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| Wed, 01-19-2011 - 8:11am |
Yesterday was just a crappy day - and I sluffed off on the daily work I need to do for me while trying to focus on the "work" work I had to catch up on. I felt like it was me against the world. Last night I realized that it's not me against the world, it's me against me. We are truly our own worst enemy. We will never find peace if we wait for the world to just give it to us. Even though I'm an avid yogi, peace isn't found in the action of sitting cross-legged, it's found in the moment when you realize that even though your life right now is far from perfect, it's not as bad as it could be. Focus on the here and now - not what could be or what should be. Focus on what IS.
“Concern yourself not with what is right and what is wrong but with what is important.” - Unknown
Bodhi

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It's so good to have you back, Bodhi. :smileyhappy:
I hope this poem will touch someone as deeply as it touched me. It can be used by not only the Newbies just ending (or thinking about ending) their A, but for those of us beyond who are working on other aspects of our selves:
MAYBE NOT
Begin somewhere.
Take one deep breath and dive.
Plunge into the core of your most persistent fear, or your greatest joy.
Grow comfortable with the act of exploration.
Well, maybe not comfortable, but confident of your ability to be sure footed on slick rocks, steady while the winds gust.
Well, maybe not entirely confident, but willing to set out despite persistent doubts, breathing your way into whatever you are facing.
Well, maybe not even all that willing, but you take it anyway, that first step into the unknown.
Courage is starting where there is no secure outcome, no sure result.
The secret is you can begin again at any time.
Take one deep breath, and dive.
Bodhi and Always-both awesome inspiring posts!!!
Great poem Always :) Thank you so much for sharing it.
Bodhi
I was very guilty of unrealistic expectations, as I'm sure we all are/were. Your reference to mountains reminded me of a great quote:
"The only zen you find on the tops of mountains is the zen you bring up there." - Robert Pirsig
Bodhi
Always the wise one you are, Bodhi.
thank you so very much for this timely reminder. Like others, I have been struggling lately with wanting so badly for things to be different - for things to be the way there were "before". It's easy to forget that the things of Before are what brought me RIGHT to HERE.
And here TODAY, is much better than before. HERE i know of my mistakes, I live with the consequences of my choices and face them with courage, rather than hiding in fear. I struggle, I cry, I mourn, and then I CELEBRATE. I focus on embracing what IS ... because what IS really is so much to be SO grateful for.
And while not directly related to this sentiments - I really like this quote as it speaks to me how when you really commit to this ending process, no thing & no one can deter you:
"When you pass through, no one can pin you down, no one can call you back."
- by Ying-An.
Focusing on what IS. Good advice. So many of us got used to focusing on what COULD BE in the affair. We forgot how to be present and make our own happiness RIGHT NOW.
I am going to take a dance break right now. Because it makes me happy and because I can.
UBM
Now that's the type of Zen that I can get behind! Woooo hooo go girl! :)
Bodhi,
As always a simple yet wonderful meditation. I think that most of our inability to be able to focus on what IS stems from our natural capacity to worry. We worry about the past, we worry about the future, we worry about how the past will effect our future. Yet we spend so little time in the now that all that worry has passed by.
And so to that extent I submit one of my favorite quotes about releasing the worry.
"If you have fear of some pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it. If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything, then there is also no need to worry."
— Dalai Lama XIV
While your little protege did a great job in your absence (you really did UBM) it is good to have you back. Helping to keep us grounded.
Namaste my friend
And Peace&light to all
Foggy
Thank you TU and CSN :)
I have also wished I could go back to my "innocent" pre-A life. But, despite all the scars and the fact that my self esteem is just above toilet water level, I am much better off where I am today. I loved the quote TU.
Bodhi
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