There is a path (even when we feel lost)

The Path

Great Doubt

Who am I?

Why am I here?

What’s the point?

Why me?

How do I get out of this?

Great Faith

I’m here for a reason

I can trust that I can learn and grow

I trust that other people are worth the struggle

I know that every situation is workable

Great Determination

I’m willing to keep going

I choose to stay

I surrender to what is

                                Margaret J Wheatley

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Sometimes life just sucks

big time

sometimes the path not only seems obscure

but downright invisible

sometimes we are stuck in doubt

and we cannot find faith

and without faith

cannot find a good reason for the next step

and so

and so

we want to run

we want to quit

we want to deny

and we put so much energy

in the wrong places

and things don’t get better

we just get angry

and we point fingers

and we wander through the corridors of our minds

lost and confused

tripping over old events

old thoughts

old failures

old angers and resentments

stumbling around in the dark

lost

but there is a path

which begins with honest questions

and honest answers

which embraces faith

in above all else

one’s self

but also in the care and concern of others

there is a path

that leads us out of the world of darkness and debris

into a place of growth

and change

and so we keep walking

one step

one faltering step

at a time

On slowing down, being present to one's self, and being an authentic giver

People are too busy to care

                Healthcare worker

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There are two kinds of compassion and care.  One is honest kindness, and the other, dishonest kindness.  How many times have we promised, or pretended to be available, to listen, to care, when, in that moment, we honestly had no such capacity?  And do we imagine that dishonest kindness actually brings healing and ease to another – or do we see an unintended suffering.   I do not know the answer to this.  But I cannot help but ask the question.

                                                                                                Wayne Muller

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To love means being there for your beloved, recognizing his presence as important.  To be there, to be fully present, to appreciate the preciousness of your beloved, this is the practice of true love.  To be there for him (her) you have to be there for yourself first.  Do you have the tie to be there for yourself?  Do you have the time for a cup of tea, for an orange, for your in-breath, your out breath?

                                                                                   

                                                                                                Thich Nhat Hanh

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the thermometer says it is 7 degrees outside

the snow slowly comes to life as the clouds break and

the sun scatters jewels across the ground

the dark green arms of firs wear proudly heavenly adornment

and I sit

with time

nothing but time

it is an odd sensation

and I hate it

and yet I realize as I sit here

in the quiet

wanting it not to be quiet

wanting to be needed

wanting to teach or counsel

or something

that I am being taught a lesson

a lesson about being present to myself

a lesson about sitting in the quietude

with that cup of tea

just sitting

being present to myself

restoring

rebuilding

refilling my inner resources

for too long I have tried to give

and have had nothing to give

I have been guilty, without even knowing it

of dishonest kindness

because I cannot give what I do not have

bring me to myself O Sacred One

that I might be present to myself

and thus

authentically

present

to you

and for others

Anger is...... stupid?

Anger gives the illusion of clarity

A certain strength arises when we have an opinion and we know where we stand.

The difference between the clarity we believe we have hwen angry

And the clarity that results from actually seeing clearly

Is that aggression has its own narrow logic,

Which does not take into account the deeper level of causes and conditions

That surround each situation

                                                                                Dzigar Kongtrul (Buddhist Teacher)

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It floats around

freely going where it will

finding any small space

into which it can slip

infecting

like a virulent virus

sickening

robbing us of power

anger

makes us sick

it eats away at the fabric of our being

until our minds

consumed

are good for nothing

but throwing

out hatred

and rage

and moral blindness

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There is no such thing as righteous anger

Anger in any form only makes us blind.

                                                Margaret Wheatley