Is It Mursday Or Is It Thonday?

30 Aug 2012 6 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Wheel Of LifeThe first day back after a rather strange few days away from the office, I couldn’t decide whether it felt like a Monday or a Thursday, or maybe somewhere between the two. The drive down to Ringwood this morning was easy, but slow. Lots of time to chant and to take stock of the things that had happened recently.

The office was rather quiet, though it was good to have Lawrence back after his holiday and even better to fix a few of the issues that were outstanding. I was also pleased that I was back in the office to say farewell to Elaine, who left today to rest and prepare for the birth of her second baby.

It always surprises me how life just trundles on when you aren’t looking. The Wheel of Life turns eternally, there is no beginning or end, just the repetition of different phases that we all pass through. All that is asked of us, is to make the most of each and every second and to learn the lessons that life presents to us.

Time Flies And Lands With A Bump

28 Aug 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , , ,

Olympic ToysBeing up in Bristol a lot of the time now, gives me the chance to spend much more time with my grandsons, which is brilliant. This evening we went over to see Hannah and then on to see Charlotte, as it was my last chance to see either of them before their 5th and 10th wedding anniversaries respectively, this Friday.

Although I had seen Stanley, Jake and Zach fairly recently, they are all young enough to change almost day by day, so it was brilliant to catch up with their development. Stanley, currently an only child to Hannah and Jay, has always been a little character, with his own mind and attitude.

But he’s been going to pre-school for a while now and it was quite noticeable that his social skills are improving in leaps and bounds. He was much more outgoing than he was even a couple of weeks ago, and had Bumble and me playing hide and seek all round the house.

He’s also just had a new Spiderman bicycle, which he was proud to show off, riding around the lounge and kitchen diner. He a lovely little chap, and is all the more fun now he is talking with, and relating to other people so much more.

Round at Charlotte’s, Oliver, our one year old grandson, had already gone off to bed, but Jake and Zach were in fine form. Jake showed us his collection of McDonald’s Olympic Toys, one of which was a wheelchair athlete, which is great to see. Zach had a dinosaur toy with an opening mouth, which was good fun.

Sadly, the evening ended with Zach and I having a tearful, on his part, stand-off. He had given me his dinosaur whilst he played with Jake, but when he came over to take it back I asked him to say ‘please’. He refused, whereupon I refused to give him the toy. I cuddled him, whilst stopping him from taking the dinosaur, and asked him in a quiet voice, simply to say ‘please’ and that I would then let him have it.

In the end, the dinosaur was put onto a shelf, Zach went off to bed in tears and I felt terrible. Whilst I believe that manners and etiquette are important, I would never have put the two of us in the situation, had I know the outcome. Children must be taught the rights and wrongs of life, but I will be interested to see Zach’s attitude to his grumpy grandfather when I see him next.

Little Rewards

09 Aug 2012 4 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Little RewardsI’ve sometimes wondered exactly who reads my blog each day. Not that it’s hugely important in the great scheme of things, because I write it, partly as a log of my progress, partly as a diary and partly as a way of sharing my observations and the lessons I learn along the way.

From the comments I get, I see occasionally, too infrequently some may say, that things that grab my attention, also interest others. People have been kind enough to let me know, and sometimes it seems that a topic has also struck a chord with them.

Receiving these comments is like getting a little present for my efforts. Most, if not all, are constructive and positive, and I would like to thank all of you, and you know who you are, for taking the time to put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard more precisely, to let me know what you think.

The search for enlightenment continues, so expect another incisive post, amongst the reams of general waffle, sometime soon.

And Life Continues

21 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Wheel of LifeThis is the first day after Ivor’s passing, and it is taking a while for us to comprehend that although he is no longer with us in body, his spirit lives on, and that life in general continues.

It is so reassuring to know that he is at one with the universe and that after resting, he will be back to start his next life. Each lifetime is a journey, an opportunity for us to learn from the challenges it sets us, and to be a better person the next time around.

Ivor was much loved by his family and all those who came into contact with him. It is fascinating to ponder the ways in which he will use the lessons he learned during his next life. Whatever they may be, I am sure that he will make the most of them, becoming an even more loveable character when the Wheel of Life turns once more for him.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.

Flippin’ Friday

11 May 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

computer_codeHaving been in IT for all my working life, I should know better, but it still annoys the hell out of me when computers mess with my life. I’ve been working on a redesign project for one of our websites and my desktop decided it knew better than I did when it came to the general look and feel of the site.

Basically, it minimalized the content by losing all the references to the images and text across the whole site. Naturally, this made the pages much quicker to load, but also made the site a little too simplistic. Finally, I have been able to fix the underlying problem, but that leaves the onerous task of adding all the content back into the site.

Other aspects of life can be like that. If I ever lost my mobile, or my iPad went AWOL, half my life would go with them. We all record names, addresses and other details such as birthdays on these nice shiny bits of hardware, in the vain belief that their memories are better than ours, but on some occasions they aren’t.

Somewhere, filed neatly in one of the drawers at home, I have a piece of A4 paper with my entire families names, addresses, birthdays and anniversaries. My Mom painstakingly wrote them down for me years ago, and although I have no real idea where the paper is, I know for sure, that if I find it, it will still have the details recorded.

So even though it’s Friday, and the weekend is just round the corner, it’s not been the best day of the week so far. As with most days, there are lessons to be learned, and mine for today is to make sure everything is backed up in such a way that I can recreate a site from scratch, even when everything looks secure. You just never know do you?

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