Have you ever noticed how you might be thinking about something, maybe even putting pen to paper to memorialize those thoughts, and then suddenly someone else says something that is exactly what was in your mind? As if they had reached inside your head and grabbed it.
Or maybe, you had just read something that really intrigued you and suddenly material on that same topic starts popping up everywhere? A friend recommends a book – same subject. You see an advertisement for a TV documentary – same subject. A billboard along the highway – same subject. A blog post from a friend mirrors that same subject.
Affirmations from the world around us. We’re on the same wavelength.
And none of this is related to some mainstream news cycle. Maybe it’s about showing gratitude. Or demonstrating generosity. Or learning to smile at the beauty that surrounds us.
This seems to happen all the time, if we’re paying attention, and it happened again just the other day when my blogging friend Searching for Grady posted to her blog. It’s a piece she calls, “Migratory Spirits” about the twelve virtues.
And it just so happens, I’m reading a book about the twelve virtues called, “The Lakota Way: Stories and Lessons for Living.” The author, Joseph M. Marshall III, dedicates a chapter to each virtue. Providing the Sioux word and pronunciation, and then telling some traditional stories to illustrate the concepts.
So we have:
Humility – Unsiiciyapi (un-shee-ee-cee-yah-pee) to be humble, modest, unpretentious;
Perseverance – Wowacintanka (wo-wah-chin-tan-gah) to persist, strive in spite of difficulties;
Respect – Wawoohola (wah-wo-o-ho-lah) to be considerate, to hold in high esteem;
Honor – Wayuonihan (wah-you-v-knee-han) to have integrity, an honest and upright character;
Love – Cantognake (chan-doe-gnan-key) to place and hold in one’s heart;
Sacrifice – Icicupi (ee-chee-chu-pee) to give of oneself, an offering;
Truth – Wowicake (wo-wee-jah-keh) that which is real, the way the world is;
Compassion – Waunsilapi (wah-un-shee-lah-pee) to care, to sympathize;
Bravery – Woohitike (wo-oh-hee-tee-keh) having or showing courage;
Fortitude – Cantewasake (can-te-wah-sha-keh) strength of heart and mind;
Generosity – Canteyuke (chan-te-you-keh) to give, to share, to have heart;
and,
Wisdom – Woksape (wo-ksa-peh) to understand what is right and true, to use knowledge wisely.
Isn’t it amazing how these ideas seem to travel. I don’t think it’s solely because of the Internet or modern communications either. While we might look at these systems as being more dendrites in the collective nervous system, ideas seem to travel with or without exterior electronics. We are all connected. We may have just not realized how widespread collective thoughts manifest.
There are no coincidences.
I find it encouraging that at a time when there seems to be more division and hatred spreading like a cancer, that the twelve virtues have emerged. Perhaps as the antibodies to defeat such infections.
May the thoughts and the actions from the virtues gain lightspeed 🙂
***
Photo: The sun rises over a rock formation in the Badlands. A universal symbol. The sun rising, a new day, new beginnings, a fresh start, we’ve embarked on a new journey. These thoughts arise in everyone’s minds, synchronously, without the need to speak. Perhaps a look into another’s eyes, the nod of a head. Just knowing.
Thanks Harold. Just what I needed this morning.
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🙂
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There are no coincidences indeed!
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Hi my friend !
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Hello 🙋
Nice to see you
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And you my friend. I’m struggling to keep up right now, but I want to follow your new career 🙂
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Thank you , I’ll put some.updates as i go along 😁
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Great post. And yes. The coincidence thing happens to me a lot!!
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Thanks !
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I believe that every one of the virtues is ingrained in our DNA – and without the need for a reminder of any sort, or external prompts, the only thing that we actually need to acknowledge and realise them, is presence of mind. Just my belief. Great post!
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Thanks ! And thanks for your insight 🙂
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Not at all – yours is a very thought-provoking post.
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If we all lived these virtues every day, what a world we live in 😊
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Oh for sure.. wouldn’t that be something!? (Now, there’s another post in the making, surely? 🤔)
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😁
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I am always grateful for synchronicity, it let’s me know I’m on the right track.
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Beautiful virtues we should all try to attain. I agree with you wholeheartedly! There seems to be so much more negativity lately. I have even noticed it on my blog but I refuse to let those comments in. Thank you!✨
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Thank you ! Sorry to hear anyone would submit negative comments on your blog. It seems like some are just trying to attack everything. A lot of anger out there
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I have dear friends who are Lakota Sioux from Pine Ridge. I am going to ask them about the book and plan to read it. It sounds wonderful!
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It’s a good read, and the author gives a brief history of the Sioux tribes at the end. That’s wonderful that you have friends who are Lakota. We have much to learn from the Native Americans 🙂
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This is a beautiful post and I must thank you so very much for linking my blog. I am just as amazed as you are at how many times thoughts collide.. It excites me and makes me very happy when like minded people collide…
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Reassuring to know there are kindred spirits out there 😊
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And thank you 🌷
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Beautiful! Deeply resonates. Thankyou indeed!
May the thoughts and the actions from the virtues gain lightspeed 🙂
🙏Amen
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Thank you !
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