lotus, flowers and husband

my dear friends and family

we have a little fish pond in the back yard and have planted two pots of lotus flowers.  a few days ago we saw FOUR lotus flowers blossoming at the same time.  this has never happened since we moved in the house.

i think this has a lot to do with my happiness.  nichiren buddhism steaches me about the 'oneness of self and the environment', as i become happier and happier, the flowers feel my joy and they are happy too.
then in the evening, andrew came back with a bunch of beautiful flowers for me, (see photo).
this morning, when i woke, andrew has already finished a full load of laundry, he bought fresh bread, back bacon and made pancakes for breakfast.  as i was eating the crunchy toast, crispy bacon, sweet honey (sorry we ran out of maple syrup) on pancakes, gosh, i felt so content and happy.  this is life!
later andrew helped to clean the dog poo in the back yard, chanted ten minutes with me before he went to play mahjong.  now i am home enjoying the quietness and  will start to do my own duties, change bed sheets, air blankets etc.

life is so good.  with my initial email telling my friends how nice andrew was.  he has received lots and lots of compliments all over the world and since then has become even more caring and considerate. 
again, this is what i had learned from sgi, our buddhist organixation in the past 16 years: compliments and appreciation work much better than complaints and criticism.


looking back, andrew and i had gone thru soooo much arguments, figthts and disagreements, but with our commitment to honour the marraige, we tried to change, accomodate each other and now, we are both happy and appreciative of each other.
hey, you look what, i honestly had to admire andrews high EQ.  i remember when i first married to him, i was still an angry, agitated and unhappy person.  each day after work, when he came home, he saw me frowning and angry, then he asked me: has it got to do with me?  and if i said no, he was so relieved and  quickly hid in his study .  what a horrible wife i was then.

i really want to share with my friends and families that, if we are not happy with our environment and situation, we can change them, by changing ourselves, and with chanting nam myo ho renge kyo, we will have the wisdom and courage to do so.

cheers
lydia