Thanks for what I have

Quote from Epicurus:

"Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for."

There are two parts of this that I like ... "what I hoped for" ... and "do not spoil".

I worked all my life to retire early, studying the forums on earlyretirement.org. So I what I have now is what I hoped for, for at least the second part of my adult life ... with the first part being innocent bliss of youth and the third part living the dream, retirement!

So this IS what I hoped for and GOT!

There is no reason to spoil what I currently have as many people would be desperate to achieve what I have.

I am so fortunate and grateful for what I have.

Thanks to my dharma teachers

In this gratitude post, I'd like to think and thank all my dharma teachers. There have been a few. Some, I've met in person, most of them I have experienced online.

The list of online teachers that I've never met but have listened to hours of their teachings include (in random order of stream of consciousness)

• Joseph Goldstein 
• https://dharmaseed.org
• Slyvia Boorstein
• https://dharmaseed.org
• Gil Fronsdale
• https://www.audiodharma.org/
• http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/
• http://www.sati.org/
• Andrea Fella (see Gil's links)
• Jack Kornfield 
• https://dharmaseed.org
• Matthew Brensilver
• https://dharmaseed.org
• https://www.audiodharma.org/
• Bikkhu Bodhi
• https://bodhimonastery.org/religion/audios
• https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bhikkhu+bodhi
• Thubten Chodron
• https://sravastiabbey.org
• Lama Marut
• https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lama+marut
• Thanissaro Bikkhu 
• https://www.dhammatalks.org/index.html
• Piya Tan 
• http://www.themindingcentre.org/dharmafarer
• Dan Harris (not really a teacher <grin>)
• Sam Harris 

In another post I'll mention those I've met in person.

Thanks for my gifts

Today I worked out at the gym and spoke with the manager there. I have spoken to him a couple of times. We had spoken about how yoga is a good stress relief for me. He showed me how he shines brass to release his stress. He has a bell on his desk that he is shining. He told me that he suffers from partial PTSD from his service in one of the Iraq wars. I'll have to look again at a plaque hanging there to see which one. So thanks John for sharing with me that you have a stress and a way to relieve it. Thanks to all veterans for the sacrifices that made and make every day as a result of injuries physical and mental received while serving our country and maintaining our freedoms.

Pithy saying and response

My presence upon this earth can make a difference in the world. Make this world a better place by sharing one of your unique gifts.

One of my (many) unique gifts is to be joyful and happy. I smile at people and they smile back. It makes us both feel good. I try to remain humble but that is not one of my gifts. My other gifts are my intellect, my ability to make people feel comfortable and open up, my athleticism, my discipline.