Getting Out Of The Mud

Little chick is stuck in the mud, mother hen is very upset, some of the farm animals try and pull the chick out. How many get stuck in the mud?

The secret to happiness is to acknowledge and transform suffering, not to run away from it. Here, Thich Nhat Hanh offers practices and inspiration transforming suffering and finding true joy. Thich Nhat Hanh acknowledges that because suffering can feel so bad, we try to run away from it or cover it up by consuming. We find something to eat or turn on the television. But unless we’re able to face our suffering, we can’t be present and available to life, and happiness will continue to elude us. Nhat Hanh shares how the practices of stopping, mindful breathing, and deep concentration can generate the energy of mindfulness within our daily lives. With that energy, we can embrace pain and calm it down, instantly bringing a measure of freedom and a clearer mind. No Mud, No Lotus introduces ways to be in touch with suffering without being overwhelmed by it. "When we know how to suffer," Nhat Hanh says, "we suffer much, much less." With his signature clarity and sense of joy, Thich Nhat Hanh helps us recognize the wonders inside us and around us that we tend to take for granted and teaches us the art of happiness.

A provocative fusion of truth and fiction fill the pages of this memoir. Annie Mae relives her life from innocence to a world of poverty, abuse, neglect, and alcoholism. On a not-so-pretty trip down memory lane, she travels across Texas panning for love, food, and shelter. The characters that come in and out of her life resemble members from a museum of oddities. She leaves no stone unturned with raw dialogue about her clandestine encounters, her unscrupulous family, and the faith that pulls her through.

"I am stuck in the mud and need help to get out." Represent God as holding us up through life problems and moving us along on our journey through life. The Lord while I was in the mud was with me and he carried my burdens, pain, past hurts, and disappointments upon Himself. Meaning the weight, I felt internally is from the devastating blows of life experiences. The whole point of being on a journey and getting struck in the mud is learning to love yourself with your imperfections because God does Love us.

Growing up as a child in the South, it was an ordinary inclination to pay attention to my younger brothers and sisters. Often my parents would leave me in charge when they had to attend to errands. It was my task to redirect them when they became involved in acts that were not in keeping with my parents’ expectations. There were times when decisions had to be made on their behalf. At other times it was my role to guide them through situations where they could learn from experiences encountered, and to do so with the hope that they would come face to face with their decisions by paying attention to directions. Stuck in the Mud is about a group of animals who found themselves in a muddy situation, and how one who had the experience led them out of it. “Mud” becomes a symbol of young people getting caught up in a situation that is beyond their own ability to free themselves, and the ability to follow instructions on how best to overcome their situation. I believe Stuck in the Mud can be a liberating story for young people and their parents alike who are to insist upon following the invaluable directions of others in the arena of life.

Fifth grader Tamaya Dhilwaddi and seventh grader Marshall Walsh have been walking to and from Woodbridge Academy together since elementary school. But their routine is disrupted when bully Chad Wilson challenges Marshall to a fight. To avoid the conflict, Marshall takes a shortcut home through the off-limits woods. Tamaya reluctantly follows. They soon get lost, and they find trouble. Bigger trouble than anyone could ever have imagined. In the days and weeks that follow, the authorities and the government become involved, and what they uncover might affect the future of the world.

"A ... memoir of love and faith from Hannah Brencher ... who has dedicated her life to showing total strangers that they are not alone in the world. Fresh out of college, Hannah Brencher moved to New York, expecting her life to look like a scene from Sex and the City. Instead, she found a city full of people who knew where they were going and what they were doing ... Lonely and depressed, she noticed a woman who looked like she felt the same way on the subway. Hannah did something strange--she wrote the woman a letter. She folded it, scribbled 'If you find this letter, it's for you...' on the front and left it behind. When she realized that it made her feel better, she started writing and leaving love notes all over the city ... [eventually sending 400 handwritten letters as a result of an Internet post and starting the website The World Needs More Love Letters]"--