Precious Human Birth

At the start of the new year I am one for setting goals.  Not so much resolutions, but goals for the year to come.  Really, I just love looking back at the end of the year and taking out my highlighter to cross them off.  Reviewing goals daily helps me stay grounded.  Focused.  Intentional.  The ability to think this way is a gift in and of itself.  Mark Nepo explains:

"There is a Buddhist precept that asks us to be mindful of how rare it is to find ourselves in human form on Earth.  It is really a beautiful view of life that offers us the chance to feel enormous appreciation for the fact that we are here as individual spirits filled with consciousness, drinking water and chopping wood.  It asks us to look about at the ant and antelope, at the worm and the butterfly, at the dog and the castrated bull, at the hawk and the wild lonely tiger.  It asks us to understand that no other life form has the consciousness of being that we are privileged to.  It asks us to recognize that of all the endless species of plants and animals and minerals that make up the Earth, a very small portion of life has the wakefulness of spirit that we call "being human."

All of this to say, this precious human birth is unrepeatable.  So what will you do this year?  what will you do today, knowing that you are one of the rarest forms of life to ever walk the Earth?  How will you carry yourself?  what will you do with your hands?  What will you ask and of whom?

In the Caldwell house we will welcome our son.  In a month of so we will fly to China and experience a brand new culture.  A culture that is the norm for our baby boy.  Our 2nd to last step is waiting on what is called an Article 5.  This is simply Liam's visa application.  This takes 2 weeks to process and following the Article 5 pickup we will wait of our travel approval from China.

Here's to an intentional, conscious 2015!