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Gratefulness
My goal is to be a whole lot more like my dogs, able to live in the moment and just be grateful.
I suppose that this is really one of those questions where you look back from a hill you’ve just climbed, or are climbing, at all the hills you’ve already made it over successfully. We often do not see our resilience or our positive attributes that get us through tough times until we look back to see how far we’ve come. Then we are treated to a new view of ourselves, one that may be a little bit rosier than we are feeling on our current hill. Like Kevin said, it is part of l...
I suppose that this is really one of those questions where you look back from a hill you’ve just climbed, or are climbing, at all the hills you’ve already made it over successfully. We often do not see our resilience or our positive attributes that get us through tough times until we look back to see how far we’ve come. Then we are treated to a new view of ourselves, one that may be a little bit rosier than we are feeling on our current hill. Like Kevin said, it is part of life to have difficulties. Seeing them in a fuller picture is often a blessing we forget to enjoy!
I offered my time and heart in several ways.
This question feels very raw to answer. We are in the midst of some large changes as well as smaller ones, and it is challenging. Some things have ended, and we are glad to see them go. Others are ending, moving us into a different life than we have led, and I am struggling some with the losses.
Yet in every loss there is gain, with every gain there is loss, and with every ending we have the chance to move into a new beginning.
God, first and foremost, and then my husband. He and I have both made mistakes, mainly from trying too hard to please people outside of our relationship, and the times when our hearts have connected in forgiveness have been sweet indeed.
Oddly enough, to say both “Yes” and “No” to myself comes to mind as the answer for me.
On one hand, I need to say No to certain habits that cause me to struggle further, especially seeking control out of fear, and the fruitless quest to organize my future so it doesn’t unpleasantly surprise me! 😉
But…I also need to learn how to say Yes to myself better and in a more productive way, to accept how I am feeling instead of trying to bull my w...
But…I also need to learn how to say Yes to myself better and in a more productive way, to accept how I am feeling instead of trying to bull my way through it. This is the Yes of self-compassion where trepidation is met not with force or stern rebuke but instead the ability to say soothingly, “Yes, I know you are afraid, but it’s okay, you can handle this…” “Yes, I understand that things went poorly before, but that does not determine your future…” and sometimes, “It’s okay. You are not alone. See this person and that person and the other person who all love you? You’re gonna be just fine!”
To slow and calm my spirit enough to listen.
I, too, would have to say that I don’t think I take my body functioning for granted. That is one of the gifts when you deal or have dealt with long term conditions or diseases — it makes you notice and appreciate when things are working!
Yup, that’s about it! 😀
Yes, Anna, it is weird, isn’t it, how we can so often forget to be grateful for ourselves. With all our great bits, mediocre bits, and even the bits we’d rather hush up, we’re really rather amazing! 😉
Oh, and amen on the panic and guilt mode rearing their ugly heads. Me, too. Right now, we are in a time of stress and transition, and all that needs to be done to move to the next step is overwhelming. I wind up feeling guilty over what I cannot do and frustrated that it is not more. That, too, is misplaced, as I am the only one thinking ill of me. I think that right there is how a lot of things get “larger and more horrible than they truly were.” Thanks for the insight!
Love Anne Lamott!
Laughter is a wonderful defuser!
How lovely.
I don’t know if it helps, but this is a pain that is common to so many of us. You are not alone. HUGS
Amen! And great way of putting it!
I think part of what makes the walk dry desert is that very harshness of judge and jury that you mention, and which I, too, struggle with at times. I am working on it. I find it so much easier to forgive others than to forgive myself, but in reality, that is just old programming, not the truth. The truth is that I am loved with an indescribable love and held with a mercy that is far above my own. And this is good.
Yes, the ability of God to forgive, to show mercy, is far beyond our comprehension and our limited ideas of right and wrong. All I can say is, I am glad that those sorts of decisions are not my responsibility to make! I believe a Jewish term for the amazing mercy of God is “Hesed.”
Well, said! We cannot release what we do not first feel, and even if what we feel is unpleasant, it may be working for a greater purpose of good in our lives.
I’m pondering this a bit myself lately, Kevin, as I am in a situation where all signs, prayers, answers, etc. point to a specific action…only there is this resistance in my spirit. I am approaching it as a teacher, attempting to learn what this lesson is so I can feel that ease and effortlessness when the time is right.
Amen!
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