What is good or bad?

Yesterday a nice quote from Yogi Bhajan came in my mailbox. It says:

What is good or bad? Only thinking makes it so. We only need to learn two things: to be grateful and to be graceful.

I really enjoy thinking about the meaning of these quotes for myself, of course we interpret them all differently. What does it mean to you?

To me this was a reminder not to be judgemental about anything that happens or about other people. And to be happy with my life and to be graceful when things or other people are difficult or challenging. So to deal with difficulties in an elegant and balanced way. No need to make a drama out if it ;-)

I just spend a long week on my own in isolation (no phone, internet, etc) in a little house on one of the Dutch islands (Schiermonnikoog) to write on my dissertation and it was wonderful. The house is owned by my extended family and I have visited it since I was born. Some of the best childhood memories are about our holidays in that little wooden house. The island itself is a natural reserve with some of the most untouched land in the Netherlands.

Like I planned, I got a lot of work done in a nice peaceful way. I started every day with early morning yoga and meditations (sadhana = discipline), had a wonderful breakfast and started to write. My desk was in front of the big window overlooking the dunes. All I saw, looking up from the computer, was nature.....and I got to walk along the beach and in the dunes every day.

What a perfect balance.

I hope to live in a little house in nature some time in the future... for now, I'm back in Amsterdam. But not for long! On the 27th of December I am moving to Indonesia for a few months to do more research for my dissertation, to visit a conference, and to do some travelling and diving on Borneo and Sumatra... and.... who knows?!

Dreams are wishes waiting to be fulfilled.