Stopping to Smell the Flowers

Hello.  Sabaidee.  I was born Soutkita La Singharath thirty something years ago.  I deliberately did not say exactly how many years ago for I honestly really don't know either.    According to my driver's license it was 38 years ago but according to my parents I was born in the year of the Tiger making me 37 years old. Coming to America to a whole new life meant a whole new birth year for me possibly?  I guess it doesn't really matter for age is just a number right?  Whatever number it is, it only increases each year as my knowledge and wisdom increases or so I should hope at least. 

As I get older, I start to ponder more about my life and who I am.  What are we doing here in this vast universe that we're placed in?  Where will we go from here?  Have I lived a good enough life to go where I need to go after this lifetime?  When will one ever reach true peace or nirvana?  How do we find that inner peace and balance in our lives?  Why shouldn't we all deserve to be truly happy?   My thirst and hunger for complete peace and happiness has led me to search within the depths of my inner soul and that still small voice, one that often times I have failed to hear or listen to.  Being in quiet solitude one can hear not just a pin drop but that still small voice inside all of us....  I have been quiet enough the past few months to actually hear things other then my own loud voice. 

While Facebooking is a great way to connect and share with family and friends about our lives it can also be detrimental when one gets addicted.  I can honestly classify myself as a FB addict for it did interfere with the overall health and happiness of my life.  Not to mention I think it gave my right hand carpal tunnel.   I Facebooked not because I needed to or wanted to but it became an obsessive habit I did when I woke up, watched TV, waited for kids' at school or doctor's office, or washing up before going to bed.  I guess in some way it got a bit overwhelming for me and knew I had to quit my addiction!  I deactivated and quit FB cold turkey right before Christmas to devote all my precious time with my family.  After almost 100 days of being FB free I decided I was strong enough to come back to the world of social media and gain control of my addiction. 

My time away from FB has truly been an eye opener of not just my addiction to FB but other problems in my life.   Recognizing a problem or addiction is more then half of solving a problem.  My biggest problem I came to find out was just that I was going faster then I could run with everything I was doing and I was running out of breath.  I needed to STOP everything I was doing in my life and just SLOW down.   My family and friends like to coin me the "octopus" because I like to eat, drink, talk, and put on make up at the same time while I am driving.  So in a nutshell that shows my animated personality...  I just don't know how to just sit, be still and be quiet.  The past few months I have learned to do just that, learning to do one thing at a time and taking one day at at time.  Now I actually might be too slow so if I'm delayed in a project or two you'll know why. 

I am learning to slow down to smell the flowers, and for me that means I'm stopping to smell the Champa and the Lela.   Champa is a Lao word for the plumeria flower and it's also my 5 year old daughter's Lao nickname.  Lela is the name of my 12 year old and Lela is a type of lily flower in Laos.   My 15 year old son MJ has no floral name to call his own but he can be as sweet as a flower sometime depending on what time of the day you're sniffing him.   They are what makes life ever so sweet and of course like any other children, they can certainly make some days very sour and spicy!