HAPPY HALLOWEEN

        What haunts us? What spooks and goblins rattle our nerves? Is it past spectres or ones from the future that jump out at us from behind dark corners and terrify us when we least expect it?
     Let's put on our brave masks and heroic costumes and face our ghosts. Let's welcome them and give them treats. Let's admire the ways they are dressed up, and recognize that underneath they are probably not so scary after all. Let's honor the things that haunt us and then send them on their way.

I call out my ghosts and welcome them straight-on. Then I let them go.

COMMUNICATION

      Relationships choke and sputter without frequent and honest communication from the heart. And it takes courage to listen as well, without taking whatever is being said personally and becoming defensive.We need to talk about our daily emotional experiences, and encourage others to share with us in the same way.
     More often, we shut down, and feel miserable and misunderstood. We speculate and justify and point blame. Mis-emotion rages inside of us like wildfire, and consumes us from the inside out. But all it takes to put the fire out is to express what we're feeling. Even if it seems silly. Even if it seems un-necessary. When we spill it out of us, it dissipates. We are finally heard and understood, and we feel relief. In the open air of honest communication, our internal rages diffuse like smoke.

Whatever I feel matters and needs to be expressed.

LUCKIER THAN WE THINK

     Sometimes it takes witnessing someone else's hardship or tragedy to put our own problems in proper perspective. We are frustrated having to drive in the rain and we see a jack-knifed eighteen-wheeler and five car pile-up on the opposite side of the highway, with police lights and ambulances and fire trucks, and all of a sudden, our lack of visibility and the water on our windshield is no big deal.
     As we pass miles and miles of standstill traffic, we are filled with gratitude. Silly us. Here we thought we were unlucky to have to drive in the rain, and it turns out, we have been unexpectedly blessed.

I am grateful for where I am and what I have. It could always be so much worse.

THE PATTERNS THAT RUN OUR LIVES

     We are not as complicated as we think we are. Fundamental patterns circle over and over and round and about in our lives. They scare us. They motivate us. They inspire us, and put us on the defensive. They form the scaffolding of our entire belief system, and give structure and background to all of our action.
     Let's take the time to learn these patterns and understand where they come from; to bring ever higher awareness to why we do what we do. That way, we can change the things that don't serve us any longer, and refine the things that do. Whether we are conscious of our patterns or not, they operate on every level of our lives, so maybe it's worth it to take the time and make the effort to look at them. Maybe becoming conscious of these patterns is in some way the whole point of our lives.

I identify patterns in the way I behave and in order to behave better, I am willing to change.

SNAKE SKIN

     Eventually we change so completely that, like a snake, we have entirely shed our skin, and we are the same in some way, but also new. It takes time and consistent effort, a focused desire for something other than what we have, a whole lot of integrity, and faith.
     And sometimes it feels as if we are never going to change at all, but we keep going anyway, because once we have started, we can't go back. And then, in the course of some otherwise ordinary day, we realize that we have turned the corner at last. Without knowing exactly how or when, we have fully integrated our desired change, and can't imagine any longer being the way that we used to be. We look back and see that the skin we have shed lies empty on the floor.

I am changing even if I don't realize it, and completely changed before I even know.

SPORTSMANSHIP

     When we are "needy" it turns people off. We are all more inclined to give to those who are doing the best they can without complaint. There's something about whining and self-pity that makes us want to punish instead of reward.
      Perhaps we could all use a bit more of a chin-up kind of attitude when faced with challenges. Good sportsmanship in life, as in sports, is appreciated by others, and feels good on the inside too

I bring my best to every experience. I think about what I can contribute instead of all the things I want to get.

BEING STRONG

     Physical strength and fitness are helpful in life. Being able to climb stairs without gasping for breath, to lift things with ease, to hold ourselves in good posture with our core and chest stable and secure; these things make for good living. And it's possible for everyone to be strong. All it requires is a bit of consistent effort and a dedication of time- minutes a day- not hours.
     Let's do push-ups. Let's do sit-ups. Let's do bicep curls with soup cans. Let's use our muscles everyday. Let's walk. Let's dance. Let's tighten our stomachs and hold them tight while we're waiting in traffic. Isometric contractions work as well as repetitions with weights. It's doable and we're worth it. Let's all get a little stronger in some way every day.

I work my muscles and enjoy the benefits of being strong.