Your moment of zen?

:hi: I experienced one yesterday. Even with all the other crap going on (see my "weekend" thread...:P), I had a really, really cool moment of truth yesterday. At the second bridal shower I attended two weeks ago, I sat right beside a friend of the bride. She and I started talking, and she asked me what I did for a living. When I told her my line of work, she said, "You know, I'm at a crossroads in my career. I don't have any idea what I want to do." She's 32 and has a master's degree in graphic design but is waiting tables at the moment. I asked her what she liked and what she was interested in, and she said: graphic design and fashion. She was interested in retail, and I suggested she consider visual marketing or fashion merchandising. There is a large department store chain with its headquarters in the city where she lives, and I suggested she check there for openings. Well, that was two weeks ago, and she ran up to me at the wedding yesterday to tell me how excited she was! She applied to that chain a few days after we talked, and they called her last week to talk about becoming a visual merchandiser on track to becoming an assistant manager for one of their flagship stores. They hired her on the spot, and she is ecstatic. :D She thanked me profusely for planting the seed in her head.

It's funny---most people don't think of a Director of Financial Aid as being a career counselor, but over the past 21 years, I've helped a few people figure things out. ;) I don't just deal with financial aid---I have to know every aspect of higher education to do what I do, and I'm happy it paid off. :) That's why I'm in this profession. :bounce:

it's little things like that people appreciate.

:hug:

:bounce:

that's really cool!

:hi: :hug: :D

maybe my moment of zen is realizing that when i sit still and listen in my life right now, i hear a banshee screaming "run, run" in different words, but it is still there.

when i am busy or doing things i ignore the banshee.

i need to heed the banshee's message...

that's all

:hug:

:hi:

You just altered someones life path for the better!!
Good karma is coming your way :) :toast:
Could you help me find a career??
I am a 40 year old male who pm's his butt to women..
What career path should i follow? :silly: :rofl:

:hi: Hmmmm... a butt PMer... I'd better think a while about that... :P :rofl:

Jobs that allow people to help others have to be pretty rewarding, it seems to me.

I had a moment of zen recently. It involved the moment I met my best friend. I met him about 14 years ago - I was giving another guy a ride home because he was way too drunk to drive. Okay guy but heavy drinker and he was pretty obnoxious and belligerent that night.

I'd never been to his house and didn't know where it was so I relied on him for directions. He didn't want to go home though and insisted we got to another guy's house "for a drink." Well, since he wouldn't let up or tell me where we were going until we'd had that drink, I relented even though it was very late.

We got to the house and it was dark. I told him we should leave but he lurched out and went to the door so I followed. And my now-best-friend answered the door sleepily and let us in.

I remember every detail of that night. And the thing is, I shouldn't. It was just a chance, throwaway meeting but we connected on some deep level. I didn't see him again for several weeks and my moment of zen came when I realized that I should not remember that meeting.

I don't remember my first meeting with very many people. Only those for whom meeting was an occasion of sorts - like my present SO who asked me out the first time we met. Of course I remember that. But I don't remember my first meeting with either of my 2 husbands, with the drunk guy I drove home, with virtually all of my friends. A chance meeting of short duration late at night, I remember vividly.

I think that says something cool about my friendship. I think it was meant to be. :)

:hi: I'm sure it was meant to be. :)

for me it was not about realization but about finding complete peace, even if it was for just a bit.

i was visiting my sister in oregon a few summers back and we spent a day driving around the coast. we went to astoria and i saw the goonies house. then we went to canon beach and i saw the goonies rock (eeee!)

anyway, we spent a couple of hours just sitting on the beach. we ate cold fried chicken and potato salad (a perfect meal for the beach, imo). it was later in the day and the sun was about 15 degrees off the horizon. the sun was so warm on my back and the water so cold on my feet. my mind was clear my heart was happy and i was at total peace with the world



my sister took this picture that day and i use it to find my center. it was the most perfect moment of my life

:D :bounce: I'm so happy you were able to experience that. :pals:

even if it's just for a few moments :pals:

Most people ignore my suggestions, thats probably for the best anyway.

That's not for the best. :hug: :)

Thanks, man. :D

30 years have gone by, and this moment still moves me.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x3472305

:hi: I remember reading that a long time ago. :)

He's the guy on the right.



To see this no-nonsense man-of-the-earth enjoying a sunset was my moment of Zen.

:hi: :hug:

Traveling (in no particular hurry) from L.A., stopped to camp outside of Indio. Not knowing squat about sorta-desert areas, I left a pot of water sitting and hit the sack. In the morning, the outside of the tent was covered with bees. We covered the rug-rat with a sleeping bag, unzipped the tent, and slowly walked to the car. With lady and the rug-rat bee-free and sitting in the closed car, I went back to empty the pot. I carefully pushed some bees off the pot handle, picked it up, carried it about 50 feet and slowly poured out bees and water into the sand. Of course by this time I was covered with bees too. As I backed away from the pot, the bees left me and went for the puddle.

We left the camp covered in bees and went into Indio to get breakfast (somehow the idea of cooking at camp was discarded). By the time we got back to the tent, all the water was gone and so were the bees. We packed up and continued the trip.

Carrying a pot of bees and water just seemed kind of zen maybe. My brain was in the zone somewhere. Somehow it was a very calm walk.

:hi: :thumbsup:

http://www.barbarasher.com/

I could use that kinda help. I still don't know what I wanna be when I grow up. x(

:hi: :D Thanks! And if you need any suggestions, PM me. :)

sorry to get all deep on ya

One of my favorite books is Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh and one of the best things I learned from that book is that each moment is important to us and that we can achieve and benefit from being mindful in all of our daily activities. I make it a point to stop several times a day to close my eyes, breathe deeply and remind myself to focus on the present moment. I think it is extremely helpful in maintaining an even keel and making the most of each moment.

:hi: :)

When I realized that I had become my father, and that these two children were my first, second, and overriding duty, above all others:

:hi: :D

There may have been some philosophical musings on bike rides but in somewhat Zen fashion those musings have come and gone

:hi: :D

I was 16, working at a chicken farm (more like a factory, with about 60,000 chickens) for a whopping $1.25 per hour. I was the smallest male in my class at the time, nobody would believe my age, and farm work was about all I could get.

I remember standing thigh deep in chicken manure, in waders, with a shovel in my hand, about to pass out from the ammonia. At that moment, I remember thinking, "I'm going to college!"

:P :rofl: :hi: