Normality is a paved road…
“Normality is a paved road: It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it.”
~Vincent Van Gogh
*******
HATE
(Darkness/Death)
Begin with toxic, one-minute falsehoods
Amazed to see stars in your eyes and mine
Truth appears to flicker. I’m going to let it shine.
Wanting to hide because I questioned its purpose and its strength
Every turn’s a new path. I’m attuned and need to go the length.
Constant changes abound. I must stay firmly planted in the ground.
Will I? Can I?
Focus and pay attention while going different speeds and lengths.
My body slows down and inside energy strengthens, finally without haste.
Great strides are found in movement, as intimacy inside grows.
I’m learning a new lesson on you and me, since I‘d rarely experienced the rose.
Others had control with their harming characters, tastes, and lies.
I’d followed in their footsteps, not comprehending my reactions and sighs.
Trust myself, my inner soul? It had had no chance to grow.
Until it’s voice like music echoed and my spirit could ultimately know.
The melody it plays is lovely, and very delicate in its form.
It’s new exploration and life in this world is something just being born.
The love it feels (and lightness contained) at last can be up hurled.
Beginning to freely be expressed on its flight is better than being curled.
The pain I had had when I was putting, all of the parts of the Universe together,
Can now be blown and strewn out and about by a vacuum and a feather.
And so now the lesson will be continued ‘till the end of my ‘dying’ day,
Complete with a newly arranged and bordered path, glued and molded specifically each way.
The wealth of beautiful pieces are now stretching out before me,
It makes this unusual adventure more meaningful, and one that will always adorn me.
The work completed in this incredible lesson has proved very interesting indeed.
I have learned to play and balance the pieces, as pleasure and truth are perceived.
It’s like walking through the fire slowly and embracing all the flames, as the energy and light contained are a goal and constant aim.
For me to make intense grueling pain transform itself into pleasure,
I must have a gift of spirit (now held) which forever I always will treasure!
From death new heights can ultimately emerge and give rise to a brightly lit flame. Interesting, exciting, and down the path from the experiences and feelings I gain.
The yellow brick pebbles I am traveling on do not form a swamp or pit anymore.
Entertaining all day and breathing deeply at night have not allowed for my heart to get sore.
The paradoxes of life are unveiled to me as I keep learning life’s lessons of love.
Using darkness and pain, potholes of dreams are sewn up, with compassionate loving light so beloved.
LOVE
(Life/ Light)
End with pure, one-second truths
It’s no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
“I have no idea what I’m doing.”
In a moment, I asked myself, “Is there space 4hideousness? Is there space 4shame & terror? Yes. Yes, there is. There’s room 4it all. End of story.”
In that instant, my attention turned away from a random story I was telling myself to the spaciousness of my being. I was freshly at home, where we always are!
Just like the stars and the fireflies. 🙂
In knowing who I am in truth, there is nothing to fear. No emotion, no thought, no loss can trample the truth of my being.
The inherent, ever present peace of the open heart is the true sanctuary.
Not that I can avoid pain as a human being, but when it comes, I can be true to the recognition —> the heart gracefully, peacefully holds it all in love, and for me that is living freely and living consciously.
“When love beckons to you follow him, Though his ways are hard and steep. And when his wings enfold you yield to him, Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you. And when he speaks to you believe in him, Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden. For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning. Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun, So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth……
But if in your fear you would seek only love’s peace and love’s pleasure, Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love’s threshing-floor, Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears. Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love. And think not you can direct the course of love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course. Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.”
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires: To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To know the pain of too much tenderness. To be wounded by your own understanding of love; And to bleed willingly and joyfully.”
― Khalil Gibran, Le Prophète
“Do Not Grasp So Tightly To This World. You Do Not Come From Here.” #quote
Shaman’s Way…
by @DebraUlrich
(R)ead, w(R)ite, (R)epeat, (R)e-Tweet & (just) make sure you get some sleep! :) #quote
by @DebraUlrich
How has your life been?
For the next couple of weeks we’re in what’s sometimes called a shadow phase.
- It began with the United States coming right up to the brink of default, as the Treasury’s ability to borrow money ran out the very day of the station. Congress raised the debt ceiling just in the nick of time, but not before taking the world through a nauseating hostage situation. A few days later, the United States had its credit rating dropped by Standard & Poor’s, causing yet another wild ride on global stock markets.
Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, held a religious revival at Reliant Stadium in Houston, where he prayed for God to heal the economy, and declared his candidacy for the presidency. Many of his guest speakers believe that the world is ending, and that it’s their job to hasten the process along.
A Russian spacecraft blew up on its way to the International Space Station. Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple Computer. And a rare East Coast earthquake, centered in the district of everyone’s favorite congressman, Eric Cantor, shut down the cooling systems of the North Anna nuclear power station, which had to be shut down. The quake damaged the Washington Monument and the National Cathedral, and immobilized Amtrak up the eastern seaboard. Numerous nuclear power plants declared ‘unusual events’ but remained in operation. As all this winds down, Hurricane Irene is headed up the East Coast.
How has your life been?
Have you had the feeling of being backed into a corner, and the sensation of underground feelings being a little like steam inside a pressure cooker? These time can be mentally stressful, as rational thought has a tendency to collapse.
Where to from here? Forward, slowly. So slowly in fact that you start in the present, with a careful evaluation of where your life is now. In time things will come into focus as if the lens elements in a telescope are moving into precisely the right alignment to see something you were missing. The key is to look now. Assess the changes in your life, your relationships, your work and financial circumstances; assess what you’ve learned, how you’ve grown, and what has been damaged.
There is an opportunity for both growth and healing in the future; the common ground being focused awareness. 🙂
What Are The Two Hardest Things You Have To Do?
Change your thoughts and you change your world. ~Norman Vincent Peale
- Recognize when your mind is destroying you and your environments, and do it in that very moment, “mid-coitus”!
- Consciously turn your mind around in that very moment.
How successful are you at keeping your “thought radar” on automatic so you can catch those thoughts and emotions that render you helpless in the face of such things as “your justifiable anger,” “self-deprecation in all its disguises,” “your quicksand of certifiable loss,” “overwhelming but picayune judgment of yourself and others,” and so much more! I call those unruly mind viruses “Trances”.
They not only throw a huge smoke screen around what is really happening, and jerk us into their own non-reality, but by their very creative energy they magnetize more of the same to materialize in our present and future. Yikes! Let me outta here!
This is what Patanjali, that ancient codifier of Yoga described to us so many centuries ago…
“It is the habits of the mind that bind us to attachments and duality and, in turn, suffering.”
But there is a remedy!
“It is also the habit of mind that leads to non-attachment and to the practice of merger with what is real.
The mind is a sophisticated tool that can give us liberation and the transcendence of conditional living, or it can give us confusion, ignorance, and bondage.”
Guess what that means?
Once your mind becomes aware of that automatic “thief in the night” that is stealing control over your consciousness, you can actually CHOOSE to reel your own mind and emotions back in from its churning habitual crap that pollutes your whole system – body, mind, emotions and energy flow.
YES! You CAN CHOOSE, and you can be effective!
This is the only way that you can finally find happiness and peace.
If you don’t choose, you are consistently setting yourself up as the victim/victimizer target in your own personal shooting gallery, especially if you believe that you have no responsibility in the matter – “It is someone else’s fault”.
You are in charge of your own psyche!
So, now how do you choose to move out of the dark anger, hurt, numbness, etc.?
First of all, let me put in a plug for strong daily sadhana. That clears layers of mind-gunk and gives you better ability to move through this process. Then at the moment:
- Catch your thought or emotion to realize this is actually self-sabotage, not true reality. This step is really, really important because it sets the whole process in motion.
- Go to neutral. Long-deep breath, changing your mind to welcome the bigger picture that had been obscured, calling on your friends, source, etc., for help. This is not avoidance, going numb or jumping out of your body. Quite the contrary. You are taking back the engine of your consciousness to actually deal with the energy and experience of the Trance at hand.
- Move into healing and change. This is where your genius of awareness and spectacular free will come into play. They come through your strength of determination – your true CHOICE! Don’t take “NO” for an answer, but definitely don’t beat yourself up for getting yourself in this difficult condition. That would really be counter-productive, don’t you think?
- Ground yourself by sending your energy down into the center of Mother Earth and continue to cycle it back up again through your body and mind to root you, to clear you, and switch from the chaos of mind and emotions to weighted strength.
- Grounded in this state of neutral awareness and breath, let the emotions, feelings, mind’s tantrums run through your being without being overtaken by them. Adding mantra, powerful prayers and yoga will quickly move this process along. Remember, you will re-experience your Trance as it moves out, but don’t get freaked. Just abide with the process until you know that this “sitting” is done. You may find previously unseen realizations and the ability to reframe your situation arise like misty fairies in your reality.
- Different manifestations or degrees of that same Trance may continue to come up over time, but use the same process over and over again. You will be addressing different layers each time, so respect the process, don’t get impatient with it. This is your Transformation to Peace – your true path!
- Expansion–Now, begin to let the wisdom that comes from your healing trickle into your consciousness. When you “listen” you may be amazed at what incredible messages, yearnings and remedies were snarled in that Trance, but now are freely accessible. Forgive yourself for not having recognized them before, and allow yourself the great freedom to accept and integrate these “new” abilities and freedoms into your personal world. Be grateful for this incredible process. And reside in True Love which is radiant Light, Pure Truth.
This is how your mind CHOOSES the process of peace to work for you. It takes creating a “mind muscle” with repetitive use. So, now your mind can choose to move your system’s energetic vibration to actually magnetize even more peace.
Make CONSCIOUS CHOICE your regular and most dear habit. Happiness will pursue you! 🙂
“Explore The Possibilities!”
Don’t mix up the ideal vision of something you have fantasized in your mind with the real thing.
You may be glamorizing something you want, and giving it preference over what you already have. It’s a “grass is greener on the other side of the fence” scenario.
But if you actually traded what you have for what you are imagining, you would find that what you have is really far better.
You don’t appreciate it because you have not really immersed yourself in it and explored all the possibilities.
So let go of your romantic vision of an unattainable goal, and embrace what already exists in your life. 🙂
by @DebraUlrich
Do You Have A Dream?
Is there a dream you wish to pursue?
Do you dare?
What if you’re disappointed?
What if you fail?
Actually, the worst possible scenario is this:
What if you don’t try and you always regret it?
You probably have a sixth sense about something and it makes you feel good and hopeful and enthusiastic.
It gives you a happy sense of anticipation. It makes you feel strong. It makes you think you’ll have an even better future if you go for it.
Whether this desire is in the area of love, home, or business, you will never know until you try.
And right now may be the best time to follow your dream. 🙂
by @DebraUlrich
“He that would live in #peace & at ease must not speak all he knows or all he sees.” ~Benjamin Franklin #quote
by @DebraUlrich
“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.” ~Socrates #quote
by @DebraUlrich
“Sometimes you cannot believe what you see. You have to believe what you feel.” ~Morrie Schwartz #quote
by @DebraUlrich
Tune Out The Negative. Tune In The Beautiful! :)
If you watch the news and read the more sensational headlines in the newspaper, you might come to the conclusion that this world is a terrible place.
If you tune in to the more heart-wrenching stories you hear from friends or in idle conversations in any office or at any party, you could believe that finding happiness in this world is rather a hopeless venture.
Likewise, if you seek out only the happy stories, the uplifting messages, and the joyful people, you will come to see that this life really does have a lot to offer.
Tune out the negative. Tune in the beautiful!
by @DebraUlrich
“With a little seed of imagination you can grow a field full of hope for your Recovery Relief.”
by @DebraUlrich
Debra Ulrich
Recovery Relief 😁 
You must be logged in to post a comment.