Don’t go Unconscious

Pema Chödrön is one of my favorite people.

She’s the only American Buddhist nun, a renowned speaker and teacher. But she started out as typical as you and I.

Born Deirdre Blomfield in New York, she grew up a 60’s girl, and experienced life the way that many others did; marriage, children, divorces, substance abuse… After her last marriage had failed, as she searched around for some answers, she stumbled across an article written by a Buddhist monk, that was talking about using emotions for growth rather than trying to get rid of them or shut them down. That struck a chord with her, so she got interested and followed that path and ended up Pema Chödrön.

While doing a project yesterday this particular talk came up on rotation on my music. I’m glad that I keep stuff like this because I can listen now and have a different interpretation as opposed to years ago when I first caught wind of her and her lectures.

It’s about practicing remaining present enough with yourself during a highly emotional circumstance so that you can recognise that brief 1 or 2 second moment before you react.

In this split-second, you can as yourself, ” Wait a second.. I feel that I’m getting upset”. I’m feeling anxious, or triggered or whatever it is. It’s about taking that brief moment and noticing that you’re about to react.

Its in that moment that lies your choice. You can just stick with whatever you’re experiencing and ride it out, try to separate yourself from what you’re experiencing or you can fly off the emotional handle and go unconscious about it. Just the few seconds that it takes while you’re registering this process can be enough to begin to gently dissipate those high-energy emotions and allow a much clearer response to whatever the situation is.

If you’ve ever noticed a stone dropped into a lake; the initial “plop” it makes is one thing; but the subsequent ripples that the stone being dropped in the water make can actually be bigger than the initial stone created in the first place. If the stone is large enough, the ripples it makes can rock a rowboat on the other side of the lake.

Something that I thought I’d share in case it resonated withsomeone else. Your inner peace is definitely worth preservation.

#sunday #choices #innerstrength #peace #pemachodron

15 May, 2020

What do you do with a Chance?

This is one of three short books of the NY Times Best-Sellers’ set called What You Do Matters by Kobi Yamada.
This particular book shows us how our inner dialogue can affect us acting on an opportunity that is before us, and what we can do to overcome it.

Highly recommend!

Thank you to Sgt. Vierk of the Clawson Police Department for doing such a great reading job!

10 May, 202010 May, 2020

A Mother to the World

Mothers ~

Those that brang us into the world

Also those that perform the act of Mothering.

To be a Mother to the World, one needs to look no further for example than to the person that sacrifices parts of herself or himself in order to give the next generation a good chance; a better chance maybe than they had themselves.

Things like planting a tree, and knowing full well that you’ll never get to enjoy the tree’s shade or fruit. Still, you plant the tree for the next generation to enjoy.

Like this. You are careful to consider your words and your actions, and how they might affect someone else. Because you have this little life that depends on you now. Little eyes that look up to you to build their foundation from which they’ll see their world.

Being a Mother to the World is no different. You experience the connection between you and someone you’ve never met, someone you don’t know at all. And know that from that point on, you keep those connections in mind when you make decisions, and when you act, as you’re carrying out your life. You realize that you are a part of something much bigger than yourself. It becomes much more fulfilling and worthwhile.

Thank you to all the Mothers, and to the Mothers of the World. We literally owe our lives to you, and we’ll promise to give the next generation a good start-off.

#mother #mothersday #mothertotheworld