Beware the Ides of March

The Ides of March is the 74th day in the Roman calendar, corresponding to 15 March. It was marked by several religious observances and was notable for the Romans as a deadline for settling debts. In 44 BC, it became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar which made the Ides of March a turning point in Roman history. But that was just history… right? Right.

We can imagine all sorts of things regarding times of the day, days of the week. We honor holidays as powerful times of observance. And make no mistake – these observances affect our thoughts, emotions and potential spiritual states. Does the moon affect our moods? Does knowing that it’s your birthday alter your thoughts of yourself and those around you? Of course. These repeated observances bring to pass changes in our behavior. Memories are created and replayed – and we do it over and over again.

Thoughts are powerful. Words are magic as well as powerful. William Shakespeare issued the phrase, ‘Beware the Ides of March’ in Julius Caesar for a reason. Over the years it has become a portent of doom, primarily because it was a warning to Caesar of an imminent brutal tragedy. These words were spoken as a prophecy by a seer or a soothsayer. They were spoken as a warning. Had Caesar heeded the warning, he may have lived and Shakespeare would have to have written something different. In a sense, Caesar had become his own worst enemy

How often have you had a feeling about something, scoffed and discovered later that had you trusted your feeling, you could have avoided a disaster? Have you ever been your own worst enemy? If someone told us that we needed to beware the Ides of March, we would think they were crazy or under the influence. Right?

The metaphorical Ides of March can manifest in any moment. On any day. Do we trust our inner voice? Do we trust our feelings? Do we, sometimes, overthink situations in life? Sometimes I trust my inner voice. On occasion… maybe even more than occasionally… I overthink situations in my life. I’m working on these things. Sometimes I feel I’m getting better at trusting my intuition. Some days, I feel particularly courageous. Somedays… I just dread. I get knocked down. But I get up again. Because I choose to focus on being aware rather than to beware. To me, beware means to ‘be aware’. Be aware has a much less ominous feature than beware. Be aware means to pay attention. Evolve and nurture our personal growth in awareness. Good things seem to come rather than bad things when I focus on surrendering to the flow rather than fighting against the current of life.

Be aware – trust your inner voice – and when you get knocked down, get up again. Look around, there may even be a hand reaching out to help you. We all need a little help sometime.

Be aware of the Ides of March…

https://youtu.be/2H5uWRjFsGc

The Rolling Thrones

Once upon a time, crossing over multiple dimensions of time and space simultaneously, four very intense men became great friends through their love of music, art, film and literature. Because of the demands of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, a strange concept formed within the minds of the men's shared universe. Their bond inspired them to form a band. They called themselves The Rolling Thrones and embarked on a world tour demonstrating their love of guitar, drums, and their mothers. Who are the members of this amazingly talented group? Trent Zelazny, Joe R. Lansdale, E. R. Robin Dover and George R. R. Martin.

The US & World Tour of the Monarchs commenced a twenty-six-date tour beginning in Santa Fe, New Mexico on 6 June 2014 and concluded back in Santa Fe on that same date one year later. The tour included performances in Tokyo, Mumbai, Moscow, Copenhagen, London, Paris, Madrid, Athens, Cairo, Mexico City, Miami and New York. Their debut album, entitled Please Please Me, was released on 22 March 2014. Every date sold out on the tour and their debut album sold 40 million copies worldwide with 20 million in the US alone. It was, most indeed, an electrifying, fulfilling, transcendent and fun - incredibly fun - experience.

Occasionally, these men meet up in Santa Fe, as well as on other dimensions, to discuss this outlandish fiction and agree that, in this case, truth is not necessarily stranger than fiction. Although this event manifested as an incident of virtual reality, it has nevertheless been a magical experience. One worth remembering. Look. You did it! You used your imagination!

The point of this crazy story: Don’t ever stop dreaming. And. Do something meaningful about it. You can start by believing in yourself and those around you who you love.

Later… until the Ides of March.

Know When to Hold ‘em – Know When to Fold ‘em

Today, a thought came to mind that I’m sure you’ve encountered and maybe even considered before in your life. I’ve heard it stated many times that ‘I’ve been dealt a bad hand in life’. Or God or Life has dealt someone a bad hand. Does this imply life is a card game? What do we do when we are dealt a bad hand in life? Do we keep doing the same thing? Do we hang onto or maintain our grip on the hand we’ve been dealt? Is there a nefarious or ominous dealer controlling our destiny?

Does anyone know or remember a song by a man named Kenny Rogers called The Gambler? Kenny didn’t write this song (Don Schlitz wrote the lyrics) but Kenny told the story and in my humble opinion, Kenny told it well.

Part of the lyrics to this song states that ‘You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away, know when to run’. To me, this means we have the ability to change our lives. We are not forced to remain in the same circumstances or situation if we choose not to do this. And – if we feel our circumstances is heading in the right direction – we can hang onto the hand we’ve been dealt and stay in the game. But remember: just because you choose to fold your hand doesn’t mean it’s over. I promise – life will deal you another hand. And it begins again.

We all have the chance to start over, to change our lives by improving our lives. We can follow our dream – we can work toward our heart’s desires – we can explore other avenues – we can always choose another hand. We can hold – or we can fold. Sometimes it’s good to walk away and start again. Sometimes, it’s good to run away… as fast as you can… and create a gap between yourself and what you know is not making you happy or fulfilling you. Hold ‘em or fold ‘em.

I take a deep breath every day, look up into the sky, and say, Deal me in!

I’ll provide a link for your convenience and entertainment to have a listen to this song.

https://youtu.be/7hx4gdlfamo