. Even when life pushes you back, you can tap the hidden resources of your human spirit. Trust your gut feeling and inner knowing, the wisdom is inside you and when honoring it, you will not go wrong. The proper use of knowing comes when you flow with your authentic feelings, embracing all the experiences you encounter in life as learning lessons rather than hardships.
To look at my crisis as a chance for personal growth. To remember that I cannot control everything that happens , there are outside forces that go on no matter what I do. Remember to accept what I can control and what I cannot and to know the difference..
The more quiet, patient and still I am, the better I am able to listen and hear, beyond ego and fear.
Choosing best steps and taking action is the part where I get stuck. Breaking the action piece to small, manageable steps and accepting the steps as appropriate, adequate and enough is the invitation. Leaving the heavy lifting to God is another big part of it – rather than foolishly believing it is all up to me, and then doing nothing!
Also reaching out to others, rather than trying to do everything alone. Lots to surrender, to keep looking and moving forward, rather than getting or staying stuck!
I am helping a young Afghan refugee settle in the US. She needs help with almost everything, and it is easy to feel in crisis mode and overwhelmed some days. I need to sort out what I can (and can’t) help with, and learn to take a breath, consider the situation and determine a course of action before reacting.
Thank you Linda for making this possible! This is what I do for a living, for the past eight years I have being working with our Guatemalan refugees. As they arrived with their children in my community the work has been non stop. Please look at what else and who else you can partner with to help this family. The needs are huge, the crisis is long term. Noble work but it consumes our lives and souls, it is a gift to be part of the process with the families, please make sure you find time to sort out what you can do and how much to rely on others to do. What a blessing for this family to have you in their lives. I have you in my heart as you do this amazing journey with them. Blessings.
Thank you, Ana Maria. I agree that it is challenging and non-stop. I am most definitely looking for other partners and that will be of great help.
Thank you for the work you have been doing. Don’t forget to take care of yourself, too.
I was reflecting late last night on what has been unfolding the last while. The impact of Covid on those close to me, the floods that just never seem to end at the moment, the noises of war and incessant chatter about “national security” and how I am thinking about it all and acting as a result. I haven’t been tempted to put a label on it – particularly “crisis”. I am not sure what labelling it would achieve. It seems to be an openness that calmly just does whatever is needed right now. I don’t feel the story needs to be any grander than that.
Somewhere along the way I heard responsibility is my ability to respond, and it changed my view of obligations into gifts I have to share. If I shift from crisis mode to my ability to respond to an opportunity, I can see gifts and blessings available to help me through.
“Freedom
What most often stops me achieving freedom is my tendency
to be caught up in fears and expectations
about what I ‘ought’ or ‘should’ be.
My usual automatic responses tie me down
and inhibit me from exploring new areas of growth.
I ask and pray for a greater sense of inner freedom and
that I might reach the fresh and challenging possibilities
that God wishes me to realise.”
This beautiful comment is on “Sacred Space” today. I plead for the grace to experience this inner freedom.
After reading everyone’s responses, I realized that crisis always offers the opportunity for self growth.. For some of us, me among them, it can take years to let go of “Why me?” My son has a saying: “Why not me or Why not you?” He’s wise and chooses to dance with the mystery. As Eckhart Tolle says, “Life is the dancer and we are the dance.” When “me” becomes “we” the choreography gets easier to embrace. The crisis in Ukraine is the result of one man’s “ME.”His EGO is (Edging God Out). A priest told me years ago that Jesus, The Christ, suffers and will until we all come home to the reality that we are ONE. I think of the song, “Where have all the flowers gone?” The lyric that asks “When will we ever learn? ” When we pray, let us pray not only for the people of Ukraine to save their country but also for the people of Russia to awake from their slumber. “Be Still (Desist) and know that I AM God.” The “me” chooses war. The “We” chooses peace. And so WE Pray.
After reading the comments of others, I look at the word “crisis” in quotation marks and think of those things we regard as a crisis in the moment and then look back at later, with perspective that makes them appear much smaller in the distance–in essence they never were a big crisis, they just felt like it in the moment. I distinguish between those painful turning points or learning moments and the kind of crisis Kevin describes: war, a major disaster, a horrific thing.
Rather than think of either of these as an “opportunity” in the sort of happy, positive sense that word often connotes, I can think of them as moments in which to try to be true to myself and the kind of person I want to be in the world. The more I practice that in everyday life with no crisis at hand, the more it is simply who I am and who I will be when a crisis occurs.
We have the climate crisis before us and around us every day as an opportunity to rethink what we expect of our elected officials and corporations and what we can do in our own lives to express our values with intention. It’s also an opportunity to remake the world into a genuinely better place for everyone if we work together and tell others it matters to us. That’s an opportunity we can’t let slip or we are finished as a species. Not a new insight–one that’s essential for all of us to use to guide our actions. We are the ones we’re waiting for.
As I look back on different stages of
my life, I am encouraged. It has taken me
a long time to gain anything from past personal crisis, but there is the benefit of time. And I am better equipped.
Staying calm, trusting my intuition, reaching out to others, and try to keep pride and ego from getting in the way.
A crisis reminds me to look for ways to be kind and to serve in any way I can. If I’m the one experiencing the crisis I try to remember to let others serve and help me. That is its own kind of service. I have a stubborn streak of self-sufficiency and it isn’t always easy to let others lend a hand.
As a single, seperate entity I am surrounded by the dangers of an infinite universe. Time for sure will take away everything. Things, beliefs, concepts, body. I came with nothing. I will go with nothing except the feeling I am a seperate entity. This is a horrorshow. May gods grace let me rest in him, who is in all of us , as peace, joy , love .. to know, to be one with everything reduces the feeling to be seperate. It encourages me to stay positive. Any crisishas a cause. I can do more than to pray. I must not have bad thoughts about someone else. I must not let animals be killed because I like to eat them. I think one has a lot of chances to do good to the world. Sometimes it means not to do, think, feel and so on
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. Even when life pushes you back, you can tap the hidden resources of your human spirit. Trust your gut feeling and inner knowing, the wisdom is inside you and when honoring it, you will not go wrong. The proper use of knowing comes when you flow with your authentic feelings, embracing all the experiences you encounter in life as learning lessons rather than hardships.
Thank you, your reflection resonates with me.
May “I” be still,
surrender
and allow guidance, remembering the question
“what would love do?”
and do accordingly.
without a doubt, another variation of love
To look at my crisis as a chance for personal growth. To remember that I cannot control everything that happens , there are outside forces that go on no matter what I do. Remember to accept what I can control and what I cannot and to know the difference..
The more quiet, patient and still I am, the better I am able to listen and hear, beyond ego and fear.
Choosing best steps and taking action is the part where I get stuck. Breaking the action piece to small, manageable steps and accepting the steps as appropriate, adequate and enough is the invitation. Leaving the heavy lifting to God is another big part of it – rather than foolishly believing it is all up to me, and then doing nothing!
Also reaching out to others, rather than trying to do everything alone. Lots to surrender, to keep looking and moving forward, rather than getting or staying stuck!
Thank you for sharing exactly how I felt.
I am helping a young Afghan refugee settle in the US. She needs help with almost everything, and it is easy to feel in crisis mode and overwhelmed some days. I need to sort out what I can (and can’t) help with, and learn to take a breath, consider the situation and determine a course of action before reacting.
Thank you Linda for making this possible! This is what I do for a living, for the past eight years I have being working with our Guatemalan refugees. As they arrived with their children in my community the work has been non stop. Please look at what else and who else you can partner with to help this family. The needs are huge, the crisis is long term. Noble work but it consumes our lives and souls, it is a gift to be part of the process with the families, please make sure you find time to sort out what you can do and how much to rely on others to do. What a blessing for this family to have you in their lives. I have you in my heart as you do this amazing journey with them. Blessings.
Thank you, Ana Maria. I agree that it is challenging and non-stop. I am most definitely looking for other partners and that will be of great help.
Thank you for the work you have been doing. Don’t forget to take care of yourself, too.
I was reflecting late last night on what has been unfolding the last while. The impact of Covid on those close to me, the floods that just never seem to end at the moment, the noises of war and incessant chatter about “national security” and how I am thinking about it all and acting as a result. I haven’t been tempted to put a label on it – particularly “crisis”. I am not sure what labelling it would achieve. It seems to be an openness that calmly just does whatever is needed right now. I don’t feel the story needs to be any grander than that.
Somewhere along the way I heard responsibility is my ability to respond, and it changed my view of obligations into gifts I have to share. If I shift from crisis mode to my ability to respond to an opportunity, I can see gifts and blessings available to help me through.
This is very helpful, Beth. See my post above. 🙂
Good plan. Thanks
“Freedom
What most often stops me achieving freedom is my tendency
to be caught up in fears and expectations
about what I ‘ought’ or ‘should’ be.
My usual automatic responses tie me down
and inhibit me from exploring new areas of growth.
I ask and pray for a greater sense of inner freedom and
that I might reach the fresh and challenging possibilities
that God wishes me to realise.”
This beautiful comment is on “Sacred Space” today. I plead for the grace to experience this inner freedom.
After reading everyone’s responses, I realized that crisis always offers the opportunity for self growth.. For some of us, me among them, it can take years to let go of “Why me?” My son has a saying: “Why not me or Why not you?” He’s wise and chooses to dance with the mystery. As Eckhart Tolle says, “Life is the dancer and we are the dance.” When “me” becomes “we” the choreography gets easier to embrace. The crisis in Ukraine is the result of one man’s “ME.”His EGO is (Edging God Out). A priest told me years ago that Jesus, The Christ, suffers and will until we all come home to the reality that we are ONE. I think of the song, “Where have all the flowers gone?” The lyric that asks “When will we ever learn? ” When we pray, let us pray not only for the people of Ukraine to save their country but also for the people of Russia to awake from their slumber. “Be Still (Desist) and know that I AM God.” The “me” chooses war. The “We” chooses peace. And so WE Pray.
Gorgeous!
Beautiful! It’s just so.
After reading the comments of others, I look at the word “crisis” in quotation marks and think of those things we regard as a crisis in the moment and then look back at later, with perspective that makes them appear much smaller in the distance–in essence they never were a big crisis, they just felt like it in the moment. I distinguish between those painful turning points or learning moments and the kind of crisis Kevin describes: war, a major disaster, a horrific thing.
Rather than think of either of these as an “opportunity” in the sort of happy, positive sense that word often connotes, I can think of them as moments in which to try to be true to myself and the kind of person I want to be in the world. The more I practice that in everyday life with no crisis at hand, the more it is simply who I am and who I will be when a crisis occurs.
We have the climate crisis before us and around us every day as an opportunity to rethink what we expect of our elected officials and corporations and what we can do in our own lives to express our values with intention. It’s also an opportunity to remake the world into a genuinely better place for everyone if we work together and tell others it matters to us. That’s an opportunity we can’t let slip or we are finished as a species. Not a new insight–one that’s essential for all of us to use to guide our actions. We are the ones we’re waiting for.
We are the ones, we are waiting for. 🙏 Thank you!
love this simple truth
Beautiful…such wisdom.
As I look back on different stages of
my life, I am encouraged. It has taken me
a long time to gain anything from past personal crisis, but there is the benefit of time. And I am better equipped.
Staying calm, trusting my intuition, reaching out to others, and try to keep pride and ego from getting in the way.
A crisis reminds me to look for ways to be kind and to serve in any way I can. If I’m the one experiencing the crisis I try to remember to let others serve and help me. That is its own kind of service. I have a stubborn streak of self-sufficiency and it isn’t always easy to let others lend a hand.
As a single, seperate entity I am surrounded by the dangers of an infinite universe. Time for sure will take away everything. Things, beliefs, concepts, body. I came with nothing. I will go with nothing except the feeling I am a seperate entity. This is a horrorshow. May gods grace let me rest in him, who is in all of us , as peace, joy , love .. to know, to be one with everything reduces the feeling to be seperate. It encourages me to stay positive. Any crisishas a cause. I can do more than to pray. I must not have bad thoughts about someone else. I must not let animals be killed because I like to eat them. I think one has a lot of chances to do good to the world. Sometimes it means not to do, think, feel and so on