“Do we understand that the downward slides are to be expected as much as the upward sweeps?” Check out the latest blog post from Lynn J Kelly below.
“With mindfulness we can live through the tides of good and bad experiences.”
I hate to wait and that has been a life-long challenge for me. Below is an excerpt from a recent Lion’s Roar article that helps me better understand why.
Valerie Mason-John, M.A. is a public speaker and master trainer in the field of conflict transformation, leadership and mindfulness, the author of ten books and the Co-Founder of Eight Step Recovery, an alternative to the 12-step program for addiction.
http://www.valeriemason-john.com
To free ourselves from habitual patterns, says Valerie Mason-John, we need to see how they have become part of our identity.
VALERIE MASON-JOHN 8 MAY 2024
Watch your thoughts; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become stories.
Watch your stories; they become excuses.
Watch your excuses; they become relapses.
Watch your relapses; they become dis-eases.
Watch your dis-eases; they become vicious cycles.
Watch your vicious cycles; they become your wheel of life.
We transcend our habits by allowing a part of our superego to die.
For more from Valerie Mason-John check out these two websites:
http://www.lionsroar.com/how-to-free-yourself-from-the-7-obsessions/
Doctor (and Sister) Joan Chittister shares her weekly Vision and Viewpoint newsletter today with her comments below on the importance of “living an integrated life.” You can learn more about her and the Benedictine religious community in Erie, Pennsylvania at this website: joanchittister.org/~joanchit/
“Do not lie, even to yourself
Mahatma Gandhi wrote, “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Gandhi could have been a Benedictine. Humility is about living an integrated life, a life in which each part is in harmony with every other dimension.
The person who lives a lie, for instance, no matter how effective otherwise, is in tension every moment of the day.
The truth is that we are meant to be transparent.
Be what you say you are. Do not lie, even to yourself. Don’t live two lives
At the end, three things measure both our integrity and the harmony of our own lives: self-control, respect, and freedom from self-deception.
a process of slow and self-emptying transformation
enjoy the rest of the adventure called life, learning, becoming, growing as we go.
—from Radical Spirit (Random House), by Joan Chittister
joanchittister.org/books-page/radical-spirit-12-ways-live-free-and-authentic-life
“Don’t forget … to call yourself Home.” Kaitlin Curtice
This is a beautiful excerpt from the Center for Action and Contemplation about Kaitlin Curtice’s writing on the sacred legacy of home.
Check out both links identified below. You will be comforted and edified.
Finding Home in Ourselves
Author Kaitlin Curtice writes about the sacred legacy of home:
May we always return to the places where the stories begin, to challenge them, to accept and honor them, and to whisper to ourselves and one another that we are always, always arriving.
Don’t forget,
my love,
to live.
Don’t forget
to love yourself,
all of you,
from every season
and every place,
because you never know
when they will
come knocking for
a cup of coffee
and an overdue hug.
call yourself Home.
“Felicia Murrell acknowledges that our first homes are not always safe …
How are you preparing a home of unconditional acceptance for yourself?“
Today’s Center for Action And Contemplation message offers a provocative post on where we can find our true home. Check out this beautifully written message by Felicia Murrell and her quotes from The Wizard of Oz written by L. Frank Baum.
“Home,” says Glinda the Good, “is a place we all must find, child. It’s not just a place where you eat or sleep. Home is knowing. Knowing your mind, knowing your heart, knowing your courage. If we know ourselves, we’re always home, anywhere.”
Love is Home
Felicia Murrell acknowledges that our first homes are not always safe:
For some, home is terror, a place to flee with no desire to return or revisit.
Often, when we think of home, we think only of an external place,
Love is home.
Home is both an external dwelling and an internal abode. Home is the place where we belong, our place of acceptance and welcome. There, in this shame and judgment-free embryonic cocoon of love, we practice unconditional acceptance; we learn to relate to ourselves and the world around us.
How are you preparing a home of unconditional acceptance for yourself?
“Home,” says Glinda the Good, “is a place we all must find, child. It’s not just a place where you eat or sleep. Home is knowing. Knowing your mind, knowing your heart, knowing your courage. If we know ourselves, we’re always home, anywhere.” [3]
[3] Joel Schumacher, The Wiz: Screenplay, adapted from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum (New York: Studio Duplicating Service, 1977).
Bob and Beth looked forward to death
ending their pain thereafter
Bob fell down and broke his crown
and Beth came tumbling after
Sisyphus fell into the abyss
carrying his shitbag upward
Sally Forth lost her True North
sought truth through tears and cuss words
Tiny Tim cycled on in
upon a trike of virtue
Trueheart Tess sorting through the mess
sought justice for Tim and her too
How many lives will be broken today?
How many ways can we repair the damage caused by an affair?
NO BONNET SONNET
not ev’ry itch need be scratched,
not ev’ry egg need be hatched
not ev’ry thought need be spoke,
not ev’ry dream need be woke
colors seen on judgment day,
practice or pose your one way
no aura, no tonal vibe,
no ritual, ‘gyptian scribe
which of us doesn’t belong?
wrong question, don’t sing along
let go ego before burst,
don’t forget that she comes first
deep bow to Wilda Tanner
hat tip to Ian Kerner
“What keeps us from opening to the reality of the world? Could it be that we cannot accept our powerlessness and are only willing to see those wounds that we can heal?
Could it be that we do not want to give up our illusion that we are masters over our world and, therefore, create our own Disneyland where we can make ourselves believe that all events of life are safely under control?
Could it be that our blindness and deafness are signs of our own resistance to acknowledging that we are not the Lord of the Universe?
It is hard to allow these questions to go beyond the level of rhetoric and to really sense in our innermost self how much we resent our powerlessness . . . .
The astonishing thing is that the battle for survival has become so “normal” that few people really believe that it can be different . . . .
Oh, how important is discipline, community, prayer, silence, caring presence, simple listening, adoration, and deep, lasting faithful friendship. We all want it so much, and still the powers suggesting that all of that is fantasy are enormous.
But we have to replace the battle for power with the battle to create space for the spirit.“
For more see henrinouwen.org/meditation/
Woke up this morning in a sunny disposition
but then read my email, the forecast, news highlights and social media.
Truly, we are bombarded daily with thoughts that are not of our own making:
How we handle these thoughts is critical to our mental and physical health. What options do we really have?
Below are two excerpts that have helped me better understand where many thoughts come from and how they may affect us.
How Many Ads Do We See Daily?
“It is estimated that an adult in a metropolitan area may see anywhere from 50 to 400 advertisements per day1. Digital marketing experts estimate that most Americans are exposed to around 4,000 to 10,000 ads each day2. Folks from marketing firm Yankelovich, Inc. estimate that the average modern person is exposed to around 5,000 ads per day3. An average modern individual is estimated to see 300-700 ad messages per day4. thedrum.com
A major obstacle … is the tendency of our mind to get stuck in negative thinking. The mind “rehearses” the scenarios that bother us, ultimately because it wants to resolve the problem and to find a way out. Unfortunately, it may get stuck … repeating the same track ceaselessly.
The mind has been likened to a search engine—you (start with one) thought and it gives you other thoughts related to it. (For example,) if we keep harboring hateful thoughts—even if we don’t act on them—they may lead to more hate and violence. …
Everything we routinely do can be understood as practicing and rehearsing. … In neuroscience, it is known that neurons that “fire together wire together.” ….
When you do or say something negatively the first time, you may feel bad about it, but the second time it may already feel less unsettling. You may tell yourself “You’re not worthy,” — the first time you do it, it is a shock. But the second time you may feel less bad. And then the behavior may become a habit. Every time you get angry, you punch the wall. It can become uncontrollable. A habit becomes a personality, which then determines the course of your life and destiny. …
For those who tend to be gloomy and in despair easily, compounded with the suffering of the past, our habitual mood makes it even more difficult to handle and transform the situation. … It takes a lot of courage to release and let go of our negativity.”
Excerpt adapted from Flowers in the Dark: Reclaiming Your Power to Heal Trauma through Mindfulness by Sister Dang Nghiem © 2021 by Sister Dang Nghiem. Reprinted in arrangement with Parallax Press. For the full article see: tricycle.org/article/sister-dang-nghiem-suffering/
What are you thinking today?
Lynn J Kelly provides another great summary of how we might grow individually by helping a community grow. A quick excerpt is below. For the full post see the link below.
“Trust is the foundation of any well-functioning community, and trust is built through truthfulness, kindness, common goals that are visibly being pursued, and commitment to each other and the stated purposes of the community.
Every family and community culture is unique, and they fluctuate with time, but there are hallmarks of wholesome behavior we can look for and encourage wherever we find ourselves. This mutual respect and care is at the root of growing virtue.”
Life Matters 