Inspirations - Page 3
This Week's Inspirations - Page 3
As Good As Your Word
Ever since human beings could speak to one another, they have been making promises. Those who keep their promises are regarded as people of integrity. Those who don’t keep their promises are regarded as people who, at best, can’t be taken seriously and, at worst, can’t be trusted. Sometimes we forget how powerful our words are, and we use them haphazardly or unconsciously, creating expectations that are never fulfilled and leaving disappointment and distrust in our wake.
Walking as a Transformative Practice
Mindful walking invites us to reconnect with our bodies and the ground beneath our feet. This practice isn't just about movement; it's about bringing our full attention to each step we take. As we walk, we are reminded to slow down, breathe deeply, and become present in the moment. This intentional awareness can transform our daily walks into a moving meditation, calming our minds and soothing our spirits.
Soulful Voyages
The journeys we take are often as exhausting as they are exhilarating. The thrill we feel as we travel to a new environment may be undercut by our sensitivity to change, strange surroundings, and forced shifts in our usual habits. Air, road, and sea travel can be extremely taxing, and many people find sleeping soundly in a strange bed difficult. There are, however, numerous ways to take the stress out of both short voyages and lengthy sojourns. Since much of the comfort we feel in our day-to-day lives stems from the fact that we enjoy the regularity of routine, adapting your typical customs to correspond with your travel schedule can alleviate the unease you experience while away from your home. Likewise, when you ground yourself by honoring the rituals that are a part of your daily life, you’ll no longer feel like you’re out of your element.
Resentment
Anger, when channeled into the pursuit of change, can be a useful tool in our emotional palette. Anger is experienced by most people — some more than others. It is when anger has no outlet and morphs into resentment that it carries with it the potential to cause us great turmoil. Allowing us to assign blame for the pain we are feeling often eases it, but it creates resentment, which tends to smolder relentlessly below the surface of our awareness, eroding our peace of mind. The target of our resentment grows ever more wicked in our minds, and we rue the day we first encountered them. But resentment is merely another hue on the emotional palette, and therefore, it is within the realm of our conscious control. We can choose to let go of our resentment and move on with our lives, no matter how painful the event that incited it.
The Body Is Natural
So much of the human experience is removed from nature that we tend to forget that we are products of the natural world. At the moment of birth, we are perfectly attuned to nature. Our feelings are an authentic response to the stimulus we encounter. We interact with our environment viscerally, desiring only what is necessary for our survival. And, if we are lucky, we take in nourishment in the form of pure mother’s milk. As months and years pass, however, we discover the sights, sounds, and scents of the synthetic world. Though these often momentarily dazzle us, the dim memory of our naturalness remains. When we embrace the notion that human beings are inherently natural, bringing it to the forefront of our day-to-day experiences, we achieve a new level of wellness that boasts nature at its very core.
Using Our Outside Voice
Each of us has developed an internal filtering process that helps us choose which parts of our constant inner monologues get voiced outside of our heads. Sometimes the choice is based on what we consider to be polite or appropriate, using subtlety instead of directness to try to get our point across. Other times, the choice is made based on our expectations of the other person and what we feel they should know about us, our feelings, and our needs. But our best chance of getting what we need is to communicate specifically by converting our inner voice to our outside voice.
Nervous System Rescue
Our nervous system is a magnificent web of neurons and cells, guiding our every thought, movement, and sensation. Yet, in our fast-paced world, the stress of daily life can overwhelm this vital system, leading to fatigue, anxiety, and a host of other health issues. Caring for our nervous system offers deep healing benefits and contributes to a more balanced and fulfilling life. By giving it the attention it deserves, we can enhance our physical health, emotional wellness, and overall harmony.
Promoting the Positive
Sometimes we start out with the best intentions to think and speak only positive thoughts, but the people around us throw us off course. Not everyone fully understands the power our thoughts and words have, or even if they do, they may be stuck in old patterns of negativity. Much of our habitual communication takes the form of complaining and criticizing, and it can be hard to find a way into certain conversations without lapsing into those old habits. However, we always have the option not to participate in negativity or to find a way to influence the situation in a positive direction. In the right company, you may even be able to directly acknowledge the fact that things have taken a negative turn, thus freeing yourself and others from the negative pull.
An Inner Choice
At times, we look at the outside world and find it in a state of seeming chaos or disorder. We feel compelled to transform the situation from one of turmoil into one of peace, yet we are often disappointed in our best attempts to do so. One reason for this is that we cannot bring to the world what we do not have to offer. Peace starts in our own minds and hearts, not outside of ourselves, and until its roots are firmly entrenched in our own selves, we cannot manifest it externally. Once we have found it within, we can share it with our family, our community, and the whole world. Some of us may already be doing just that, but for most of us, the first step is looking within and honestly evaluating the state of our own relationship to peacefulness.
Embracing Your Muse
Inspiration is an intangible yet inseparable part of the creative process. Nearly all creative possibilities are related to the muses that inspire us. The ancient Greeks believed that all creation, whether artistic or scientific in nature, was motivated by goddesses who served as the literal embodiment of inspiration. These were the Muses — the givers of the creative spark. We still rely on muses to drive the creative process, though ours may take a diverse range of forms. People we meet, intriguing ideas, movies, books, nature, and cultural ideals all have the potential to awaken our imaginative minds. When we are touched by our muses, we understand viscerally that we are capable of producing our own unique kind of greatness.
Navigating a Narcissistic Relationship
Imagine a relationship where the exchange feels perpetually one sided: conversations circle around one person's life, their challenges, and their narrative, leaving little room for your voice. Or consider a friend who draws heavily on your support but holds back when it's their turn to listen and support you. Over time, such dynamics can lead to feelings of deep exhaustion, unworthiness, and dissatisfaction. If either scenario sounds familiar, you might be in a relationship with a narcissist.
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Energetic Sweeping
In some of our lives, sweeping has become an activity performed without much thought. In many cases, sweeping is a lost art, replaced by the noisy, efficient vacuum cleaner. But in several cultures and religions, sweeping the front and back porch every morning is regarded as an important cleansing ritual that prepares the ground for new energy on every level -- physically, spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. It is often employed to sanctify a space and prepare it for a ceremony. This seemingly simple action has the power to clear away the old and make space for the new. It stirs up the energy in a place, clearing out the astral buildup that is the natural by-product of the presence of humans.
The Status Quo
When our lives are going well, and sometimes even when they aren’t, we may find ourselves feeling very attached to the status quo of our existence -- life as we know it. It is a very human tendency to resist change as though it were possible to simply decide not to do it, or have it in our lives. But change will come and the status quo will go, sooner or later, with our consent or without it. We may find at the end of the day that we feel considerably more empowered when we find the courage to ally ourselves with the universal force of change, rather than working against it.
Doing Our Best Work
In the great symphony of life, we all have important parts to play. While some people are best suited to be conductors or soloists, their contributions would be diminished considerably without the individual musicians that lend their artistry to the fullness of an orchestra. The magical accents of the percussion section might sound random and out of place without the music they accompany. But any one member of an orchestra, doing less than their best at their particular part, can destroy the harmony of the whole piece, such is their importance. So although we may not receive the same amount or quality of attention as another, all of our contributions are valuable and integral to the success of the whole.
Saying Yes to the Universe
The hardest thing about saying yes to the universe is that it means accepting everything life puts in front of us. Most of us have a habit of going through our days saying no to the things we don’t like and yes to the things we do, and yet, everything we encounter is our life. We may be afraid that if we say yes to the things we don’t like, we will be stuck with them forever, but really, it is only through acknowledging the existence of what’s not working for us that we can begin the process of change. So saying yes doesn’t mean indiscriminately accepting things that don’t work for us. It means conversing with the universe, and starting the conversation with a very powerful word -- yes.
Creating Community
Since the modern Western lifestyle can isolate us from one another, it is often difficult to forge meaningful connections. Self-protection and mistrust prevent us from reaching out to neighbors and peers, and we consequently feel like we don’t truly belong anywhere. Yet creating community can be as simple as reaching out within our own neighborhoods. To form the bonds that eventually solidify into long-lasting friendships, we must first be willing to rise above the walls of suspicion and doubt dividing us from the individuals who inhabit our neighborhood, block, or our building. We are taught from childhood to fear those we do not know, but community is as much a part of survival as safety. When we take a proactive approach, we can harmoniously unite our neighbors and build a network of support that contributes to the well-being of all involved.Let It Roll off Our Back
One of the most difficult challenges in life is learning not to take things to heart and hold on to it. Especially when we’re younger, or if we’re very sensitive, we take so much of what comes our way to heart. This can be overwhelming and unproductive if it throws us off balance on a regular basis. When we are feeling criticized or attacked from all directions, it becomes very difficult for us to recover ourselves so that we can continue to speak and act our truth. This is when we would do well to remember the old saying about letting certain things roll off us, like water off a duck’s back.
No Going Back
There are times when we feel that we are spinning our wheels in the mud in terms of our spiritual progress. This can be especially true following a period of major growth in which we feel as if we’ve gained a lot of ground. In fact, this is the way growth goes -- periods of intense forward movement give way to periods of what seems like stagnation. In those moments when we feel discouraged, it’s helpful to remember that we don’t ever really go backward. It may be that we are at a standstill because there is a new obstacle in our paths, or a new layer to get through, but the hard work we have done cannot be undone.
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