Saturday, July 30, 2016

He said, "How can you be happy about your new hairdo?"

Greetings!

Recently I had a perm.

The stylist was very friendly.  She spoke many languages and dialects.  We talked in Cantonese.  She was not born or raised in China.  She spoke Cantonese fluently because that was the language her family spoke at home.  She asked how I wanted my hair to be.  My hair was about an inch above my shoulders.  I asked her to trim my hair only a little bit for I preferred long hair than short hair.  She showed me pictures of different hair styles.  There was a picture of a woman whose hair was as long as mine with some curls at the ends.  Pointing at the picture, she said, "This is what you prefer, isn't it?"  I said, "Yes!  I do not want my hair to be too curly."  With some hesitation, she said, "But ... I will cut your hair in layers.  You look better that way."

Soon, I saw lots of my hair on the floor.  Some were many inches long.  That was not what I wanted, I thought.  However, I did not say anything.  I decided to let her do her job.  I had not had a perm for a long, long time.  In a way, I was tired of my old look.  I came for a perm because I wanted a new look.

The stylist told me some of her life stories.  She moved to this state 17 years ago from a big, populous city of another state.  She had been a hair stylist for over 25 years.  I expressed my disbelief for she looked like a young woman in her early 30 s.  She smiled and said, "It is the makeup!  Without the makeup, I look old.  My children are 14 and 18.  If I got married early, they should have finished college and on their own now."  Seeing my gray hair, she said, "I know you have never dyed your hair.  In the future, it may be good to consider dyeing your hair if you have to go to a wedding or attend other special occasions.  Nowadays, most people dye their hair on a regular basis.  Please come in.  I will dye your hair for you."  I thanked her for her advice.

I went to the hair salon early in the morning.  As time went by, more and more customers walked in.  Though busy, the stylist was very attentive.  She brought me magazines, talked to me, and checked on my hair from time to time.

When the perm was set, another woman washed my hair and massaged my head for a long while.  Before I came to USA, I went to hair salons quite often.  The woman that washed my hair that morning was wonderful.  I felt relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed how she massaged my head.  When she finished, she said, "Before I worked on this job, I thought every body's scalp was similar, but it was not.  My fingers are now very sensitive to different types of scalps."  Her coworker that had finished washing another customer's hair said, "The one I just worked on had a thick and soft scalp.  When I tried to massage one area, her skin slipped to another side."  The woman that washed my hair said to me, "Your scalp is thin as if it sticks to your skull. Your skull is very hard.  My hands have to work extra hard to give your head a good massage."  I knew it was true.  I said, "Thank you."

When I walked out of the hair salon, three hours had gone by.  My hair was much shorter than before.  Besides, it was quite curly.

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At home, my husband asked, "How do you like your hairdo?"  From the look on his face, I knew how much he disliked my new look.  I said, "I know you really don't like my perm, but, please ... keep you negative comments to yourself.  First of all, the perm is done.  It doesn't help telling me how negatively you view my new hairdo.  I had not had a perm for a long, long time.  This is something I had wanted and finally did.  I am happy."

I knew my husband.  Once he felt negatively about something, he could not stop expressing his view.  After all, we had been married for a long time.  After a pause, he said, "But, how can you be happy about your new hairdo?  It looks terrible."  With a true smile on my face, I said, "I look at the whole thing from a different point of view.  I went for a perm because my hair was lack of elasticity.  The stylist was nice and friendly.  The woman that washed my hair gave me a wonderful massage on my head.  I had never felt that good when someone washed my hair.  When I look into the mirror, the hairdo is different from what I have in mind, but, it looks good to me. Furthermore, with the perm, I know I can style it the way I like later.  My hair grows fast.  Soon it will be longer than it is now."

My husband asked, "Did you leave a tip?  If I were you, I would not.  How much tips did you give?"  I answered, "Hair salon is a service business like a restaurant.  I gave them an appropriate tip for I appreciate their service.  Why would you want to know how much I gave?  Knowing about it will only add to your displeasure.  Let it go.  It is my hair, and, I am happy with my new look."

For a few days, my husband continued to look at my hair with that kind of look.  I smiled at his funny behavior.  Two women that I worked for had good comments about my new hairdo.

On the fourth day, I washed my hair.  I dried my hair with a blow dryer.  Later, I walked into the family room.  My husband looked at me with his eyes widely opened.  "You look a 100% better than the day you had the perm!  How did you do that?"

We can react with anger when other people are angry at us for no proper reason.  We can feel sad when other people are sad.  We can also choose to be happy no matter what - that was the best advice my spirit guide gave me many years ago.

Peace and Love,
Q of D

Monday, July 18, 2016

The Divine knows what will happen and an Earth Angel awaits

Greetings!

In the evening, an old man in a motorized wheelchair, his wife, and a caregiver got into an elevator.  They were going to get out on the ground floor and stroll around the apartment building outside.

The old man was excited yet anxious.  He broke his spine some years ago, and had to use a heavy motorized wheelchair to move around.  With the spinal issue, he incurred other health problems, e.g. his legs and feet were badly swollen.  The last two years had been difficult.  He had strokes, and the latest one happened earlier this year.  For months, he suffered from constant severe pain in his back, feet, legs, and other parts of his body.  Fortunately, his condition had improved in recent weeks.  It was the first time in two years that he felt he was up to a stroll outside.

As for the wife, she was somewhat filled with trepidation.  Her husband was big and tall.  The wheelchair was old.  It did not function as well as it had been.  She was old, and the caregiver was shorter than she was.  If something went wrong, they would not be able to carry her husband.  Despite of her worries, she did not want to spoil the plan for she was glad that her husband felt well enough for a stroll.

The caregiver could kind of sensed how they felt.  In her heart, she assured the woman that everything was going to be alright, "Don't worry!  Our angels will watch over us.  It is going to be a good experience."  She came to work for them not long ago.  She did not talk to them about angels or what she believed in.

They came out of the apartment building.

Right away, the caregiver spotted a man standing in a distance.  He was waving to them with a big, friendly smile.  Naturally, the caregiver returned his kind gesture by waving to him with a big smile.  The man had a muscular physique.  She asked the old couple if they knew him.  They did not know him.  Seeing how friendly he was, they waved to him too.

It was a quiet evening.  The wife and the caregiver talked while walking behind the old man.  Soon they saw him riding his wheelchair at a speed faster than normal. His wife yelled for him to slow down, but he did not seem to hear.  The caregiver had to run to stop the wheelchair.  When the wife caught up with them, she admonished her husband.  The old man said they should relaxed for he knew his wheelchair well.

When they came around to the entrance of the apartments again, the caregiver suggested for them to go back to the apartment.  However, the wife wanted to go to an area by the side of the building where there were tables and chairs.  When her husband was healthy, they used to sit there after taking a walk, she said.
 
To get to that area, they must go through a curvy, narrow path.  The old man said it would be difficult for him to maneuver the wheelchair through.  His wife said he could make it if he drove slowly.  He said it was risky, but he drove onto the path as she said.  Within seconds, the front wheels of his wheelchair went up on the bricks that paved the sides of the path.  The wheels stuck between the bricks, and the man could neither move the wheelchair forward nor backward.  The man and the wheelchair were now sloping to one side.

The wife said, "What are we going to do?  There is no way we can lift him and the wheelchair.  It is late.  We cannot get any help from the apartment office."  The caregiver bent down to see if she could do something to free the wheels from the bricks.  As she did, she saw from the corner of her eyes that the muscular man was running very fast in their direction.  She said, "Oh!  He is coming to help us!"

The man easily lifted the wheels off the bricks.  He picked up the wheelchair and put it back to safety.  (The big motorized wheelchair with the old man on it must weigh hundreds of pounds!)  The two women watched in awe of his strength.  Meanwhile, they kept thanking him.  The man let out a broad smile before he ran away.

When they were back in the apartment, the old woman said she could not help thinking about the possible dire outcome if the man had not come to help.  The caregiver lightly patted her shoulder.  With her hand pointing upward, the caregiver said, "The Divine is watching over us today.  Let us tell the Divine how grateful we are."  Immediately, the expression on the woman's face changed to that of peace and gratitude.  She told her husband what the caregiver said.  The old man said, "Yes, we should!"  Together, they expressed their gratitude to the Loving Divine.

Love,
Q of D

P. S.  In the following 2 weeks, the old woman and the caregiver had gone over to the other building to look for the earth angel in order to thank him again.  They could not find him.  When they asked around, nobody seem to know such a man.  The old woman said her husband used to weigh above 220 lbs., but weighed 195 lbs. at that time.  With the heavy motorized wheelchair, the total weight could be near 340 lbs.  The muscular earth angel easily lifted up the wheelchair with the old man.  How often did someone you did not know wave at you from a distance?  He ran fast too.  The caregiver could not help but wondered if she had seen an earth angel or an angel that manifested in human form to come to their aid.   

Friday, July 8, 2016

Gloves On Feet - Moment of Sweetness / Love

Gloves On Feet

On a cold, windy spring day
A family went to the zoo
The youngest in a stroller,
A boy and a girl walked alongside their parents

After a long walk on the trails
The boy told his daddy and mommy, "My feet hurt!"
They asked, "What part of your feet hurt?"
He had on a pair of boots
He pointed at the bottom of his feet

His daddy looked at him
Without saying another word
He bent down and signaled for the boy to climb onto his back
Content and happy on his daddy's back
His boots slipped off his feet
Immediately, his mommy took off her gloves
She placed them over his feet to keep them warm
It never crossed her mind
That her hands might now be cold

Gloves on feet
A strange and funny sight indeed
The family laughed
Joyfully, they continued on their walk in the zoo

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Dear (Grandson), what is love?

It is in the small things that your daddy and mommy do for you.  It is in the food they cook.  It is in their eyes and in their smiles as they look at you.  It is in the gentle conversation that they try to explain what you should or should not do.  Sometimes, love is also in the hurried, loud admonishing words because they don't want you to get hurt.

As the oldest child, sometimes you may feel life is not that fair.  You may feel your mommy and daddy are easier on your siblings than you.  As the oldest one, you have watched how tenderly your mommy and daddy attend to your sister, and now your little brother.  Remember, you are their first born.  They had taken care of you lovingly and tenderly when you were small.  If you pay attention, they still love you and take care of you the best they can just as the day in the zoo.  They loved you then, they love you now, and they will always love you.

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I wrote down the above words some months ago after going to the zoo with my loved ones.  I kept it as a draft in 'Loveshines', but I had not intended to publish it.  I wanted to create a book of love with pictures and comments on different occasions, and gave it to my grandson someday.

A couple of months ago, my grandson, with the help of his parents, created his first social media account.  One day, he posted this question to his family and friends - Is there something you want (to see) on my website.  I sent this request to his website.
I would love to see the picture of 'Gloves on your feet'.  Remember these moments of love, and you will always smile from your heart.
Afterward, I did not see any response on his website.  I let it go.  At his young age,  he was probably not that into his social media account as the adults.

Today I saw a loved one's comment above my request.
"Sadly, I don't remember them."  
I thought the family had taken some picture of 'gloves on feet'.  Now, I wondered if I was the only one who had taken some pictures of that moment.  Since I wrote "Remember these moments of love ... ", the loved one might not necessary mean this particular occasion.

As for me, I could still recall how relaxed and content my grandson was on his daddy's back.  The sweetness he felt in his heart was shown on his face.  Then his boot slipped off his feet.  His loving mommy immediately took off her gloves and placed them over his feet.  It was a cold spring day, but my heart was warm seeing the love among my loved ones.

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The other day we were in a restaurant eating dim sum.  My oldest grandson took a sip of water.  Immediately, he alerted his mother that the water might be too hot for his little brother.  My grandson did not notice I was looking at him with a smile.  His natural display of loving concern for his little brother warmed my heart.

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Many of us retained memories of loss, defeat, sadness, anger, feeling unloved, or that of traumatic events.  Meanwhile, we easily forgot these moments of sweetness / love that happened all the time in our daily life.

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For love, I change my mind and choose to publish this post.

It is never too late to pay attention to the love and beauty around us.  Take them in* with love, appreciation, and gratitude.  As we do, we will see life in a different light, and know that Love Is All That Is.  (*Matter of speech only)

Many Blessings,
Q of D

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

I omit something in my last post

Greetings!

I just noticed I did not mention the following in my last post.

Later, the host put a chair inside the circle.  He asked a young woman to sit on the chair, and said to the healer that it was time to do some healing.  When the host said that, the woman sitting next to me immediately left her chair, and moved to sit on a couch about two feet behind me.  At the time, I did not think much about it or why she left her chair.  (I had since added this to my post I asked to be a source of healing to the others, and I was .)

Of course, I now understood the woman (an empath) left the circle because she was highly empathetic to other's physical and emotional pain (or imbalance).  She did not act any differently earlier because the main healer did not work on the young woman as the host had requested.  Later, the focus was on the man that could not sleep. The young woman did not receive healing, but the main healer had asked her to book a private session with him on a later day.

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In the gathering, the clairvoyant healer did not talk much about himself except some words about his ability to see.  At home, I looked at the business card he gave me, and went online to read about his spiritual journey.  I found out he was a known healer with multi abilities.  During the gathering, he offered healing to many for free.  I greatly admired this brother's pure intention of helping others.

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It seemed no future gathering was scheduled at this time.  From the information, the attendance that Saturday was almost twice of that of their regular monthly meeting.  I hoped the gathering had not caused any complain from the neighbors of the couple that had gracefully allowed the use of their home.

Will we meet again?  When there is a will, there is a way.

Peace and blessings,
Q of D