MIND ATTACK

"Wherever you go, there you are."

~ Confucius ~

Ingrained in me as a historical habit is a desire to bolt whenever I feel frustrated.

I suppose I want to escape what I'm feeling.

I consider all the things I don't like about where I am to justify departing immediately

And build a strong case

To go.

But then I don't go, because some logical part of me remains and

Knows I can't get away from what I'm trying to get away from.

The attack is from the inside.

All I can do is watch it,

Not feed it, and

let it go.

I stop identifying so strongly with my thinking mind. 

SILLY ME

"For the man sound in body and serene of mind there is no such thing as bad weather; every day has its beauty, and storms which whip the blood do but make it pulse more vigorously."

~ George Gissing ~

For several months now, in a protective over my plantings kind of way, I have resented heavy wind.

It has felt like a personal affront to my efforts.

And it comes so carelessly, blowing things all around.

But that's what wind does.

Silly me.

I have been trying to control it, and made myself miserable.

When the wind blows, I let it blow. 

CHANGING DIRECTION

"Trust your hunches."

~ Joyce Brothers ~

We have to pick our battles in life.

Generally speaking, we can force our agenda and get our way,

but we often have to push against the grain to make it happen

and there's a cost.

Better, perhaps, to be flexible and easily shift

From one thing to the next

And to trust our intuitive gut 

and follow

the direction

the gentle energetic flow 

is going.

I stop insisting on having my way. 

THE FALLACY OF ACHIEVEMENT

"I couldn't wait for success... so I went ahead without it."

~ Jonathan Winters ~

Growing up, and throughout my young adult years, 

I became progressively driven to achieve what I perceived as success. 

And, at the same time, 

I also felt the urge to seek and find enlightenment as the highest of all human achievements. 

And now, 

I see that there's nothing to achieve, 

not really, 

and that achievement itself as a way to complete our fulfillment, 

is a mirage. 

There is only something to discover, and that has been there all along, 

in all of us. 

It's freedom.

It's whole.

It's divine.

And we are it.

I can play at achieving things in the world, but they do not define or create me. 

As I am already, I am perfect and complete. 

LIFE'S CURRENT

"Nothing is so often irretrievably missed as a daily opportunity."

~ Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

We can unknowingly crush possibility in life by being too rigidly structured.

Some days unfold flowingly in unexpected ways, and bless us with the gift of delight.

I follow the drift of the moment's energy, and am open to changes in plan

OLD TREES

"For I have learned to look on Nature not as in the hour of thoughtless youth,

But hearing oftentimes, the still, sad music of humanity."

~ William Wordsworth ~

The younger a tree is, the more it moves in the wind.

Old trees stand solid and immovable.

A commanding presence

With deep roots,

And the knowledge of ages.

Nature is our perfect reflection. 

WHEREVER WE FIND OURSELVES

"As soon as you honor the present moment, all unhappiness and struggle dissolve."

~ Eckhart Tolle ~

The past is past.

Let's let it rest where it lies and not pick it up.

Let's be here.

Let's live in this day,

Unencumbered,

Unassociated,

And available for each moment

As it comes.

I am here.