Love yourself first to best love another!

Today is Chinese New Year’s eve, and I have a dinner to attend downtown.  Cabs will be scarce so I may have to take a bus and the metro.  This could be another humorous adventure for me.  Speaking of humorous, I have a dear friend in Houston that made a comment to me today about love and humor.  He says,  “the most intimate and successful relationships, he has observed is the “love yourself first to best love another” feature in common.”  What a wonderful thought he expressed to me.  We both find love and humor walk hand in hand.

I think of my past relationship and I can truly say he did not love himself.  I ponder this, and think why was that so?  How can someone not love who they are?  Such a foreign  thought for me, because loving myself is so easy.  I so enjoy who I am and I seem to be my best friend.  I can entertain, cook and just find things to do all the time to enjoy.  I find humor in just the simplest sights and actions.  I like to write funny stories about the simple everyday humor I bump into.  The camel at the toll booth as we are driving to the Great Wall, oh my gosh how funny is that?  Paying 5 RMB to take an old wrinkly Chinese lady’s picture and I had to ‘Jew’ her down from 10!  The term “Jew.” I picked up from my dad.  He used that expression when be bargained for antiques.  He was such an “Archie Bunker” personality!  You want to laugh, let my dad talk about diverse populations in his 60’s slang wording?  OMG he would embarrass me to death as a teenager.  What I would give to sit at the kitchen table and just listen to him, now.  He died of cancer some years back.

If you are seeing humor and experiencing it all the time, wouldn’t that make you a happy person?  I think so.  Smile and the world smiles too, a great expression.  I like doing that as I walk down the street.  How many Chinese will smile at me today?  I of course will smile first, as the sight of a white lady with curly blond hair is so foreign to them.  They can’t but stare.  So I smile, and then they realize they are staring and shoot you back the biggest sometimes toothless grin, you have ever seen.

Remember Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young?  “If you can’t be with the one you love, then Love the one your with.”  I will put a new spin on this song and say “love yourself, if you can’t be with the one you love!”  Learn it is okay to take care of yourself, love yourself and laugh at yourself!  Good advice Bill, thanks!


New Year 2011

A new dawn, a new day, a new year!

A new year is upon us and I am ever so glad.  2010 was the worst year ever, starting  last New Year’s eve in the hospital emergency room with Randy, Mom, Ruth Ann and Jeff.  Mom was taken by ambulance from the car dealership where she slipped and fell.  Randy drove her on that icy afternoon to win a car instead she won five dollars. When I walked in the ER, I noticed  Jeff had his arm wrapped in a sling. He had been in a car accident earlier that day.   As he explained some crazy woman ran into his car pretty much totaling it.   The impact popped his driver side air bag which exploded and  burnt his arm.  My day was not much better as I elucidated.  I had asked Kyle to move out after all his shenanigans with alcoholism.  The five of us just looked at each other in amazement and actually laughed in relief that we were all okay.  What a day!

Instead of New Years Resolutions, this is my year of “reverse process.”   This is how I am reversing my need to fix others and just fix me.  My list as follows.

  • Cook whatever I want
  • Wash only my laundry
  • Clean up whenever or just hire a maid
  • Watch TV in bed with popcorn or chocolate
  • Late at night look out my balcony, see the city lights, moon, firecrackers, and smile
  • Ride my bike even in the snow
  • Eat what I like or just eat out every day
  • Maybe exercise or maybe NOT
  • Have a drink on special occasions
  • Enjoy organizing anything at anytime, (art, books, jewelry, closet, kitchen cabinets, DVDS, shoes, bills)
  • Drink fresh fruit juice from my juicer every morning
  • Write a blog
  • Take photos, put in the blog
  • Find Temples. Get a Buddha or 2, or 3 or 4.  Remember there is a “little Buddha” in every one.  Give Buddha’s away!
  • Listen to my self
  • Don’t forget:  Think smart!
  • Continue thinking smart and blog good philosophy
  • Be spiritual, pray and look for the light in everyone
  • When the bad stuff bothers me just put a blazing flame around it and send it away

Let the fixing commence!

Christmas 2010 in China

Christmas dinner at the Parkview Dingshan with the IB faculty.

Peter and Michael, the men in my life.  These guys keep me sane!  They are my best friends.

A Vienna Latte at the mall with colleagues on Christmas eve.

Christmas dinner with my friends, Armando, Gina, Santa Peter and me.  The rabbits are the symbol for the Chinese New Year.