Standing Still
"There was a man that hated his footprints and his shadow, so one day he thought that if he ran fast enough, his footprints and shadow would not be able to follow him and then he would never have to look at them again. He ran and he ran as fast as he could, but the shadow and the footprints had no problems keeping up to him. And he ran even faster and all of a sudden he fell dead to the ground. But if he had been standing still there wouldn't have been any footprints and if he had been resting under a tree his shadow would have been swallowed by the tree's shadow."
—Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh
You may listen to today's Heartfelt Blessing Here:
Many times we hate our problems and do our best to run away from them, but no matter how fast we run or how far we go, our problems follow, appearing behind us like footprints and shadows. Little do we realize that if we will just stand still and wait, breathing deep and relaxing both body and mind, the solution, in similar fashion to the shadow of the tree, will swallow up the problem whole and leave us free to celebrate.
May you always be willing to stand still and wait.
And may you always be aware that you are loved beyond measure and a cherished blessing to me.
Until tomorrow,
May your day be filled
with all things good,
We usually don't run literally from ourselves. At least, I don't; but I'm very good at "forgetting", suppressing, repressing, whatever, so what hurts, saddens, terrorizes...is just gone. Whole chunks of life's memories are missing, the unpleasant taking along with it the joyful.
This can be an asset when a friend tells a secret, or I am given a confidence to keep. I listen, and then forget it. The friend has to do a specific "prompt" for me to recall their comments.
The downside is the build-up of "hidden", unresolved problems that finally brought on depression and despair with their overwhelming heaviness. I find it interesting that my personal counselor, marriage counselor, CoDA group, Centering Prayer group, and physician, all recommend deep breathing and resting in the present moment - just what today's Blessing says.
In my life today I try to truly live moment by moment, day by day, facing all life's challenges and pleasures with integrity, courage, gratitude, and joy. Even if I can't remember everything, it's not because the issues are unresolved. They're not forgotten/repressed/suppressed - I just let them go. They are released.
And the "stuffed" memories? Some are gradually returning to be enjoyed or shared so I don't have to face them alone. The "if only..." wishes (if only I had had a friend then to share with, if only I had had a healthy and supportive family, if only a teacher or other adult had seen and helped...) are useless because wishes won't change the past. What helps is that I have people around me now by choice who listen, help me heal, guide me towards better attitudes and actions; by choice I have changed where I work, what I read, how I eat/ exercise/ communicate/ pray, and how I choose to spend my time so I can live as fully as possible THIS DAY.
I may still forget or let go of this day, or parts of it; but I am incredibly, deeply thankful that I was given the opportunity to live it.
The heavy depression is immensely lighter. I can start and end each day saying even though many hurtful things have and will happen, even though I have and will continue to make mistakes, even though I have faced and will face problems and joys sometimes squarely and others not, I still deeply and unconditionally love and accept myself.
'Not perfect, but right now this is a life I can live and thankfully remember.
Thank you for letting me share.
cheryl
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And thank you for sharing, Cheryl.
Love, light and blessings,
Kate
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This is so true and i look forward to your site everyday , my day is complete knowing somehow the article and i connected , thank you so much for the "Up-Lifting" and just Standing Still, Joy
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Thank you.
Love, light and blessings,
Kate
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This was a good one to remind one to stop and breathe.
Thanks so much, Kate!
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You're most welcome! I'm glad you liked it.
Love, light and blessings,
Kate
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