MD Anderson Care Community & Gratitude

Yesterday, I spoke at a nursing pre-holiday party focused on thankfulness and gratitude.  I talked about how gratitude encircles much of what we do and who we are in the MD Anderson care community (employees, caregivers, and patients). When gratitude becomes an integral part of our day it can create a ripple effect through our lives, energizing our search for joy, happiness, inner peace, and wholeness.  Give thanks today and deeply embed gratitude within your soul as you strive for wholeness tomorrow. 

Thankfulness and Gratitude Sparks of Wholeness

My fondest memories at my Uncles farm in Pennsylvania are of the campfires were we would sing, laugh, hear old family stories, and pray together.  I learned the meaning of family, and that thankfulness and gratitude are sparks to wholeness.  Wholeness is our ability to experience and appropriately manage all of life’s emotions, through the good, bad, and dark times.  Wholeness is about owning our emotions and thankfulness and gratitude can get us closer to the “be” of living. Fire up some thankfulness and gratitude today and feel the sparks of wholeness.   

Veterans Day 2014

It was one of the very early family stories I remember, 1^st Lieutenant Dwite Schaffner was awarded the Medal of Honor in WWI “for bravery and contempt for danger that inspired his men”.  My dad Eugene Boyd Baun, had been a bomber pilot and flew in WWII and Korea, and I had dreamed of flying helicopters, but flunked my flight physical, so became an Airborne Ranger instead.  Friday morning after my walk, I looked down at the USS Midway in San Diego Harbor pointing at the setting full moon, and felt really proud that I had served like my dad and so many others in the Baun and Schaffner families.  I wear my dad’s and my dog tags today with pride, and salute all veterans who served this great country.  Thank a veteran today!    

Wholeness in "I Am"

Most morning, I realize almost instantly, “I am”.  Maybe it was the Army that taught me how to move from dreams or deep sleep to being immediately conscious, feeling full and whole.  Or maybe it was growing up in Louisiana and Boy Scouts where you were always looking out for snakes seeking warmth in your sleeping bag.  Richard Moss in his book The Mandala of Being describes being aware of “I am” is recognizing our wholeness like water can assume any shape into which it is poured, never losing its own essence.  Pour yourself into life today and experience your wholeness and the inexhaustible energy in “I am”.     

Mindful Moments Living Between the Clouds

The Minneapolis plane was small and half-full, so I sat by the window, read, watched cloud formations, and dreamed of other worlds.  Thick clouds met our anxious descent into Minneapolis, but before landing I experienced a brief moment of synchronicity as we flew between two layers of very thick clouds.  We didn’t stay there long, but long enough for me to realize there are moments in each day I choose to live between the clouds.  These are mindful meditation moments where I focus on my breath, feel my energy life force, and inner peace.  Take a moment today to live between the clouds.

MD Anderson Caregiver Week

Yesterday, I facilitated a session called “The High Cost of Caring” to kick off MD Andersons Caregiver Week activities.  Susannah Fox of the Pew Research Center,  said, “More health care is happening at home…as more people are being sent home medically fragile to caregivers who are the first line of defense.”  Four in 10 U.S. adults are caregivers, 86% care for relatives, 66% are female, and 70% report work-life-balance difficulties.  The participant stories brought tears, laughter, and a spirit of comradery shared because caring gives life its deepest significance and meaning.  Don’t miss an opportunity to care today!MD Anderson Caregiver Week Flier

Heart Steps

At the beginning of last week I taught several days in Palm Beach at the Public Health Department, and had some wonderful walks around the older neighborhoods.  There are days I find I’ve lost touch with me and tend to live too much in my head.  This disconnect, puts me in a box where I slosh around old memories or create life dreams detached from realty.   Old memories and future dreams can be good for the soul, but stay there too long and we begin to miss what Nepo calls “heart steps” that are achieved by living in the present.  The old tree had survived by climbing outside her walls, and shared a heart step with me that day.  Don’t miss any heart steps today.