Monday Mindfulness

Cultivating Strength, Joy, Calm & Resilience

Category Archives: adversity


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Both

Feeling goodness.

Recognizing capacity for love and joy…

and pain and sorrow…

and confusion and disappointment…

Offering laughter and playfulness…

tears and aching.

Ever grateful.

Still longing.

Inviting.

Learning to receive.

Faith,

not hope,

guides discovery.

Recurring smiles

share space with unsettled emptiness,

offering glimpses of spaciousness.

Trust becomes the compass point,

as surrender calls.

Not giving up,

but diving in.

Relinquishing the tight reins of control

to allow the fullness of life to unfold on its own.

Turning towards the depths of the oceans of stability within,

to exist within it all.

Grateful for this artwork generously created and shared by Matt Buncik.


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Unearthing

Murky are the surface waters,

Cold and dark, the mud feels heavy.

Abundant are the obstacles to expanding outward.

Unforgiving crevices entice, yet lead nowhere.

Solitary feels this existence.

And still it is called home.

An unknown force – courage perhaps – fuels a simple cell to activate.

A small stirring and restriction becomes the road map.

Containment provides clarity.

Movement replaces stagnation.

This incubation over.

Growth has begun.

Subtly and silently, a leaf

and then a petal.

More and more petals.

Surfacing.

Outstretching.

Unfolding.

Without ceremony.

So Beautiful.

The blossoming that reveals itself from under the mud and muck.


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Catching dreams

Looking into the web of life,

relationships and experiences overlapping.

Sorting.

Parting.

Finding

gaps and angles

through which to feel,

through which to see,

through which to move.

The veil of consciousness pulls back,

revealing that this filter isn’t to keep the negative, dark or painful elements out,

but to feel the self as

forever capable of  

great joy,

ease,

and love,

regardless of all else.

Catching the truth.

Removing doubt

that this life

is here for any other

reason than to notice

and remember 

what is

beautiful.


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Windows opening

Blockages provide

the pause necessary

to consider

another way.

To look more slowly,

to be grateful for the path that led here,

and not need to make any further progress.

Opening to opportunities

with strength,

creativity

and courage.

Exercising ingenuity.

Obstacles are not a sign of worth.

They are an invitation to become.


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Obstacles

I’m not always going to get my way,

but I’m always going to get what’s right for me.

When I let go of forcing outcomes,

stop relying on others for my happiness,

and see obstacles not as a sign of my worth but of my courage and strength,

even what seems like a paralyzing blockage

can be an invitation to take a different path,

go a different way,

or sit right where I am for a moment 

and reflect 

on the beauty, 

awe, 

and opportunity 

that exists right here,

right now,

just the way things are.

Much gratitude to Shari Irby for contributing this photo.


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Beautiful

I am not broken.

Although, perhaps to some I may appear that way.

When I sit in stillness, in the quiet of my own heart, it is clear that I may be chipped.

I may be cracked.

Parts of me may be loose or wobbly,

but there is such a profound beauty

in all of the scars and markings of this worn and tired being, 

that I can only imagine 

if I were completely broken 

I would be even more beautiful.


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Night follies

Tossing and turning

to release the entanglements,

the incomplete exchanges,

the charges,

the depletions,

the crossings,

taking from,

or rejecting

others

and self.

Battling in the darkness

the shame

and judgment

of the weaknesses,

mistakes,

and stuckness.

Playing the game

of loathing,

disaappintment,

protection,

defeat,

revenge,

in my sleep.

All the while knowing that whatever happened yesterday does not decide today.  

No matter the outcome of the dreams or circumstances of before,

I will awake to a whole new tomorrow,

another opportunity to play.


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Blisters

My old, worn out shoes,

so familiar,

form to fit my imperfect feet,

adapted over time to accommodate my lopsided gate,

carrying me faithfully in my uneven stride.

There comes that time that those beloved companions have served their purpose,

worn out in functionality,

poised for retirement.

In come the replacements,

stiff,

awkward,

shifting,

adjusting.

Blisters making way for bliss – forging new connections for movement and growth.


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Divided to conquer

One day this single path abruptly split in two.

The potential in both directions was intriguing and alluring,

albeit a bit daunting.

The split itself brought much spaciousness and beauty,

a chance to pause and survey the widespread landscape of the past and present,

confirming there could be no wrong steps forward, 

the divide simply an invitation to reawaken to this journey 

and joyfully take the next step.


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Full Me Rising

I am so powerful that I can command my own suffering to inform change.

I am so creative that I can find solutions to the underlying mysteries of my experiences.

I am so brave that I can step into my full consciousness and awareness with grace.

I am so smart that I can turn to love, kindness, and joy at any moment,

cultivating it within and inspiring it around me,

even in a world focused on being something else.