I have made some terrible mistakes and lost my relationship with all five of my children. I spent the last 5 days letting the enemy in to my brain and take away my joy. This has been a horrible experience. Today I am going to put all that behind me and be the person God put me on this earth to be. God is so good to forgive us.
The opportunity in all experience, is to
find meaning. Luckily, I haven’t been very
challenged lately. Things have been pretty
mellow. But I will say, I have been
contemplating boredom lately and what it
means to be bored. Yesterday, I was told that boredom is stressful. I had never thought
of it that way. Makes me think of all the
things I have done in my life to avoid being
bored.
That is interesting, I find winter very boring and dislike the lack of light/sunshine. I am always trying to find
things of interest at the local libraries.
I was told to sit with it and notice what is the worst that can happen being bored. It’s amazing–nothing happens. You may even fall asleep. That’s what the cats do when they are bored.
I did several errands yesterday. I went with the attitude of enjoying each one to the fullest. I was surprised at the friendliness of the clerks and thoughtfulness of the others in the store.
For me, no matter how difficult my life situation may be, my biggest battle is always within. It took years for me to grasp that morsel of truth so I did not have eyes to see any opportunities and turned most situations into problems. I still struggle when life is challenging but I realize that the situation is not the source of the battle. The battle is within. Today, I choose to see the situation as an opportunity to grow and I practice mindfulness to calm my egoic mind and its demand that I be perfect. I know that I always have the opportunity to just do my best and that is always enough. Granted, it’s taken years for me to learn this and sometimes I initially forget it!
“Our brokenness is also the source of our common humanity, the basis for our shared search for comfort, meaning, and healing. Our shared vulnerability and imperfection nurtures and sustains our capacity for compassion.”
I was so happy to see your reference to Richard Rohr. He is one of the most special spiritual people to walk this planet. You are truly blessed to have served that internship. My husband and I attended all the Conspire conferences in Albuquerque. We really miss them. I enjoy his daily meditations. And he has been so good at passing the baton.
Thanks for including the link to Richard Rohr, Carol. I am currently undergoing more tests to diagnose a unique symptom I’ve been having. All of this long process seen in the light of Richard’s words feels liberting at this moment.
Josie, Glad it was helpful to you. I have followed Richard Rohr’s writings for over 40 years and find them helpful to me. I spent a few months as a work intern at his Center for Action and Contemplation in ABQ 20 years ago. He is so open and willing to share his own life journey and his personal life experiences and how they have contributed to his own growth in consciousness and self awareness. He’s the real thing.
I want to avoid spiritual malpractice, which is the act of believing that one is calling difficulty into their own life to learn a particular lesson. I committed that mistake against myself a few days ago. I said something along the lines of “my self-judgment manifested in a bad outcome during [a particular situation]”. A dear friend and mentor lovingly asked me, “do you think you are so powerful that you can create such extreme pain for yourself unconsciously?” Then we had a great laugh and cry. Yes, I believe we co-create our reality, but sometimes things happen beyond our control.
In that moment, I thought my lesson might be to work on self-judgment. However, years later, I feel that the real lesson was about the ego and how it can be a tricky thing. I need to release judgment about being judgmental. I’m not being punished, and there is only love. There is a story playing out that is so much greater than my comprehension. In all situations, I can return to the center and be love.
My recent experience with Suncoast Hospice was a very positive one – thank God for caring volunteers, nurses and staff at those kind of facilities where everyone is so vulnerable and going through difficult times.
This website is an excellent opportunity for uplifting, supportive and caring people to gather Daily.
Thank You.
I have not had any challenging experiences of late. My lovely wife Cheryl on the other hand, not so much. I gave her round trip tickets to Sacramento to visit our daughter Jackie, son-in-law ben, Emerick and Aubrie. It was Aubrie’s 13th birthday, and the weekend trip was her Christmas present from me. The flight left from Colorado Springs, 190 miles northeast of our place. The NOAA weather forecast was for 30% chance of snow in the late afternoon. I dropped her off at the terminal at 11, her flight was to depart at 1:20. It was foggy and spitting but no snow at 11 am. There was a phone message from Cheryl when I arrived home that the flight had been delayed. I called her back and she was on a bit of a tither. The flight was later canceled. She has a cousin who lives on the north side of Colorado Springs and a niece who lives in Fountain, a smaller town 10 miles or so south of Springs. She called Amara who needed to take her son to his grandparents’ house in Pueblo, 45 miles or so south of Springs, where Aunt Teri and Dough live. That is where she landed and spent the rest of Friday and Saturday. I picked her up Sunday early afternoon. Cheryl had an opportunity to travel and travel she did. Just not to the intended destination!
The opportunities are endless when faced with a life challenging experience…..realizing the incredible power of inner strength and courage, finding trust in strangers and learning the magnitude of gratefulness…just to name a few.
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I have made some terrible mistakes and lost my relationship with all five of my children. I spent the last 5 days letting the enemy in to my brain and take away my joy. This has been a horrible experience. Today I am going to put all that behind me and be the person God put me on this earth to be. God is so good to forgive us.
Funny, what comes to mind is that I decided to do my taxes very early as to not have any additional stress. The refunds also came in very handy too!
The opportunity in all experience, is to
find meaning. Luckily, I haven’t been very
challenged lately. Things have been pretty
mellow. But I will say, I have been
contemplating boredom lately and what it
means to be bored. Yesterday, I was told that boredom is stressful. I had never thought
of it that way. Makes me think of all the
things I have done in my life to avoid being
bored.
That is interesting, I find winter very boring and dislike the lack of light/sunshine. I am always trying to find
things of interest at the local libraries.
I was told to sit with it and notice what is the worst that can happen being bored. It’s amazing–nothing happens. You may even fall asleep. That’s what the cats do when they are bored.
love this!
I did several errands yesterday. I went with the attitude of enjoying each one to the fullest. I was surprised at the friendliness of the clerks and thoughtfulness of the others in the store.
For me, no matter how difficult my life situation may be, my biggest battle is always within. It took years for me to grasp that morsel of truth so I did not have eyes to see any opportunities and turned most situations into problems. I still struggle when life is challenging but I realize that the situation is not the source of the battle. The battle is within. Today, I choose to see the situation as an opportunity to grow and I practice mindfulness to calm my egoic mind and its demand that I be perfect. I know that I always have the opportunity to just do my best and that is always enough. Granted, it’s taken years for me to learn this and sometimes I initially forget it!
“Our brokenness is also the source of our common humanity, the basis for our shared search for comfort, meaning, and healing. Our shared vulnerability and imperfection nurtures and sustains our capacity for compassion.”
Today’s quote from Bryon Stephenson is addressed in Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation for this date and also touches on today’s question.
https://cac.org/daily-meditations/reclaimed-by-something-deeper/
I was so happy to see your reference to Richard Rohr. He is one of the most special spiritual people to walk this planet. You are truly blessed to have served that internship. My husband and I attended all the Conspire conferences in Albuquerque. We really miss them. I enjoy his daily meditations. And he has been so good at passing the baton.
Thanks for including the link to Richard Rohr, Carol. I am currently undergoing more tests to diagnose a unique symptom I’ve been having. All of this long process seen in the light of Richard’s words feels liberting at this moment.
Josie, Glad it was helpful to you. I have followed Richard Rohr’s writings for over 40 years and find them helpful to me. I spent a few months as a work intern at his Center for Action and Contemplation in ABQ 20 years ago. He is so open and willing to share his own life journey and his personal life experiences and how they have contributed to his own growth in consciousness and self awareness. He’s the real thing.
I want to avoid spiritual malpractice, which is the act of believing that one is calling difficulty into their own life to learn a particular lesson. I committed that mistake against myself a few days ago. I said something along the lines of “my self-judgment manifested in a bad outcome during [a particular situation]”. A dear friend and mentor lovingly asked me, “do you think you are so powerful that you can create such extreme pain for yourself unconsciously?” Then we had a great laugh and cry. Yes, I believe we co-create our reality, but sometimes things happen beyond our control.
In that moment, I thought my lesson might be to work on self-judgment. However, years later, I feel that the real lesson was about the ego and how it can be a tricky thing. I need to release judgment about being judgmental. I’m not being punished, and there is only love. There is a story playing out that is so much greater than my comprehension. In all situations, I can return to the center and be love.
My recent experience with Suncoast Hospice was a very positive one – thank God for caring volunteers, nurses and staff at those kind of facilities where everyone is so vulnerable and going through difficult times.
This website is an excellent opportunity for uplifting, supportive and caring people to gather Daily.
Thank You.
I am glad you had a positive experience! I believe hospice workers are angels.
I have not had any challenging experiences of late. My lovely wife Cheryl on the other hand, not so much. I gave her round trip tickets to Sacramento to visit our daughter Jackie, son-in-law ben, Emerick and Aubrie. It was Aubrie’s 13th birthday, and the weekend trip was her Christmas present from me. The flight left from Colorado Springs, 190 miles northeast of our place. The NOAA weather forecast was for 30% chance of snow in the late afternoon. I dropped her off at the terminal at 11, her flight was to depart at 1:20. It was foggy and spitting but no snow at 11 am. There was a phone message from Cheryl when I arrived home that the flight had been delayed. I called her back and she was on a bit of a tither. The flight was later canceled. She has a cousin who lives on the north side of Colorado Springs and a niece who lives in Fountain, a smaller town 10 miles or so south of Springs. She called Amara who needed to take her son to his grandparents’ house in Pueblo, 45 miles or so south of Springs, where Aunt Teri and Dough live. That is where she landed and spent the rest of Friday and Saturday. I picked her up Sunday early afternoon. Cheryl had an opportunity to travel and travel she did. Just not to the intended destination!
I am glad she is safe.
The opportunities are endless when faced with a life challenging experience…..realizing the incredible power of inner strength and courage, finding trust in strangers and learning the magnitude of gratefulness…just to name a few.
What a great insight. Thank you!