Instead, today, know that you are - right here and now - part of something much larger than yourself, part of divine activity. You don't have to make this true. It is true. You are necessary and needed, just as you are. Each person and creature bring something unique - so you don't have to do or be everything for everyone. Contribute your few talents - with humility and patience and a sweet sense of your own value.
Although the desire for self-improvement can be noble, it can also contribute to the belief that we are a flawed mortals who - through the power of our shaky will and limited talents - must try to make ourselves better.
Instead, today, know that you are - right here and now - part of something much larger than yourself, part of divine activity. You don't have to make this true. It is true. You are necessary and needed, just as you are. Each person and creature bring something unique - so you don't have to do or be everything for everyone. Contribute your few talents - with humility and patience and a sweet sense of your own value.
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Today, feel Love joy-ing in every molecule of your body and being - the way a new parent is in wonder of an infant. Whenever a fear or concern arises for you today, respond with the awareness of Love's love conscious of you, wrapping you, rejoicing in you. That's all.
The Stanford Magazine essay Are You Trapped in a Bad Food Relationship? shares the insights of Stanford professor Maya Adams, who compares our food relationships to our human ones:
“Just like our relationships with the people we love, if we’re in a healthy relationship where we feel validated, where the person we’re interacting with is good to us, that supports us in everything we do. We go out into the world feeling good about ourselves. When we’re in an abusive relationship with our food, where we find ourselves eating foods that are hurting us and then we come back for more, that has the potential to undermine everything we do and really harm us in the long run.” “If you think about it, the act of eating is a very intimate act. You’re putting food into your mouth and into your body,” Adam says. If you put food to the same test you would apply to a relationship with someone close to you, she says, you’d want to know, “Is this food going to be good for me in the long run? How much do I know about this food? What’s in it? Who made it, and did they have my best interests at heart?” Today, feel the presence of a Consciousness bigger than yours - the source of all creation - that cares for all. This Consciousness is intelligent and wise. This intelligence is more powerful than compulsive thinking or behavior. You can rest in this Intelligence and Love, which gives you clear perspective and understanding and trust and courage.
A balm is a fragrant ointment used to soothe and heal the skin. Today, feel Love as a balm for your being. Love is present, soothing anything that feels inflamed - your body, your thinking, your emotions, your nerves and patience. Feel Love as a divine olntment, applied this very moment, that soothes, calms, restores.
Much of our suffering comes from arguing with reality: thinking things should be different. Yesterday, I remembered the strategy I have shared earlier, "Wouldn't it be nice if . . . " For me, it adds lightness and perspective.
Wouldn't it be nice if I was always rested and rational. Wouldn't it be nice if I never felt behind. Would it be nice if humans always acted from wisdom and care. This phrase can loosen up some of the anxiety and tension and perfectionism, leaves space for forgiveness and humor, and help us see more clearly what is important and what isn't, where we have control and where we don't. For those of us who get tangled up in our thinking, know that Love, Mind is the source of all real Thought. Let go, a little, of the sense that we have to be urgently questioning, worrying, and problem solving. Take a gentler and more powerful approach: know that there is a Consciousness bigger than you, knowing and communicating with calm, creativity, simplicity, and insight.
Yesterday the spiritual snack was check our motives - to act from love instead of fear.
Sometimes fear makes us want to protect our sense of identity and efficacy by thinking we have to skillful, expert, admired, the source of solutions or ideas. But if love is our motive, we allow room for ideas and solutions to come from other people. We let go of assumptions. We become more flexible in our thinking. We are more humble and comfortable with uncertainty. Love speaks, we listen. Today, I am going to pause and check my motives. I am going to aspire to act from love instead of fear: love for myself, others, creation.
Many of us hold tension in our bodies as a way to brace ourselves against uncertainty and surprises. Our bodies and brains have come to the false conclusion that tight muscles and shallow breath can somehow offer us some manner of protection and encourage focus and productivity.
Today, gently start to teach yourself that you can let go. Pause throughout the day to release tension. Notice that this does not make you more vulnerable or lazy. Begin to trust a different way of being. |
AuthorTarn Wilson is the author of the memoir The Slow Farm and numerous essays. You may read more of her work at tarnwilson.com. Archives
September 2020
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