Transitions-Oakville, Burlington and Mississauga Real Estate Blog

Antoine de St Exupery, the author of 'The Little Prince', understood about hearts.

His understanding of the heart is partly what caused his book 'The Little Prince' to rise to fame and become one of the most popular and well-loved children's books of all time.
In fact, not only children love this book, but the adults who
read it to them find themselves deeply touched as well.

My favourite part of the book is when the little prince is leaving earth and, as a parting gift, his newfound friend , the fox, says this to him, “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

Do you have a child's heart? Yes, of course you do. We all do.
There is no other time than on holidays such as birthdays or Valentine's Day or Christmas when we become more aware of our child's heart.
It still beats there, deep within the grunge of the years and the trials and tribulations of life.
It is as new and as fresh as the day it was born, the day it was crafted by the Great Mystery itself.

You see, a heart never grows old. It's impossible for a heart to grow old, for it's integral nature is composed of the finest of silken, invisible threads there are to be found.

Your heart sees, your heart knows, and your heart always remembers. It never grows old, for it is a part of that timelessness that is the universe itself.

A very good and wise friend of mine once said this of the heart, "I think one's heart is like a compass, and it just will not let us get lost.
We may get detoured using our brain, and sometimes our gut feelings can be confusing. Our heart, it knows what is right, and whatever we have our compass set for it will get us there."

As I pause to think about the times in my life when I've 'followed my heart', I realize that often my brain got in the way and made the final decision. It's these times that things often went awry.

How do you know when you're following your heart?
When the road you're on feels absolutely right, time will seem to not exist. The path will open up to greet you and you'll know.

You'll just know.

Happy Valentine's Day, Everyone!

©2010JoSmith

The snow is falling softly outside in a dancing kind of way and I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to start the new year in a positive and active way. As I turned on my computer and made my coffee, I reflected back on the year that's passed.  Something had changed in my thinking process and I found I was no longer thining about the negative things that happened.
Instead the only things that came to mind were the positive transitions that had happened; the changes that had occurred in my life that were difficult at the time, however culminated in a stronger more determined and healthier me.
For this I am thankful.

Daily I hear of tragedies on the news and through people I know.
How often, I thought,  in considering our own lives we magnify the negative and yet, if we stopped and compared it to the things that are happening in the lives of others, our problems are not so bad afterall.

As all of these thoughts rolled around in my head this morning, I thought of how fortunate I am.

How lucky I am to have parents who are still living and are healthy.
Parents who are positive, kind and giving. Parents who consider me still in all they do and are always there for me.
Perhaps it is because of this that I am the person that I am. A person always looking for the positive in others and often feeling hurt or disappointed when it doesn't readily jump out at me.

Perhaps, I thought, perhaps the people who are often inconsiderate or cruel or negative or critical have not had the same opportunities in life that I have.
Perhaps their parents were not kind and considerate and loving to them and perhaps, just perhaps, they were just never given half of the love that I was given.
It's then that I look at them differently.
My hurt or confusion over their actions softens and I begin to see the world through their eyes.

I know of people who trust no one. How sad, I always thought. To trust no one.

Now I understand that perhaps it is very hard to trust others when you could not trust your primary caretakers to be there for you, to love you and to be consistent in their thoughts and actions. It's then that I remember what I've always told my sons when they were judging other people in a not so bright light, "Everyone does the best they can with what they have."  and I firmly believe this.

There was a saying that I often heard when I was a child. Having family roots that go back to the 1600s in Canada and the USA, my ancestors mingled with their aboriginal neighbours and many married into various native tribes and so, this saying was very common amongst my elders. I believe I used to hear it from my Mother quite often.

"Don't judge a man until you've walked a mile in his mocassins." 

Over the years the meaning behind this saying sunk deep into my soul and gave me the opportunity to cultivate a greater compassion for my fellow man and woman and not to judge them so quickly, if at all.

This year, I will work harder on that compassion and learn to help more, to give more and to do what I can to make the path that others walk, easier. They just might not be fortunate enough to have a strong support system around them, and so, perhaps I can extend one small part of mine towards them. 

It just might be all they need to carry them, right at a time when they need it the most.

©2009JoSmith

Stories. We all have one.
Some of us have many.
They hook together like an unending game of Barrel of Monkeys never letting us pause long enough to reflect on the pattern, or whether or not there even is a one.

Some of us live in constant chaos.
Such is the nature of life. It's messy. This is the way life unfolds. Our lives unfold in a deep mystery that is often only seen by someone looking on.

The one in the midst of the chaos is too tangled amidst searching branches and stubborn roots to be able to see clearly the way out.
Here steps in the vessel for our stories.

The keeper of the stories of our lives is most often someone close to us. Someone we trust enough to reveal our stories to.
These vessels are extremely important in our lives and should be listened to and loved deeply. They hold up the reflection of our life so that we may view it and see it in it's naked, chaotic glory.

Once we see what the vessel wants us to see, we begin to have choices. Until then we are stuck. We struggle and struggle not knowing which way to turn, making many wrong choices which only increase the chaos and tangle us more deeply.

Each of us longs to be known deeply.
To have someone really 'know' us and understand us and see in us the things we cannot see for ourselves.

With this person or persons, we feel safe and 'right'. All anxiety dissipates when we are around the keepers of our stories and we know we are in the presence of someone uniquely rare and hard to find.
Someone who knows us often better than we know ourselves.

The keepers of our stories know our tender places. They've been there with us down difficult roads on which we've stumbled many times. Each time they were there to extend a strong hand and pull us back up again.
They know our strengths and they see the gifts we were meant to bring to the world.

They know us through and through and love us, unconditionally.


Listen to the keepers of your stories.

They have only your best, unbridled interest at the centre of their warm and loving hearts.

They care about you and want you to see what they see. Gaze deep into the mirror they hold up for you and take in carefully what they show you.

The key to your existence is often held safely by those who know you, listen to your stories and from there light the path you should be following.

Who are the keepers of your stories?


When you find one, hold fast to that person and treasure them for the rest of your days.

©2009JoSmith