instructions for life

(i doubt the dalai lama (sp?) actually wrote this list but it's pretty good no matter)
i sent this list to some friends a while ago but thought it was good to look back at as the new year quickly approaches

enjoy!
Instructions for life
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
Responsibility for all your actions
4-remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful blessing from God
5-learn the rules so you know how to break them properly
6-don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship
7-when you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it
8-spend some time alone every day
9-open your arms to change but don’t let go of your values
10-remember that silence is sometimes the best answer
11-live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time
12-a loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life
13-in disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past
14-share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality
15-be gentle with the earth
16-once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before
17-remember that they best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other
18-judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it
19-approach love and cooking with reckless abandon

good men

and music...

so i'm sitting at my desk at my part-time job in the lifestyle i had chosen for myself (at least temporarily post-paris)
(read: i must revert back to something with normalcy and not having to be broke anymore)
back to the program:
i'm at my desk and i'm entering gifts from our year-end appeal for the non-profit i work for that helps homeless people and (it appears) would like me to join that roster instead of paying me decent wages
by the way, the reason i have to revert back to (god-forbid) a 9-5 life and a salary is because (a) i have no insurance, (b) i need to live alone--solitude is my new year's resolution, (c) because the economy, similar to the nation, is built on lies and fear
yea

so--oooh just got dizzy from something--somewhere between not eating enuf and not sleeping enuf i hope

THE POINT:
in 2002, RL (formerly of "step back you're dancing kinda close") made a song called "Good Man"
and it was the bomb--so i just finished listening to it on YouTube (can't embed it because it was disabled by the user, go fig), and just before that, i listened to "We Can't Be Friends" with him and Deborah Cox, one of the two (or probably more) Canadian divas of song--the other being Tamia, who i just listened to with Eric Benet (still over/under sexed?) singing "Spend My Life With You"

and I just thought I would share these wonderful musical memories with you (yes, in the midst of talking about how i even came to the point of being able to/feeling like i must watch/listen to YouTube in order to pass my days--because having less makes you want to revel in the more(s) that are available to you)

word of the day: Don't forget the good times, or good music as the years come and go by--they're there to be held onto

have you ever...?

done something you knew you would regret the minute you decided "yes"?

this morning i woke up a teensy bit early and so decided to get my extra fifteen minutes in
when i woke up again, i realized i had take another 30+ minutes instead--oops
when i finally rolled out of bed though, i was glad to have gotten the extra sleep. i felt refreshed.
so much so that i thought to myself: self, you're gonna be cute today

once i got out of the shower i knew i was going to wear my jeans that are too long, which means i had to wear heels (enter stupid moment)
which heels?
the green rounded toe heels from nine west that i haven't EVER worn before
greatly horrible idea!
and so now, i stand witness to pain and the fact that i could have avoided this had i just listened to myself as i put them on, debated about them and the initial pain, which i dismissed as temporary...the LIES

word of the day: don't lie to yourself--you know the truth standing before you
word no. 2: don't wear uncomfortable shoes--it's NEVER worth it, and if you can avoid it, don't even BUY them!

have you ever...

i may have lied

(about the topic of this post, being "next"--sorry)

but according to the men i've spoken to about this "lying" thing, it isn't a lie if you don't intend for it to be, and i certainly didn't intend on having a day best denoted by expletives--please trust that--but i was close to tears, literally while sitting at my desk fixing several spreadsheets for our year-end appeal

i don't even get insurance from these world-savers, go fig

why was my day so horrendous?

1-because my shoulder keeps (as in continuing as i type) having this sharp recurring pain that feels like something is being ripped through--OUCH!

2-because PMS is so real and it only gets more real as the years go by. irritable is the word of the day

3-because i was  TIRED, read: falling asleep at my desk. huge problem

and 

4-because i realized just how broke i am--very :(

BUT God...

gave me this voice and it does things to me when i can praise Him

so here are the reasons my day wasn't all THAT bad, though it was still a pretty effing not great day

i've had better...

1-because i could still sing, and when it came time for me to do it, i needed it like breath

2-because when i went to purchase the futon cover for my new futon (isn't it a blessing to be able to afford stuff you need even when you're BROKE??!?) it was the easiest transaction of my horrendous day/s ever

3-because the trains were running like butter--such an uncommon thing here in new york city, but also nicely because of the weekday thing. do not, i repeat do NOT visit new york on the weekend if you don't know where you're going or have a well educated tour guide

4-because i was able to get my granola from the health food store--it's my guilty pleasure during this hellish cleanse

5-because sometime soon, i'm gonna lay my head on a pillow on my futon with my new cover and mattress pad and all, and go to sleep

6-because my lifelong friend kamaria called me JUST when i was about to really break down--just to say hi; i believe she felt me and came to my rescue like the angel God made her to be

and

7-just because He's so awesome

word of the day: it's always good to be able to put things into perspective

no matter what you're going through, someone else has it worse--try to be a blessing to someone else when you're down. it may turn both of you around

40 dollars

tonight, 40 dollars got me the chance to see Maxwell hump a microphone stand
it's still worth it 8 years later, though i didn't pay the first time...
after the concert, 3 dollars and seventy cents got me three bags of supposed rice chips (with autolyzed yeast extract--what is that? yeast, no doubt) and a bottle of water i don't want to drink because it's cold
i do better to drink at room temp
this morning after church 4 dollars got me 4 dollars and 38 cents worth of turkey (smoked and sausalito)--don't judge me, it's this candida cleanse i'm on that has my diet all wacked out--, and a small but hearty bag of pistachios, which, by the way, i like eating in public because people like to see the challenge of the breaking open of new grounds, or different types of nuts--go fig
one thing about me, i don't like paying for food
so check this last story before i sign off:
last night, it cost me nothing but my pretty little self to get an amazing bowl of butternut squash soup and two cups of peppermint tea--read: it was FREE.99

word of the day:
be your pretty little self every day--you'd be surprised how far it'll get you

next post will be about the show i did last week with johnny voltik at solomon's porch on november 20
in short it was great--next show is december 16th at public assembly in williamsburg

today

today i'm gonna love me for me
tonight i'm gonna sing til i fall asleep
this week i'm gonna vote for change
next week i'll pray for some rain
and right now
here right now
not tomorrow but right now
i will list all the beautiful blessings that God gave to me
i will lift my voice up to the skies so one day we'll be free
i will laugh at the top of my voice i will sing
i will sing to the height of the world i will dance
i will love i will love i will love i will love me today