And Keep Stretching...
Living gratefully today, I appreciate the guided meditations and reflective writing that help me start my day with more reasonable expectations. I am also grateful for old movies. I enjoyed "Ice Castles" last evening.
Yesterday I wrote: “There is such a mind-body connection in each of us and I am stretching to reunite threads that had been disconnected . . . Stretching it out physically is just the beginning. There is much more to stretch in the mental, emotional, and spiritual realms of our lives.”
I am repeating the words here as much for myself as for anyone else. The new or refreshed physical exercises I am doing in recent weeks coincide with some of my efforts to stretch myself spiritually, and to engage healthy thoughts and emotions that are more readily available to me.
Not only are muscles and neural pathways awakening in me, so are healthier emotions. I am even finding some for the first time. Emotions directed at my former worst enemy--the woman in the mirror. Emotions like compassion, forgiveness, peace, and trust.
I am embracing thoughts that serve me far better than the ones that created a complacency and a mired-down approach to my life. Thoughts that had me stuck in deep and painful ruts.
Spiritual growth, stunted by the weight of misperceptions and the cycle of "you should know better and do better," is now finding more light and liberation.
One of the areas in which I became complacent was in my recovery from alcoholism. Admittedly, I also became too comfortable with my gratitude practices. It took some life circumstances, my own and those of others I care about, to bring me to my figurative knees. (Ironically, being on my literal knees was one of the ways I had become complacent in my prayers and spiritual practices.)
I didn't come close to picking up a drink, and I never gave up on my gratitude practices, but I developed a serious soul sickness that started having more frequent flare-ups. My mind and body started telling me I wasn't as well as I thought I was.
I didn't listen at first, but eventually I had no choice. I thank my Higher Power/Great Spirit for being patient with me and sending both quiet and loud reminders when I most needed them. Our connection is stronger than ever.
The awakening and the stretching will continue. Blessings all.
Yesterday I wrote: “There is such a mind-body connection in each of us and I am stretching to reunite threads that had been disconnected . . . Stretching it out physically is just the beginning. There is much more to stretch in the mental, emotional, and spiritual realms of our lives.”
I am repeating the words here as much for myself as for anyone else. The new or refreshed physical exercises I am doing in recent weeks coincide with some of my efforts to stretch myself spiritually, and to engage healthy thoughts and emotions that are more readily available to me.
Not only are muscles and neural pathways awakening in me, so are healthier emotions. I am even finding some for the first time. Emotions directed at my former worst enemy--the woman in the mirror. Emotions like compassion, forgiveness, peace, and trust.
I am embracing thoughts that serve me far better than the ones that created a complacency and a mired-down approach to my life. Thoughts that had me stuck in deep and painful ruts.
Spiritual growth, stunted by the weight of misperceptions and the cycle of "you should know better and do better," is now finding more light and liberation.
One of the areas in which I became complacent was in my recovery from alcoholism. Admittedly, I also became too comfortable with my gratitude practices. It took some life circumstances, my own and those of others I care about, to bring me to my figurative knees. (Ironically, being on my literal knees was one of the ways I had become complacent in my prayers and spiritual practices.)
I didn't come close to picking up a drink, and I never gave up on my gratitude practices, but I developed a serious soul sickness that started having more frequent flare-ups. My mind and body started telling me I wasn't as well as I thought I was.
I didn't listen at first, but eventually I had no choice. I thank my Higher Power/Great Spirit for being patient with me and sending both quiet and loud reminders when I most needed them. Our connection is stronger than ever.
The awakening and the stretching will continue. Blessings all.
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