March 16, 2012 Chautauqua

From the Editor's Computer     

   I'm sure most of you have heard the expression: "Life is a mirror."  Now that simple phrase can be, and has been, interpreted in many different ways.  The most familiar explanation is that whatever irks you about someone or something is an issue that you need to deal with yourself.  What we put out into the world is what is reflected back at us.

  I find that not only is life a mirror, but sometimes what is reflected back to us, as in a real mirror, is the reverse/opposite of what we want to see.  Which brings to mind another expression: "What you resist, persists."

   It should be obvious to us that whatever we focus on, and invest our energies into, is what is going to be front and centre in our lives.  So why are we surprised when what we don't want keeps showing up in our lives?

   If you invest all your time and effort - physical, mental, and emotional - into complaining and fighting the government, it should be no surprise that there will always be more issues to complain about and fight.

   If you invest all your energy into wishing your miserable life was different, nothing will change and you'll have many more miserable days to spend wishing. 

   Until you focus on what you want in your life, and actively make the changes you want to see, what will be mirrored back to you is what you don't want.  Strongly resisting something doesn't make it go away and disappear, it just makes it a bigger issue to consume all your time and energy.

   Accept that whatever is bothering you is in your life for a reason.  If you don't want it in your world, don't resist it.  Find a way to make any changes you can make, and then make them!  And if it turns out that you can't make any outward changes, then change your attitude and stop investing your emotions into whatever it is.

   When you step back, you may end up pleasantly surprised to discover that what you have resisted wasn't that bad after all, and you begin to welcome its presence in your life.

Beth

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Behind

There's truth behind every 'just kidding,' 

curiosity behind every 'just wondering,' 

knowledge behind every 'I don't know' 

and emotion behind every 'I don't care.'

- author unknown

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Prefer

To know what you prefer 

instead of humbly saying Amen 

to what the world tells you 

you ought to prefer, 

is to have kept your soul alive.   

– Robert Louis Stevenson

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Put Off

To be always intending 

to make a new and better life 

but never to find time

to set about it is as to put off 

eating and drinking and sleeping 

from one day to the next 

until you're dead.   

– Og Mandino

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Heroes

If everyone was satisfied with themselves, 

there would be no heroes. 

– Mark Twain

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Change

Sometimes if you want to see

a change for the better, 

you have to take things 

into your own hands.   

– Clint Eastwood

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March 2, 2012 Chautauqua

From the Editor's Computer     

    Have you ever walked a labyrinth?  I have had the opportunity to walk labyrinths at workshops, plus, I have a wooden finger labyrinth. 

   So there is no confusion, a labyrinth and a maze are not the same thing.  A labyrinth has only one way in and one way out.  There are no dead ends and it is impossible to get lost as the route is very defined.  A person moves from the edge to the centre, and from there back to the edge.  Traditionally, labyrinths have been used for pilgrimages, walking meditation/prayers, healing and or a quiet retreat from the busyness of life. 

   Labyrinths are an excellent metaphor for how I’ve found life to really be like, no matter how we live it or we perceive it to be. First, there is only one way in (birth) and one way out (death).  Between those two points, we are aiming to become more centred in ourselves before we reach the end of the journey.

   While the path may twist and turn, so much so that we may feel we are travelling backwards at times, we are always moving forward.  Also, it truly is impossible to get lost or off track, no matter how disorientated we may feel as we journey along.  There are no wrong turns or dead ends that we need to escape from. 

   When you walk a labyrinth, there is no striving or strain, no rush or hurry.  All you have to do is put one foot in front of the other.  That is the same with life.  All our striving, anxiety, stress, strain, worry, fighting, ladder-climbing, etc, doesn’t really get us any further along than if we just relax and enjoy each step we take, each and every day.

   Of course, living life, as walking a labyrinth, works best when we are completely present as we concentrate on the current moment and the next step we need to take.  We know that distractions will come, and because of that knowledge, we can keep moving forward, even if we have to pause for a breath or two.

   Each person who walks a labyrinth experiences something different, and so it is with life.  We each experience the journey in our own unique ways. 

Beth

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Accept

Because he believes in himself, 

he doesn’t try to convince others.   

Because he is content with himself, 

he doesn’t need others’ approval.  

 Because he accepts himself, 

the whole world accepts him. 

– Tae-Te Ching

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Electricity

When two people relate to each other

authentically and humanly,

God is the electricity

that surges between them. 

– Martin Buber

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Allow

Does my partner love me the way 

I want and deserve to be loved?   

Does my partner allow me to love 

him/her the way I want to love?  

 - Margaret An Lembo

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Conversation

A real conversation

is the ultimate commitment 

to a relationship. 

– Stephen Lundin

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Acknowledge Love

I didn't bring love. 

I just kept acknowledging 

the love that was already there 

until you all caught on 

and also realized it was there. 

- James Keeley

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February 17, 2012 Chautauqua

From the Editor's Computer     

   Just because someone is afraid to die, does not mean they have the will or desire to live.

   Just because someone is tired of being sick, does not mean that they want to be healthy.

   We could go on and on, coming up with endless examples.  The bottom line is the motivation behind the behaviour.  What is motivating you in your life? The desire to avoid something?  Or the desire for something?

   While on the surface, those two questions may seem to be the same, they aren't as the initial sentences show.

   Being afraid of death just means that you are afraid to die (which incidentally, we're all going to do at some point, no exemptions).  Fear of death does not lead to any quality of life.  In fact, it often leads to the opposite - a living death as the person is frequently too scared to do anything with their life.  They end up consumed by fear in all areas of their life.

   On the other hand, the will to live - and thus live a full life - causes you to make completely different decisions.  Decisions that are life-affirming and life-enhancing.  The decisions will also tend to benefit those around us, not just ourselves.

   Being tired of being sick just means you are tired of feeling the way you do.  It really doesn't provide any incentive to be healthy.  You can feel sick of being sick and produce a different illness so you don't feel the way you did.  You haven't cured or healed anything, you've merely  transferred it to another part of your body.

   If your motivation is health, not only will you make healthy food, exercise and lifestyle choices, you will be motivated by whatever it is that is important in your life and gives you a reason to get up in the morning and greet the day.

   Basing your choices on a desire to avoid something limits your growth and potential.  On the other hand, basing choices on a desire for something leads to a great quality of life.

 

Beth

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Love

Your task is not to seek for love, 

but merely to seek and find 

all the barriers within yourself 

that you have built against it. 

- Rumi

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