Monday, October 31, 2011

Inside and Outside Truth

Amy Bloom wrote in her novel Away, "Everyone has two memories. The one you can tell and the one that is stuck to the underside of that, the dark, tarry smear of what happened." I like this because everyone likes his or her own decent version of our story. In the retelling, we might shy away from the parts that cast us in an unfavorable light. Sometimes that might be the ugly thing someone said to us that hints at a deeper truth. Other times it might be the part we played in a drama that took a turn for the worse. Sometimes it’s a little thing we did or didn’t do that ultimately made a difference in the outcome.

So in order to stay grounded, I guess we can say or tell what we want to… as long as we don’t lie to ourselves. When we believe our superficial story and omit the “dark, tarry smear of what happened”, we are doomed to let ourselves off the hook too easily. We are likely to blame the world for our conditions when we had all the power. The power that lies in seeing our own truth-- stark and bare. Owning our truth lets us walk authentically through life, dealing with what really is there, and coming to terms with what actually helps or hinders us on our journey.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Recommit

All week the idea of recommiting has been with me. Life simply requires it. We all have intentions. Then life happens, and the intentions fall by the wayside. Then we remember what we set out to do and become discouraged, maybe hit ourselves over the head a few times, call ourselves a few names.  This may apply to exercise, eating, meditating, running, giving things up for Lent, cussing, judging, yelling, and on and on. My grounding tip is this: When we recognize we've fallen off, do the merciful thing and recommit. There's no virtue in hating little bits of ourselves because we're human. Really. That's a myth. A crock.

Give it your best shot again.  That's part of the journey.

Leonard Orr wrote these powerful words:
Infinite Power directed by thoughts of weakness can produce infinite weakness. Infinite power directed by wholesome and healthy thoughts produce infinite wholesomeness, health, and safety - beyond safety - peace and pleasure.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Magical Breathing

Seems that I would have mentioned this already. But when I consciously ground myself, I’m always stunned to recognize that, quite often, I go through life holding my breath. Taking measly breaths. Just enough to get me through a day filled with a long string of slightly tense minutes. Today I caught myself, and I started walking slowly enough to remember to breathe deep-down-in-my-belly breaths. A while later, I realized the tension had melted. I had a great day even though nothing spectacular happened! I found myself being in the moment--  just as peaceful and productive as you please. I WAS THRILLED! So simple, and yet so powerful.
And since breath is the most important element, it stands to reason that it will go a long way as a physical and mental healer. I really hope I remember to breathe tomorrow.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Danskos!

I  love my Danskos! These shoes were made for walking. For me, staying grounded has a lot to do with shoes. I can wear these babies all day and night without thinking about my feet! Simple pleasures. Grounding tip: Wear comfortable shoes. Life is complicated enough without being reminded of your feet all day.