It is important
to take things
slowly
and allow
recovery to happen
at its own rate.
There are no
magic formulas
for healing
physical,
emotional,
and spiritual wounds.
Healing occurs
on
its own schedule.
Sometimes
recovery
can be traced
in measurable milestones,
and other times,
it occurs
quietly
in the dark.
C.S. Lewis
In grief
nothing ‘stays put.’
One
keeps
emerging
from a phase,
but
it always
recurs.
Round and round.
Everything repeats.
Am I
going in circles,
or
dare
I hope
I am
on a
spiral?
But
if a spiral,
am I
going
up
or
down it?
I feel like
I have
crossed
through
wild winds
into the calm
eye of the storm.
I must face
the wildness again
because the
calm will pass.
Clouds
are sometimes used
as a metaphor.
Watching the sky,
sometimes only
as wisp of white
dabbles
the blue
of the sky.
Clouds may move
with the breeze
or be blown
by the wind.
Today
there are many layers
some dense,
some moving quickly.
The clouds
show confusion,
some static,
occasionally
the sun peaks through.
The clouds
remind me to
practice
not attaching
to a
particular
state of mind,
pleasurable
or painful
or somewhere
in-between.
Each state
will change.
By being
engaged,
conscious of
what is happening,
I try
not to hold
onto
one
particular time.
When you feel
life is too intense,
imagine it as
a TV soap opera.
Turn the sound down
until it seems manageable
or mute the sound
and read the text.
It reads
differently
than it sounds.
What is
going on
in your life
may seem
less dramatic.
Sometimes
we can’t
eliminate
the drama
in our lives,
but we can
turn the volume down.
Do you have
ways
that help
you ?
We often
judge
others’ outsides
from our own inside.
or we judge
our own insides
by others’ outsides.
We look
at others
as calm,
in control,
on top of things.
For many people,
it takes a
lot of effort
to put
themselves together
and what you see
is the result
of that effort,
not the
challenge
of getting there.
I am startled
when someone
tells me
that I always
seem”so calm”
especially at moments
when I have
a lot of emotions
going on
inside.
As I grow older,
I am becoming
more willing
to reveal
some of those inner feelings,
that being vulnerable
is a painful experience.
Sometimes,
being open and honest
can be an opportunity
for closer
relationships.
livinglinesreflections.com
Why do we have
the illusion
that life
should be easy?
Until we can
embrace
the hard times,
the losses,
we will be surprised
when illness,
pain,
loss
and
disappointment
come into our lives.
Sometimes,
all
at the same time.
Centering Prayer
andÂ
Inner Awakening
offers
a helpful way
to “be” with
difficult
things in life,
even a
painful thought or feeling.
The Welcoming Prayer
can bring
awareness,
giving
the experience
space
to clarify
and not resist.
It may sound
counter-intuitive
but opening
up
to what
is going on,
may
help.
Cynthia Bourgeault, author of Centering Prayer
Living Lines Moment by Moment 