make such a difference in my life as well as the lives of others.  Unbeknownst to you, that smile, that pat on my shoulder, that simple ´thank you´has gotten me through the day many times.  For the past couple weeks I have been thinking about this a lot.  In my life it always seems that a series of events highlight a particular principle.  This past two weeks I have been experiencing a lot of the consequences of little gestures, either done by me or done by others to me.
I have the most amazing family and friends, the ones that always seem to know when to call, text, email, or send a smoke signal, for no other reason than to make me smile.  As I have been away from many I have learned that time and distance have no effect on relationships based on love and respect.  Love is the strongest bond, the fastest conductor, the most beautiful messanger.  Love is also so simple that it becomes complicated.  To me, and in my experience, love is just that one call, that one text, that one hug, the beautiful silence and the crazy nights, all in one.
I also find that in my life, the language of love is like love, simple.  I believe love communicates in little gestures that seemingly without a reason touches us and lifts us up.
I was listening to Argentine singer Patricia Sosa talk about her foundation.  She has a foundation to help a native tribe in Argentina, the Tobas.  She was telling the story of how she got involved in that work.  Talk about little gestures.  In 2008 that particular tribe in the Argentine Chaco was going through a hard time, two children had died of hunger, a teenage had tried to commit suicide, the situation was desperate.  So the shaman of the tribe gathered them together to do a ´fire ceremony´to ask for help.  So there they are, arund the fire, asking for help.  In that remote area where they are, while doing the ceremony a car passed by and they heard a song by Patricia about LOVE.  They took that as a sign and the next day they went to the closest town to find out who the singer was.  Once they found out who she was they also found out she was singing in a month in another city not far, not close.  So they got tickets for one of the tribe members (Norma) to travel to where she was going to sing.  She left a red envelope in the ticket office for Patricia letting her know the situation of the tribe and how they needed her help.  Twenty days went by until Patricia opens the red envelope and reads the story.  In the letter they left a phone number.   Patricia calls the number right away to find out it was the number of the closest town´s church.  She talks to the priest who tells her that Norma was right there next to him in church.  Patricia speaks with Norma who tells her that she was in church waiting for her call.  To which Patricia said." but it´s been 20 days, what if I never called?" She said that then Norma laughed and said to her."neah, this is all in God´s hands."  Thats how her foundation got started and keeps helping the Tobas in all she can.  You can check her foundation here
That to me sums up what I am tryig to say.  Little gestures, little kind efforts, those are the words of love.  Let´s all speak that language, we don´t need anything other than a good disposition to change, our life and that of others.
One little gesture a day, one smile, one hug, one note...please do join me in passing this on.
P.

World Toast, Global Cheer.

It ocurred to me that a lot of times we get together as friends and family over a drink.  Whether is wine, beer, coffee or tea, we sit, we chat, we get together.
Today, thanks to technology we are all a click away from chatting with people we might or might not know around the world, we share ideas, pictures, news.  So it seems to me is a natural thing to have a World toast, to bring Global Cheer into our lives.  It might be a way to get to understand each other a bit better, across cultures, borders and languages.  Or it might just be an excuse to get sloshed. Either way, let´s get together.
Our global forum will be twitter (www.twitter.com) An easy way to get together will be using a hash tag, everything related with the world toast will be tweeted using the hash tag #worldtoast and it will appear on red in the tweets.  By clicking there you will be taken to the global conversation.
If you are away from the net, just remember to cheer, chat and meet others on Saturday night. Many others around the word will be doing the same.
Saturday is a day most people are off but I also keep in mind that in some parts of the world it will be Sunday morning.  So you don´t have to be chugging beers at 7am, the idea is just to get together over your drink of choice, whether is wine or coffee.
This World Toast will happen between Saturday eve, August 28th and Sunday morning, August 29th, depending on where you are in the world.  So look at the map and see where you are and what time it is for you and join us.
Here´s a TIME ZONES map, to help us get together at the same time. http://www.worldtimezone.com/Here´s more info:
http://ow.ly/2sc3O
WORLD TOAST: A movement of Happiness and Forward thinking! 
08.23.10 - UPDATE: So far people in many states in the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, New Zealand, Australia, France, England, Sweeden, Netherlands, China, Japan, Mexico, Spain, and counting are joining us, be the next!

Dinner & a Movie

So this is a new thing I will be adding to my blog.  Once a week, either Sunday or Monday I will recommend a movie and a recipe to go with it.
I have this passion for film and specially for those little gems that sometimes don't make it to main stream and should not be missed in my opinion.
This week I would like to recommend a Swedish film.  It is intense, deals with those teenage years and all that happens when we try to belong, sometimes going to extreme measures to do so.  It will make you laugh and at time it will make you cringe in pain for the main character.  I think it's a great exercise on how we can loose friends and gain friends, both for wrong reasons.
This 2004 film is "The Ketchup Effect" Rent it, check it, tell me what you think of it.

Now what to have for dinner with it?  I'd say something easy and light.
How about a spinach salad with Balsamic reduction and blue cheese.
So grab some spinach, wash them and out them in a bowl.  Then if you don't have balsamic reduction just put some balsamic vinegar in a small pot and get it to boil.  Then reduce heat and let it simmer.  Keep an eye out as it will thicken fast.  Once is thicker (not like honey but almost) take of the stove and let it cool.
In the bowl with the spinach add some raisins and nuts.  Mix together.  Serve on a plate, drizzle with the balsamic reduction and sprinkle with blue cheese crumbles. You are done!
I recommend a good Sauvignon Blanc to go with it, specially from New Zealand.  Try the Dog Point.
There you have it, dinner and a movie.

Then, I cried.

I need to take a deep breath right now. Today has been one of those emotional days where events keep happening, pulling you and pushing you, adding up to the breaking point where an epiphany happens or where you just break down and cry.  Both happened.
I am the kind of guy that does not wear my heart on my sleeve, it's actually in my hand, ready to be given out.  I believe guys do cry, I allow myself to FEEL, to be moved, to be weak.  I believe it takes a stronger guy to actually cry than to hold back.  I'm not concerned about how that will be read by others. I am only concerned with being true to myself.
I was watching the news, or the bad news as rarely ever there's any positive thing worth a highlight it seems.  Let me bring you up to speed.  Three days ago, in Buenos Aires a woman withdrew 20k from the bank.  As she was getting out of her car at home she got approached by two thieves that took her money and shot her.  She was 9 months pregnant.  She miraculously survived, had a c-section and her child is alive.  Both of them are in ICU. Then thewy showed this footage of this poor neighborhood that has been flooded.  People were already living in bad conditions.  Then I see them carrying their babies and children and one or two bags of belongings with water up to their waist in the freezing winter time.
Later as I checked my email I got one from a friend telling me her friend was unhappy with himself, with who he is, because he is gay.
At this time I think I need to be distracted and decide to see what movie is showing on TV. Ha! Motorcycle Diaries.  Amazing movie. Touching and eye opening. So even I have seen it before, I watch again.  My heart is already cracked.
Then I ran into this article about a child in Malawi, you can read it here and the overload seem evident.
I have learned a simple truth.  When life presents you with a lesson and you don't learn it, it will keep on coming back,  wearing a different pair of pants.  So here I am, with life's lesson in so many different assorted pants.
I get it. I do.  There's injustice, there's suffering, there's ugliness we do to one another, there's ugliness we do to ourselves, there's pain and suffering in this world.  Then, we are breathless and wonder: "now what?"
Right after that question I cried.  I cried for the mother to be being shot and having hers and her child lives hanging on a thread.  I cried for those families flooded, that might or might not have a roof over their heads as I type.  I cried for the kid that can't love himself as he is because he was told by us that gay is bad.  I cried for all those orphans in Malawi that might not have a chance.
But those tears are also tears of thankfulness and gratitude.  I am alive, I am healthy, I have a roof over my head, love in my life and I can do what I want.  You know what? I truly get it, life is telling me: "you are lucky, why don't you give others a hand?"
I can't do it all.  I can't change the world on my own. Or can I?
I think we all can.  If we change our immediate world, imagine the ripple effect and how far that can get?  I can care for others, I can love without conditions, I can look out for those around me, I can feed someone, I can shelter many.
Let's not allow injustice to freeze us, to become a common place we are insensitive to.  Let's raise our voices.  Let's start each day taking notice of all we are given and finally, let's just give a little back.
It's ok if we cry.
P.

Life has my back.

Today I woke up not being myself.  Well, to make it clear, I fully expect every morning to wake up not being myself, not being the one that I was the day before but an improved version of the day before.  I usually wake up, shower, have my coffee and get on with the day, full of hope and things to do and discover.
Today was different, woke up, started the day as usual but feeling out of sync.  Does that ever happen to you? You start your day and you just don't seem to "catch on."  I am not talking about things to be done but about the distinct feeling that you are "out of it."
This soon turned into a feeling of anxiety and discomfort and me trying to find a reason for it and something to do to be "grounded" again.
I realized that even not being aware I have been stressed about my impending return to the US.  Granted I am not climbing on a plane tomorrow but somehow I have been on an off wondering many things.  What am I going to do when I head back? Will I be able to continue moving forward and concentrating on the things that I know are important? Will I keep on working on myself?  Thing is that being in different countries, without a lot of pressure, spending time on my inner self, caring for things that are important to me seems easier than doing it back home while waiting at a Starbucks line for my dirty chai.
I realize that all the lessons I have been learning over the past year need to be very present in my life regardless of where I am.  I cannot say I can be a better person when removed from my own life or on a different area code.  The real challenge is to be better, each day, while being present and living life one day at the time.
Just as I was pondering this and not feeling too great about it my phone rang.  One of my best friends with whom I hadn't talked to in a couple months calls me out of the blue.  He is a very intuitive guy and one of the few people that has a natural gift to mellow me out, put things in perspective and inspire me.
I told him all my concerns about my return, all the thoughts I had.  I went outside and sat on the grass while the sun warmed me up and my friend warmed my heart.  We talked for a while.  At the end of my conversation all my anxiety was gone.  I was again grounded and I am looking forward to the future while firmly grounded in the present.
I am so grateful that life has a way to watch over me, to send me the right messages at the needed time if I am willing to listen.
I love my friends, the messengers of love, hope, joy and all things good that life sends my way.
I am happy.  I am light, I am love, I am joy.
I wish you the same.
P.

What's missing?

It has been an interesting last couple weeks.  I have an uncle who is over 70 and due to some long, complicated health issues had to have one of his legs amputated.  It was a long process that came to that less than pleasant end.  There was a lot that he cold have done, things that could have been changed, things that could have been different.  Regardless, what was done or not done happened and he has only one leg left.
He was telling me that one of the hardest things now is that he experiences a lot of pain, waves of pain.  On the leg that is no longer there.  He also gets itches on that leg and clearly there's nothing that can be done about this, since the leg is no longer there.  Apparently, its something that happens normally when people get a limb amputated.  They go for a log time after the surgery with the sensation that the limb is still there and that it hurts, itches, etc.
This got me thinking of other situations in our lives.  It actually got me thinking about relationships that we are in, relationships that could have been one way or another, that could have gone in a different direction.  However, then the relationship ends and for months we are left hurting/itching over something that is no longer there.
I think there is a healthy time period of mourning for a relationship, what ever kind of relationship that is.  I also think at some point we need to let go, don't give in the "phantom pain or itch" and move on.  When something is no longer there, we need to let it go.  Apparently, even when it is gone, we can be attached to it.
Like my uncle, looking at his missing leg,still feeling it it, sometimes we look at the empty space a relationship used to occupy and still feel it there.
It's going to take a lot of courage for my uncle to keep moving forward, to learn to live with what is no longer there, to learn to be independent again.  I invite you to join me, like him, let's look at what is no longer there, let's take a deep breath and re-learn to heal, to move forward, to let go of what is obviously already gone.
Thank you,
Pablo

它是一個有趣的最後幾個星期。我有一個叔叔是誰在70和由於一些長期的，複雜的健康問題已經有一個他的雙腿截肢。這是一個漫長的過程，來不到愉快的結束。有很多，他做了寒冷，事情可能有所改變，事情會有所不同。無論如何，這事或沒有做的事，他只有一條腿了。
他告訴我，最難的事情之一，現在是他經歷了很多痛苦，海浪的痛苦。在腿上是不再存在。他還獲得癢該腿，並清楚沒有什麼可以做這一點，因為腿不再存在。顯然，其發生的事情通常當人們獲得一個肢體截肢。他們去了測井時間與手術後的肢體感覺仍然存在，它痛，癢等
這引起了我的思想，在我們生活中的其他情況。它實際上是讓我思考的關係，我們正處在關係，可能是這種或那種方式，這本來可以在不同的方向。然而，當時的關係結束，剩下的幾個月中，我們傷害 /瘙癢多的東西不再存在。
我認為有一個健康的一段時間內悼念關係，什麼都種關係，這種關係。我也認為在某些時候，我們需要讓去，不給在“幻肢痛或癢”，繼續前進。當事情不再存在，我們必須讓他走了。很顯然，即便是走了，我們可以連接到它。
我的叔叔一樣，看著他失踪的腿，仍然感覺它，有時我們看空的空間佔用和利用的關係還是覺得那裡。
這將需要相當的勇氣，我的叔叔繼續向前走，學習與生活不再有什麼，要學會獨立了。我邀請您加入我，像他這樣，讓我們來看看什麼是不再存在，讓我們深呼吸，重新學習癒合，以向前邁進，放手顯然已經走了。
謝謝你， 

これは面白い最後の数週間されている。私は70のためにいくつかの長い、複雑な健康上の問題は彼の足を持っている必要があったことです叔父が切断。それは以下の快適な最後に来て長いプロセスだった。たくさんは、彼が冷たい、異なっている可能性がものを変更されている可能性が物事を行っているでした。にもかかわらず、何か行われていたが起こった行われていない、彼は1つだけの脚を持って参加しました。
彼は私に1つが難しいこと、今、彼は多くの痛みを、痛みの波が発生さ言っていた。もはやそこにある脚で。彼はまた、足とかゆみを取得明確にあるこのことについて行うことができます何もない、足がもはや存在しないからである。どうやら、通常、人々は手足を取得起こるのか切断。彼らは感覚が手足はまだそこにであること、そしてそれが、かゆみなどが痛いと手術後のログの時間のために行く
これは私たちの生活の他の状況の考えるようになった。これは、実際私は私達が、1つの方法または別のことができた関係は関係について考えるようになった、異なる方向に行っていることができます。しかし、その後の関係が終了し、月間私たちは傷つけ/もはやそこにある何かをかゆみ残っている。
私はそこの関係を、どのようなこれまでの関係のようなことです喪の健全な期間だと思います。私はまた私達は行くように必要ないくつかの点で、"幻肢痛やかゆみに与えていない"と思うに移動します。何かがもはや存在しないが、我々はそれを手放す必要があります。どうやら場合でも、それは消えて、私たちはそれに添付することができます。
私の叔父と同様に、彼の行方不明の足を見ると、まだそれを感じ、時には我々は空のスペースの関係と占有するまだそこにそれを感じる使用見てください。
それは私の叔父の前進し続ける勇気がかかるし、一緒に暮らすことを学ぶだろうもはや存在しないが、どのような独立を再度することを学ぶ。私はあなたが、彼のように私を招待し、の、もはやそこにあるものを見てみましょう、深い呼吸と再癒すために学ぶみよう、フォワード、明らかに既に行っていることを手放すに移動します。
ありがとう、
パブロ

The Cup of LIFE

Oh, there's so much we need to talk about.  Granted, I've been MIA due to the World Cup. It is not just about the sport, its about life and life lessons learned on the field.  That is what totally sucks me in this tournament.  To see countries that have historical, political beef face off in a field and be civil to each other, gives me hope.
Also, like in life, logic does not apply, teams move forward based on preparation, chance, luck and sheer heart.
This world cup many of the favorites were out, Italy (reigning World Champion), France, Argentina, Brasil, England. Many teams that were the underdogs made it far.
I find a common denominator in life and the world cup = HEART, BEING IN THE MOMENT & VISUALIZING DREAMS AS REALITY.
Oscar Tabarez, the coach for the Uruguay team was asked what he thought about being in the finals. He said he could not think that far, he and his team were HERE & NOW (present) and they were consumed into winning in the here and now.  He said, once we are over this, then we will think of the next game.  I wish we could all face life that way. It's not about being in the future, its about being in the here and now.
In Uruguay's game yesterday, seconds from the game ending, Luis Suarez stopped a goal against his team with his hand, knowingly getting a red card and a penalty for Ghana. His other option was to let the goal happen and Ghana would win. The penalty didn't score and Uruguay got a chance at penalty kicks and hence won and got a ticket to the semifinals.  Sometimes in life we need to sacrifice for the bigger goal.  And it has to be decided in seconds.
Uruguay was the host of the first world cup ever.  And they won. In 1950 they were finalists in Brasil, which was the host country.  Against all odds they won.
None of that impresses me as much as the fact that Uruguay has always done what it does with respect, low profile and no ego.  It has done it getting strength from where no one ever thought there was any strength left. It has quietly gone forward.
I want to be like the Uruguay team. They were the one before last team to qualify to the world cup. They quietly made it to one fo the 4 BEST teams in the world. They were classy and respectful all along.
If they make it to the finals, I will ask for pointers on how to be GREAT and HUMBLE.
P.