Sponges

I tend to be like a sponge when it comes to my feelings. I take on whatever is being felt by my loved ones, or just whoever is in the room with me, and then think it is mine. Since I was just a little girl, I've had moments of "I'm just so sad, and I don't have a clue why".

Sometimes I am able to pause, and recognize that I can make a choice. I can stand squarely with someone, with compassion or joy for their situation, without taking it on. I can be strongly rooted in the ground of my being, letting the ocean flow through me without soaking it up and holding it in. I can know what is me and what is not me while remaining connected to the web of life that is All and Everyone.

A song and a little happy dance help me find myself. What works for you?

sarah

Habits of Mind

I'm working on new mind habits: appreciation, joy, a little grin at my own reactions and a moment to consider a choice about them......
It's so easy to go the default: anxiety, or a need for a different outcome, or living in the future when things will be more ok.
What if I approach each moment with a little curiosity, and the heart knowledge that the universe brings me just what I need.
So why is this moment here? What good thing does it bring? And what expansion of my Self is possible in this moment?
New habits. I guess they will be as hard to break as the old ones :-)

sarah

Song of the universe

So am I singing myself into harmony with the universe, or the universe into harmony with me. Standing high on the mountain watching the sun rise over my world, or sitting inside my protective cave with snow and ice out my door. As the waves of vibration travel in me and through me and in and through Everything I am filled with awe--appreciation and trembling. What a responsibility, joining the choir that sings the universal song. What a privilege
!
sarah

No matter what

I'm ok no matter what. Really knowing that removes a lot of stress and anxiety.
No matter what--if I'm sick, if my lover dies, if I can't work, if I work too much, if I lack courage, if my thoughts are muddled or my feelings scary.......
I'm ok. My true self is strong and happy and awake through every circumstance. Wow!

sarah

The wind beneath my wings

It's been suggested to me that our forward momentum creates wind resistance which feels like an obstacle but in fact creates the "lift" under our wings that lets us fly. Interesting way to look at it. Some days feel more like flying through mud. But some days we really soar.
My daily practice helps me maintain my equilibrium through all the altitude changes :-)

sarah

The sun is big enough!

The more we share our light, the more the clouds are dispelled and we see how limitless the light is. I was chanting to enlarge the sun, but just realized it is way big enough. Just sometimes it's on the other side of the mountain. Keep climbing.

sarah

We are the Choir

We can transform our sadness into compassionate joy. We are so strong and are changing our destinies. We are all working together to build a web of strength and joy and call all the protective forces of the universe into play. Together we can continue to overcome and live into our full potential.
We can sing the song of the universe.
NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO
sarah

nyo ze

Nyo ze means "as it is". Awakening to my enlightenment is true seeing-- nyo ze light and nyo ze dark, seeing the demons as well as the protective forces.
This is frightening at times. We have to learn our strength and resources and "heart" are enough. We become aware of the balance, and with the causes we make and the song of our hearts we call ourselves into alignment with All, and All into alignment with us.
When we see what is, all of it, clearly, we see not only the obstacles and threatening conditions in ourselves and around us, but also our available resources, in our environment and in our very being, and we cast off our fear.
See what is! Awaken!
sarah

It is not only about what I want, and being strong and persistent enough to change things. It is also about cause and effect, and having the inner strength and ichinen (determination) to live in my life as I created it, in my circumstances here and now. Not just to be ok with it, but SHINING.
sarah

Dancing and Weaving

When I started chanting I felt like I was shouting into the dark, like a witch or shaman dancing around the bonfire flames, singing to hold back the dark powers outside the circle of light.
Now, 40 minutes later, I feel the protective web I have woven around myself, and my lightness of being returns. I will keep weaving, and the filaments are so strong. Without separating from my world, I can walk strong, and know the protective forces (shoten zenjin) are so very real!

sarah

courage

overcoming this obstacle, planting my flag in the top, king of the mountain. then looking around at the vistas and seeing a new possibility or direction to move towards using the muscles courageously developed in this adventure to move ahead to new horizons, joyfully attaining the desires of my heart.

Love

just a thought to spark more thoughts:

love is not about restricting someone to what please me and makes my life more "complete." it is about wanting someone to have their heart's desires, the things that make them more whole. no matter what. and finding joy in their joy, and sorrow in their sorrow. and being there, hanging in, through it all. being surrounded by their loving arms, in the safe harbor of their love. whether it looks like what you thought it would or not. so sometimes loving means stepping aside, more distance. and sometimes not.