Happy Soul Food Friday!
This week:
Thrive with A.L.O.H.A.
The Most Brilliant Life Hacks to Your Make Life Easier
Some of World’s Greatest Job Perks from the Daily Good
Fly High in The Isle of Skye
Delightful Family Portraits
Thrive with A.L.O.H.A. with Dr. Paul Pearsall:
There’s a woman I met many years ago who’s a perfect example of someone who has discovered the secret of invincibility. In Hawaii, we call her Tutu Mama. She was a 100-year-old Hawaiian lady who just passed away.
I will never forget her, because she taught me much about the thriving character. This is a woman who knew terrible poverty; hid under the bed during Pearl Harbor here in Hawaii while the bombs destroyed everything around her. People she loved, killed. She saw it all and had every reason to be angry, resentful, and broken, but she was not. I never saw her without a smile.
And I thought I’d share with you something that I’ve almost memorized in my heart, because she sat with me a while ago. She was the lady who gave me my Hawaiian name, Ka’ikena. It means person charged with sharing the vision. I remember when she gave me the name, because I asked her, “Tutu, you suffered so. How can you be so happy, so giving, so loving? How can you laugh so easily? How can you be so strong when so many bad things have happened?”
She looked at me, smiled, took a hold of my ear and tugged on it playfully and laughed. “Poor Ka’ikena,” she said. “You have so much to learn. Let me teach you a simple formula for what you call thriving in your own science research, for we have known for centuries what thriving is. I’ll tell you how I do it.
It’s the words of Aloha, A-L-O-H-A.
‘A’ stands for the word Ahonui. That’s persistent patience. Wait; be patient. That brings happiness. Don’t be in such a hurry. The world is such a fast-paced place. I find my joy in just sitting, waiting, and listening.” Ahonui, patience expressed with perseverance. Are you a patient person?
…Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from email. Patience! You’re not that important. I am so tired of hearing these answering machines. “Hi, I’m not here, but your call is very important to me.” Sure it’s important to you. Then why the hell aren’t you there if it’s so important!
My answering machine says this. “Hello.” (I then include a phrase in Hawaiian). And then they usually hang up. Or, the next question. “This is not an answering machine; this is a questioning machine. It asks, What do you want? Which is a very important existential question. So reflect carefully before responding.” What I hear, usually hear, is, that’s it, click, it’s gone. That gets rid of a lot of unwanted calls.
I’m so sick of cell phones going off and buzzers going off and beepers in people’s pockets, buzzing, buzzz… That’s crazy. Very crazy. I was in the airport the other day and a guy next to me was saying, “When I get home I am going to make love to you.” I thought he was talking to me. He was talking to his wife on the phone. What’s the matter with this man?
So please, people, pick on these people. Don’t be a hyper-croniac. Are you a re-button-izer? How many people here push elevator buttons that are already lit? That’s stupid! I saw you guys the other night. You walk up to the elevator, they’re both lit, 10 people are standing there, you go in front and go pghgh, There, I am the top producer. Ha ha! I will push this elevator… Man. Have you seen the elevator button that says, close door? I spoke to the Otis Elevator company. That is a placebo. That button doesn’t work. It’s there to quiet you down so you can… push it. Crazy. Now the cynics are going to go out in the elevator, let me just test what he said, cause I don’t believe it, okay.
Are you a lane counter? How many people here count the number of items in a person’s grocery cart in the express lane to be sure it belongs there? That’s sick! Very sick. Are you a lane leaper? Do you see several lines and you tell people, “I’m in all of these. I’m in any one of these.” Very sick. Or you go to work and you’ve been at that traffic light every day of your life, and you think it’s broken so you keep going, come on. phghghg. Try to move it. Or do you get in buffet lines, and are you a pelvic pusher? Do you do this? “Come on, lady. Come on.” Or escalator hopper, hopping down escalators, they’re not fast enough for me. I’ve got to get down here faster than this. I see people on airplanes, the plane’s coming in and they’re already standing up bent over like this waiting to get off. What is that about? Why don’t you set your okole down and count quarters or something. Now you’re all going to be more patient, right?
So never forget the first “A” in Aloha, Ahonui, persistent patience. That will help you thrive.
She said, “You also ask how I stay so happy and smile so often. It’s because of the second letter, ‘L,’ the second word: Lo Kahi. Lo Kahi means harmonious connection.” It means staying connected not only with your family, but with your ancestors, the land, and a higher power, and being aware of that connection every day.
“Then there’s the ‘O,’ Ka’ikena, Olu’olu. That means pleasantly agreeable.” We have to stop fighting. We have to stop the arguing, the cynical negativity. What’s happened to us? Please remember; it’s very important to choose peace over always trying to be right.
“Then comes the ‘H’ in Aloha, A-L-O-H, Ha’aha’a. That means humbly modest. I think you modern people are too concerned with your self-esteem.” What about other regards? What about realizing that it’s important sometimes just to shut up and learn from others, not to always be assertive, not always try to get your way, not to be so demanding? Have a good sense of humor; laugh. Never forget laughter.
Now you know the “A,” the “L,” the “O”, and the “H.”
“Now, Ka’ikena,” she said to me, “Never forget Akahai; that means gentle, tender kindness. When you walk, when you talk, when you listen, when you look at a child, when you look at an older person, do you look with kindness? Do you feel kindness? Therein I find my strength. I find it in Aloha.
The Most Brilliant Life Hacks to Make Your Life Easier
World’s Greatest Job Perks from the Daily Good
Isle of Skye
http://www.imbikemag.com/mountain-bike-news/2014/10/danny-macaskill-the-ridge/
Family Portraits:
Thanks this week go to Paul P, Glenda O, Larry H, and snuggling families everywhere
Hug them tight!
Please pay it forward today…
Love,
Neville
Happy Soul Food Friday! 