Tag Archives: This too shall pass

GRINDING IT

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It’s another sizzling hot afternoon at 32 degrees Celsius. I’m in a better frame of mind. Just had a yummy banana muffin and Tiramisu Gelatto. It could be I’m on a sugar high. Whatever works! I had to really work it this morning to smile on the inside. It is easy to do it on the outside. All you do is just stretch the corners of your lips. But on the inside – ai yai yai!

I still have the memory of the first highs of Val’s aerobic exercise class. I felt so light. My head was so clear. I could breathe in and out like nothing. The highs do wear off and some days the joy is not there. Some days it is a grind but I put my mind there this morning. I remember reading Spark, the Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. The author stated that you get the same benefits of doing, even if you’re not enjoying it. So I jumped, leaped, ran, whatever Val was yelling out. Even if I feel lousy, I can still look good and be strong – the better to fight the yuckies.

I never give up. I’m super stubborn. I try not to read another self-help book when I’m stuck in the middle of a mood, when I’m least receptive. I have the answers in me. I just need to be patient, sit with it, do a little of easy and more easy. It is true that this, too, shall pass. And I’m feeling good again. I have to eat more muffins and gelato. Yum!

 

ON PAIN – Day 28 in a year of…

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Day 28, August 19, 2016 @ 2:02 pm

imageToday’s August Break’s prompt, my hands, is a reminder of the pain in the fourth finger on my right hand. It has been a constant, sometimes waking me in the night for the past year. Then in recent months the pain lessened. The finger straightened, not locking as often. This morning, I realized that the pain is totally gone. And I can make a fist and open it freely. Hallelujah!

I am no stranger to pain, being a witness to its many faces as a nurse. Then there’s my very own experience within its grip – physically, mentally and emotionally. I am sure we have all known it. Some more intimately than others.

Pain is our friend, though I have not held it in high regard. I have flinched and fled. When I could not, I suffered and endured. My doing different now is to let it come as it will. I greet it as a friend. It tells me something has changed or is remiss. It tells me I need to do something different. Not running or flinching in its face has lessen my suffering. This, too, shall pass is my mantra. It works. What is yours?

Till tomorrow.

ALCHEMY AND SERENDIPITY

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Day 8 of Kat McNally’s Reverb.

Today’s prompt and image come from Jennifer Williams-Fields (photo credit: Bing Osterman Photography). Jennifer is a true inspiration as she glides and stumbles through life as a single mum to six kids, yoga teacher, fitness instructor and writer. Her book Creating a Joyful Life: The Lessons I Learnt from Yoga and my Mom was published  this year to great acclaim.

Jennifer writes:

While alchemy is the active process of creating something of value, serendipity is the passive path to finding an unexpected treasure.

Looking back through 2015, what did you diligently try to create? 

What great thing did you just happen to find?

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IMG_1625I started this year with great diligence and intention of smoothing out all my rough edges. I was going to cast out all my mean evil spirits, all my faults and become the woman of the year. I had good intentions but it all backfired on me.  I became a MESS.  But I was a very functional one, having past experiences.  Past experience is a great asset in these kinds of situations.  I survived, shivering and quivering inside, hanging on by my fingernails.

I survived by hanging on with experience, knowing that “This, too, shall pass.”  I healed by letting go, giving up.  I threw up my hands. C’est la vie!  I felt every one of those shivers of fright and lived to tell about it.  It’s much like the feeling of falling in your dreams.  You don’t hit bottom.  You float up.

IMG_3755That is the great thing I found when I gave up.  Life is messy and there are things that I cannot control.  Things happen. That is how it is.  Look at what happened to my bread!  Though I am SURE that I did everything right, they came out like this. Where are my usual PERFECT loaves? Wait, all is not lost yet.  I still have the baguettes in the oven.

IMG_3757They are out of the oven now, looking beautiful, brown and crisp.  Will they pass the French taste test?  Does it matter?

What matters is  – I am still here.  Though life is not perfect and there is darkness and meanness, there is also something greater than ourselves.  I have stumbled and fallen. When I was too weary, the Universe took over.  I am healing.  I have to believe in the ultimate goodness.  I have to believe in the Divine.

 

ROOTING AND ANCHORING

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I started this post on the 14th.  A few days have passed but I felt it was important to finish it.  So here it is for Reverb14 – Day 14.

Reverb BB

Today’s prompt and image come from Amy of The Anxious Hippie.  The idea of rooting down into your own personal beliefs and center of truth is an ongoing process, and many things can serve as anchors or roots as you move through life.

 What rooted or anchored you in 2014?

 And where do you want to put down roots in 2015?

I always believe that no matter what, where or when that everything and I will be all right. Time and time again has shown that THIS, whatever is at the time, shall pass.  Therefore, how can I ever despair?

IMG_1222What rooted and anchored me in 2014 and for always, is the belief in myself and the Universe. There is a reason and a season for everything under heaven.  These roots are strong and run deep and have served me well in this forest.  Though life have tried and hacked at me, I remain firmly anchored in my base.

Sometimes I have fallen, but never defeated.  Weary, lonely and broken have I been, but I have always risen, reaching for the sun, reaching for another challenge, for another day.  I may not be a mighty oak.  I’m rather like the slender willow, bending with the wind.  I bend but do not break.  God has given me a different gift to endure.

I may weep like the willow.  It is not a sign of weakness.  I’m just easing my pain, recouping and gathering strength.  I’m re-rooting for 2015 right here where I am.