Conference etc................

It has been a busy week. The conference was very interesting. I spent a lot of time with Revenue Canada HST, first at the booth asking a hundred questions and then I attended the poor man’s seminar. He was so sweet and patient. Not everyone shared my enthusiasm and I noticed that the seminar room was the smallest room. Am I the only one paying my taxes? My day was learning the business side of the house for both my books and psychotherapy. I had lunch at the hotel next door (since there was no more food, by the time I got out of the seminar), looking upwards at a hawk, searching for prey. At one point I thought she got lucky as she hovered suspended in the sky, her bold neck strong as her head surveyed the grassland below. This was my time out during the day, as people nodded coming in and out of the hotel outside patio, where I was the sole patron. I did miss the last two sessions after determining that beating the rush hour back to Toronto was more beneficial than attending something that was not really of use to me. Do I really want to start another business? No! But………no! I have only so much energy. I also consulted for a student during the week, who wanted to proceed to the Advance step of her studies. It was nice seeing my mentor again. After that I met a friend of mine for lunch since he lives in the East side of Toronto, where I rarely venture to. We spent a lot of time catching up, at an outside patio, me munching on a Veggie Burger with Onion rings. Awe, onion rings! My friend is legally blind. He told me about a woman trying to get him to sign something and showed me the brochure she had given him. “I have my white cane. She knows I am blind and yet she is trying to get me to sign up for whatever this is.” I read the brochure which promoted some Asian relaxation art. I don’t think the experience was too relaxing for him. I feel bad for my good old friend who I once was romantically interested in him, for about five minutes. He laughs when I share this with him. His blindness is recent. It was nice catching up, complaining, laughing and being with a trusted friend. My closest friends and more enduring relationships have always been men. They taught me how to deal with other men, since I was a child. I have been so fortunate that what I have always taken for granted as not been the experience for everyone. Yesterday, my body said no more and so I rested. I did absolutely nothing. No guilty pleasure there. I make it my priority to self care. I cannot help anyone, if I am not in tip top shape. I re-energized and today I am myself again. Tomorrow, I am having a full day of lots of fun. Yes! So how can you relate with what I wrote today? I have had one course in business in grade nine of high school. What bored me to death in that one course has served me well in how I record for taxes and business in general. What I take for granted is not that easy for everyone. So, if anyone is reading this who is a teenager, that course you take and complain about why you have to take it and you will never use it, you just may. Remember you need a balance in life. Working (and not scamming others) hard has its benefits but you need to spend time with friends and you need to have time for playing. Try not to tip the scales. Do you think you are working too hard? What is your body telling you? Are you bored to tears? Are you motivated by money alone? What have you ever done for someone else? What do you do for yourself? Where do you find your peace? I find mine in nature every morning when I sit in the back deck and communicate with God, the trees, squirrels and my pets. I love nature in a city, which can be quite fast paced. If you do not have that comfort, perhaps you can find comfort and peace by looking at a tranquil picture, by closing your eyes and focusing on your breathing, by sharing a precious moment with your partner, by spending time in a park, by laying on the grass and looking up at the sky. If you believe in a God, or higher power, why not have a conversation? What do you see, when you look up? What do you think?