From Thanksgiving:
Gratitude for many things on this day of giving thanks. We just shared a meal with lots of sweet people on the lawn of the ashram. Hugs and smiles and a vegetarian feast for all.
I joined a gratitude "event" on Facebook (Thanks to Darshan for that.) It is '40 Days of Gratitude' and the plan is to reflect each day for forty days and write down things we are grateful for. It finishes out the year in gratitude. I am thinking that what I will do is just write here about things, reflecting on gratitude and on life. So this is Day 1.
There are bunches of things I could write about, bunches of things I am grateful for. But today I want to share something that I am really appreciating is changed perspective that comes into my life exactly when I need it.
Sometimes the rawness and the emotion makes me forget. I forget who I am. I forget what life is about for me. In those times, life feels very small and locked into the pain and I need something to help me reset. My father-in-law sent me a book recently that has, each time I've read from it, given me that kind of reset. I read it in little bits because it is so potent that I have to soak it in for a while before I can continue on. It is called Letting Go: the Pathway of Surrender by David R. Hawkins, Ph.D.
The idea of letting go can be frustrating sometimes. I get it - I get that surrender really is the way. But when I am in pain, I think "BUT HOW? How do you just let go?" Well, this book offered me something today that was a subtle shift in how to view it and it really helped me. Here is a little piece from the book:
In the human psyche, every feeling has its opposite. The way out of negativity is, therefore, the willingness to acknowledge and let go of negative feelings and, at the same time, the willingness to let go of resisting their positive opposite.
This sounds so simple. But it is really huge. In that place of negativity, it can be incredibly hard and forced to just invoke a positive feeling. Instead, this suggests just being willing to not resist the positive. Being willing to not resist love when we feel angry. Being willing to not resist generosity when we feel closed and protective. Being willing to not resist courage when there is fear.
When in pain, the resistance is huge. It is not just that the negative emotion is overpowering, it also that the positive emotions are being repressed, shoved down, pushed away. It is a misguided self protection but it happens. In some cases, just having the courage to not resist love is a hugely powerful thing. It is another angle on the path of surrendering and it feels more like a gentle invitation to see what else is there, to recognize that, indeed, those other feelings can - and do - exist even when there is pain.
Gratitude for many things on this day of giving thanks. We just shared a meal with lots of sweet people on the lawn of the ashram. Hugs and smiles and a vegetarian feast for all.
I joined a gratitude "event" on Facebook (Thanks to Darshan for that.) It is '40 Days of Gratitude' and the plan is to reflect each day for forty days and write down things we are grateful for. It finishes out the year in gratitude. I am thinking that what I will do is just write here about things, reflecting on gratitude and on life. So this is Day 1.
There are bunches of things I could write about, bunches of things I am grateful for. But today I want to share something that I am really appreciating is changed perspective that comes into my life exactly when I need it.
Sometimes the rawness and the emotion makes me forget. I forget who I am. I forget what life is about for me. In those times, life feels very small and locked into the pain and I need something to help me reset. My father-in-law sent me a book recently that has, each time I've read from it, given me that kind of reset. I read it in little bits because it is so potent that I have to soak it in for a while before I can continue on. It is called Letting Go: the Pathway of Surrender by David R. Hawkins, Ph.D.
The idea of letting go can be frustrating sometimes. I get it - I get that surrender really is the way. But when I am in pain, I think "BUT HOW? How do you just let go?" Well, this book offered me something today that was a subtle shift in how to view it and it really helped me. Here is a little piece from the book:
In the human psyche, every feeling has its opposite. The way out of negativity is, therefore, the willingness to acknowledge and let go of negative feelings and, at the same time, the willingness to let go of resisting their positive opposite.
This sounds so simple. But it is really huge. In that place of negativity, it can be incredibly hard and forced to just invoke a positive feeling. Instead, this suggests just being willing to not resist the positive. Being willing to not resist love when we feel angry. Being willing to not resist generosity when we feel closed and protective. Being willing to not resist courage when there is fear.
When in pain, the resistance is huge. It is not just that the negative emotion is overpowering, it also that the positive emotions are being repressed, shoved down, pushed away. It is a misguided self protection but it happens. In some cases, just having the courage to not resist love is a hugely powerful thing. It is another angle on the path of surrendering and it feels more like a gentle invitation to see what else is there, to recognize that, indeed, those other feelings can - and do - exist even when there is pain.
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