Monday Mindfulness

Cultivating Strength, Joy, Calm & Resilience


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Fearless Living

Once there was an old belief that said,

“I am afraid…afraid of hurting others because I feel their hurt as if my own…hurting others jeopardizes my relationships and in that I run the risk of feeling their anger or worse, their scorn and disappointment. It is better to deny my joy than risk upsetting theirs.”

For a long, long time that belief walked confidently along its path unhindered. One day, it stumbled on that well worn path upon a rock of joy. It tripped over pebbles of power, and fell upon a bolder of truthfulness. As the belief lost its balance, it fell into a net of beautiful jewels all connected by a golden thread of love, of creativity, kindness, and great joy.

The belief grasped at the edges of the path, grappled with the sensation of free falling, longing for the predictable order of its existence. In the blinding beauty of the sparkling jewels, the belief had no choice but to release its fear, to drop into the wide and open net, to be held by a greater force in the space of free will and joy.

Gradually, the belief allowed itself to let go of the path and discovered its power to attract truthfulness and joy. It found that in that vibration there was no room for fear, hurt, or loneliness…only love.


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Free Will, Free Me

When I am afraid, I just need to pause.

When I am tired, I just need to soften.

When in doubt, I open my hands and stretch my fingers to let go of the burdens I am carrying.

It’s time to release the bags full of insecurity, judgment, and uncertainty,

to relieve that heavy weight off my shoulders,

unlock my hips, knees and feet

and walk confidently into the less than clear,

the less than perfect,

the unknown.

I will be patient with myself and with others.

In that patience I will grow confidence.

I will seek compassionate words that promote truth to foster ease, healing, and happiness in myself and others.

I will not need approval,

and in fact,

I will revel in my stumbling.

I will cultivate pauses to inquire,

and to see the unknown

not as daunting,

but as freeing.

The only thing I will hold onto

is the hand of the little child within me.

Seeking love and assurance from within,

I will open my hands, spread my fingers and let everything else go.

I will no longer grasp limitations that hinder my ability to see and be grateful,

that mask the abundance before me,

the joy within me,

my capacity for unconditional peace and love,

and my ability to know in the unknown.


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Finesse

Why is it when I step out of my suffering, I am uncomfortable with the suffering of others?

Guilt arises at the feeling that I am free of pain somehow at their expense.

It is difficult to exercise compassion for the suffering of another when I hold no compassion for myself and the value of feeling pain free.

Compassion wrapped in guilt results in creating a false story in order to take on someone else’s.

True empathy is understanding suffering, holding a space of great strength and courage – enough for both of us – rising from my own pain and rising even higher from my own joy and knowing that by maintaining my balance, finesse, and freedom I offer more room for healing than by falsely taking on the suffering of others.

Compassion without guilt provides a clear path to alleviate suffering.

Compassion filled with joy brings independence, hope and healing.

Compassion is powerful.

Guilt smothering.

Empathy delicately empowering.


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Go on now

You need more kindness,

More faith,

And joy,

To know the world is

simply your toy.

Reject the harshness,

Judgment,

And shame.

To love and nourish is

Our only aim.

Fill up your reservoir

With gentleness

And peace

To guide your inner Self

Through this life with ease.

Remove the barriers

That block out

Hope

And light.

To know your power is

Your natural right.

Wield not your actions,

sabres,

Or words.

Take flight with kindness,

Free like the birds.

You are magnificent

Just as

You are

Formed of the mystery

Within that twinkling star.

So go on and shine

Yourself

Bright for all to see

To be the love and joy that

This world does need.


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Flowering Power

It’s a great gift we receive in every energetic exchange that we experience – the opportunity to…

absorb

utilize

diffuse

relegate

release

or give away

our power.

Feeling into your power or letting it go needs no special circumstances or conditions. It’s simply a choice.

Every time a choice…

Will I feel into my power

Or will I let it go?

Every time a choice.


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Living in the space of AND

White flowers

Dark textures

Straight lines

Soft edges

Living wholeness

Dried pieces

Flowing lines

Still emptiness

Warm touches

Cool feeling

Hope and breath

In the spaces

Photo courtesy of Susan Kerr.


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Reflections

How often I stand in this being of me, just not sure what I see.

Insecurity on the inside

Appears as rejection on the outside.

Longing for love and positive connections

Show up as judgment and disappointment from others.

Feelings of shame and inadequacy

Manifest as attacks of anger and disgust.

The stories build not on what is really surrounding me but in the distorted view I have of the reflections.

My experiences and relationships are like a hall of mirrors.

The distortion produces more distortion until the internal and external judgment and criticism becomes too great to bear.

And then, I let go of the differences, weaknesses, faults.

I soften the gaze.

I let the edges of everything blur.

And then I see it is all just me.

I become curious not about what I see in the endless reflections in the mirrors, but in the source of the projection.


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Reasons

I can choose to encounter my world through friction and tension…

Or synchronized and harmonious.

There is feedback and purpose in both.

Tuning to aversion or alignment as the compass points on my path,

I can either move towards what feels comfortable, favorable, and right

Or rub up against imbalance, back up, turn away and go around.

I can always choose resistance or resonance.


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Cultivating the smile within

In each moment

there exists a small space

of contentment.

It is our work

to come back to this space,

again,

and

again,

and

again

and

again

until with every moment

our first feeling

is one of contentment.


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Powerfully chill

Oh, to be in a state of body and mind in which I am

wholly connected to my inner radiance,

my vitality,

my strength,

my wholeness,

my joy,

in such an unconditional way that I interact with the world

with such grace, vibrancy, and connection

that I glow and flow

in all that I am.

Soft and focused,

Clear and free,

Confident and humble,

Knowing and speaking universal truth,

that I am

Powerfully chill.