Picture from: https://weatherfarm.com/community-photos/tornado-season-touches-down-in-alberta/ I was listening to some people talking in the shopping mall. They were talking about a friend who had suffered some extreme bad luck. They marveled at the friend’s ability to see the brightness in every disaster – even when part of their farm was ripped up by a tornado. One of […]
I have four friends tell me that I expect too much of them. This makes me laugh because I expect them to be exactly as they are… imperfect humans. I realize that they have an expectation that they must be at their best when they are around me. I am not sure where that expectation […]
The Spring Equinox 2019 is on Wednesday, March 20, 2019. An equinox is the moment in time (not a day-long event) when the Sun stands directly above the equator and day and night are of approximately equal length. In the twenty-first century, people are not in harmony with the earth, the seasons, and the shifting […]
Hello Questers! If you have a story to share or an idea for a blog or a series of blog posts, I would love to hear it. Please send your ideas to me at Judith-hirst@questers.ca. Or, send your idea to info@questers.ca. A Line In The Sand or Co-creation? This picture is from an email that […]
Silhouette “Silhouette of an oak tree in early spring 2008” Copyright March 2008 by Judith Hirst I was flipping through some pictures and I found this picture that I’d taken in the early spring. The silhouette of the tree against the sky and the bleakness around it makes the tree seem dead. Yet, it is […]
Send your ideas for blog postings and your comments about different blogs to Judith at Judith-hirst@questers.ca, and I will post them on the blog. What Happens If You Practice Being Grateful for a Month February is a short month and therefore is the perfect time to practice being grateful every day. Instead of complaining, phrase […]
No rules this year… just guidelines! Be kind to yourself and do not set yourself up for failure. Life is good. Recognize that fact. Life is not out to get you. 1. Make room for all of your emotions. 2. Forgive yourself for your mistakes. 3. Love your imperfect self. 4. Treat yourself to at […]
The CHA WAKAN card – Tree of Life, #32, from The Lakota Sweat Lodge Cards by Chief Archie Fire Lame Deer and Helene Sarkis In many traditions, the TREE OF LIFE is recognized – for all people see the tree as having roots buried deep in Mother Earth, and branches reaching up to Great Spirit, […]
When we are children, our physical body and mental body development happen at a pace that is dictated by the internal genetic programming. Someone cannot lean over the child and say, “Grow”, and have the child grow on demand. Growth is a process, whether the growth is to cause the body to grow or to […]
As I was sitting and pondering, my guides directed me to this wonderful story by Osho. They asked me to share it with all of you as a gift; a gift that will help you cope with anger if it should appear during the holidays. Picture from Microsoft Clipart “A Zen student came to Bankei […]
Either as a parent or as an observer of parents, you have probably seen that parents tend to keep their children in line with fear. You may have even practiced fear with your own children. Why do we do this? First, it is because we learned it at an early age from our parents, then […]
–by The Dalai Lama 1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk. 2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson. 3. Follow the three R’s: – Respect for self, – Respect for others and – Responsibility for all your actions. 4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes […]
From the Editor: The following article appears on the https://tinybuddha.com website. It was written by Vironika Tugaleva. It is a beautiful writing about an issue that many of us wrestle with – looking for the bright side when maybe we need to look at the dark side. About Vironika Tugaleva Like every human being, Vironika […]
Several weeks ago, my mother, who is in a nursing home, had a bad fall. The first question is always, “How did that happen?”. And the second question is, “How could that have been prevented?” And then, you start to figure out what happened and worry the “why and how” over and over in your […]
Once upon a time there was a doctor who was an expert at treating snakebites. One day he was called for by the relatives of a man who had been bitten by a deadly poisonous snake. The doctor told them, “There are two ways of treating this snake bite. One is by giving medicine. The […]
Thanks to my friend, Leslie, for sending me this wonderfully inspirational writing. Your blog master, Judith Hirst Live It Well You know, time has a way of moving quickly and catching you unaware of the passing years. It seems just yesterday that I was a young girl/boy, just married and embarking on my new life […]
The conversation began with, “I don’t think that I am smart enough to do …..” That’s all I heard. I confess. I was eavesdropping. When I heard those words my first thought was – Of course you cannot do it if you think that you cannot! And then my mind went tripping away on a […]
Several years ago, I was teaching a beginner’s meditation class, and as part of the workshop, explained the concept of the word/sound “OM” to the participants. Then we did some experiential learning with the sound, both with only me saying the sound, and then with all of us saying the sound. Students felt the vibration […]
Over time, “things” come and go from our lives. However, if you are like me, there are some things that really are hard to let go of. These “things” have a value as a special gift from a special someone, or as a symbol for something you have endured. We are hard pressed to part […]