The Penguin Pickup & Sacrifice

So today, I went to retrieve a package.
I didn't know what it was, but it was a package for me.
I had a feeling it was a secret sister santa gift thing, it was!
A happiness journal. 365 days of inspiration in a journal format.
There are quotes in it and you know how I love my quotes.
The place is FedEx, but it's called the Penguin Pickup.
It was a lot faster and easier to get to than I thought it was.
Which is awesome! My buses came fast. It worked out very well.
It was a bit colder than I thought it would be, today,
but the sun is shining, it's gorgeous. Just crisp.

Also, today I got a Christmas card from my cousin in Alberta.
I have a packet of photos to send to him soon.
I will likely do that tomorrow to get it out of the way, if I can.
I might see my son tomorrow. I got a text from him out of the blue.
Which was a really nice surprise.
He hasn't been feeling well, so if I see him, I see him,
if he'd rather stay home, then I'll see him another time.
I'm letting go of my need to have him in my life.
Or the need to have anyone in my life.
It's not that I don't want him or anyone in my life,
my need for people in my life
was ensuring that they didn't want to be in my life.
The need just perpetuated itself.

I'm working on feeling good today. No matter what happens.
The better I feel, the more I see things working out for me.
It's strange, but it works out that way.
And feeling good for the sake of feeling good.
Not for any particular reason.
The 'reasons' will actually come as a result, anyway.

So today is about the cultivation work. It's a 'gardening' day.
Every day can be a 'gardening' day. We grow what we sow.
And we can only sow what we know.
Just like we can't do any better if we don't know any better.
So if I 'need' a 'reason' to 'be' 'happy' today,
it's about all the changes I've been making in my thinking
so that I can make room for better thinking,
all the clarity and wisdom that comes with knowledge.
All the lessons and the learning from the lessons.
It's like we must earn the wisdom by learning.
And it is the only path to it.
Otherwise, nobody can learn our lessons for us.
Nor should they, because they are OUR lessons.

The main thing that prevents people from learning from their lessons
is that they don't regard their experiences as lessons.
When they don't regard their experiences as lessons,
they do not, cannot, and will not see that there's something to learn.

People cannot be forced to learn anything. They have to want to.
They have to want the ability to make improvements,
and adjustments, and even sacrifices.

People do not like to make sacrifices.
Even if it is sacrificing something they don't want
for something they do want.
Like sacrificing misery for joy.
Sacificing sadness for happiness.
Sacrificing difficulty for ease.
Sacrificing struggle for satisfaction.
All these types of things.
People tend to look at sacrifice as a bad thing
as something that denotes loss or having to let go.
In a way, it does, but we can look at it differently.
We can even sacrifice pain for pleasure.
It's not always about sacrificing something you do want
for something you don't want.
You can sacrifice something that you don't want
for something you do want.
Because whenever we give something up,
no matter what it is, there will be something to take it's place.

That's the thing... I'll use an example here....
From my own experience... I gave up drinking.
I sort of felt like it was a sacrifice. One I wasn't really wanting to make.
Because I did lose a lot along the way.
'Friends' dropped out of my life
because we no longer had anything in common.
They didn't understand why I wanted to quit drinking
or my reasons for quitting. I didn't really understand it, either.
It's one of those things where it becomes clearer and clearer.
It's not really one of those things that is immediately apparent.

Anyway, I sacrificed it and everything that came with it.
Not knowing what, if anything, would take its place.

It makes me think of sacrificial ceremonies.
When back in ancient times, it has been said
that they had made sacrifices to 'appease' the 'gods'
children and goats and all kinds of things like that.
We don't have to sacrifice any of that. I'm not saying to do that.
What I'm saying is sacrifice bitterness for peace.
Sacrifice feelings that are not agreeable
for feelings that are agreeable.
It is an option available all the time, but we rarely, if ever, look at it that way.
We have a belief as to what we think sacrifice means. As to what it denotes...
Because we have our beliefs and opinions about it,
we only see it in a certain way. Which we don't have to.
We can have opportunities to see things completely differently.
Where things once were 'bad' like the word 'sacrifice,'
it can be turned around and given a completely different meaning.
When it has a new meaning, it can have a new purpose.

I'm working on sacrificing my old ways of thinking
for new ways of thinking.
I'm working on sacrificing my old ways of feeling
for new ways of feeling.
I'm working on sacrificing my old ways of being

for new ways of being.
I'm working on sacrificing my old ways of looking at things
for new ways of looking at things.

Sacrifice doesn't have to be a bad thing.
Sometimes it can really work in our favor.
That's what stacking the deck in our favor is about.
Changing how we look at certain things
so that we can use those things to our advantage.