The DAILY SPARK Blog

LETTING GO

Stop trying to heal yourself, fix yourself, even awaken yourself.  Let go of letting go.  Stop trying to fast-forward the movie of your life, chasing futures that never seem to arrive.  Instead, bow deeply to yourself as you actually are.  Your pain, your sorrow, your doubts, your deepest longing, your fearful thoughts… are not mistakes, and they aren’t asking to be healed.  They are asking to be held, here, now, lightly in the loving arms of present awareness. 

Quote by Jeff Foster

More about Jeff:  https://www.lifewithoutacentre.com/jeff-foster/

REFLECTION:

  • How aware are you of this present moment?
  • Do you often find yourself chasing the future?
  • Can you be present to your pain, longings, fearful thoughts?
  • Can you hold yourself… can you be present?

TWO STICKS TOGETHER

What one person carries easily, another person cannot bear.  We join strength with strength.  A single stick is easily broken.  Two sticks together are harder to snap.  Together we bear our own and each other’s burdens better, and we understand when the other must go it alone.  Sometimes holding is simply the ability to see a bigger picture.  Sometimes holding is support and nurturing help, and sometimes holding is holding back and letting things be.  In retrospect that latter is often sensed as profound help though in the present we might feel it as counter intuitive.  We are, after all, still present for one another though we are not “doing anything.”

Quote by Gunilla Norris, SHELTERED IN THE HEART

Her book:  https://gunillanorris.com/books/sheltered-in-the-heart/

REFLECTION:

  • Can you discern when to support and nurture or when to hold back and let things be?
  • Is there a situation you are facing (or a friend) now that may require support?
  • Is there a situation you are facing (or supporting a friend through) where you should hold back?
  • Take some time to discern the best approach – even if it is just being present!

‘HANDLE HARD BETTER’

View of Clinton Hut from the highest peak on the Milford track

“We all wait in life for things to get easier.  Think in your own life if you’ve waited for something to get easier… oh, I just got to get through this and then it’ll be easy.. it’s what we do.  We wait for stuff to get easier.  It will never get easier.  What happens is you handle hard better.  It never gets easier.. you become someone that handles hard stuff better.  That’s a mental shift that has to occur in each of (y)our brains.  It has to shift.”

Kara Lawson, Duke Women’s Coach… from a pep talk for her team.   To get inspired, watch this video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDzfZOfNki4 

REFLECTION:

  • Are you waiting for things to get easier?
  • What experiences have you had where you “handled hard better?”
  • Is there something happening in your life now that requires a mental shift to be able to handle it differently?
  • Try on a mental shift.