Tag: Acceptance

A Balanced way

Karl Duffy1 Comment

The modern commercial celebration of Christmas carries within it the danger of over-anticipation, where we could fall into a projection as to how everything is going to go perfectly, or is going to be suddenly different in the future. We tie our happiness to a certain form of a future moment, which only leads us to feel more discontent when we see that nothing really has changed

A different perspective is found in the Western Liturgy, which begins to sing from December 17th the beautiful “O” Antiphons, dating from the 4th Century, putting into words hopes based on a deeper perspective. The one for today asks for Wisdom, to teach us a balanced way of living. . 

Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out

Vaclav Havel

Everything has meaning

Karl Duffy3 Comments

Whatever is in front of you today,  that’s what you need to deal with. There is no point waiting for another life to come along.

‘Whatever you meet is the path.’  To practice this slogan is to know that no matter what is going on – no matter how distracted you think you are, no matter how much you feel like a terribly lazy individual who has completely lost track of her good intentions and is now hopelessly astray – even then you have the responsibility and the ability to take all negativity, bad circumstance, and difficulty and turn it into the path. You are constantly being found, whether you know it or not. 

Norman Fischer, Life is Tough. Here Are Six Ways to Deal With It.

Predicament

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Two quotes from Leonard Cohen on the anniversary of his death

One idea on my new record is that the human predicament has no solution. We were tossed out of the garden; this isn’t paradise. And to look for perfect solutions is a very difficult burden to bear. That’s my theme: It’s a mess — thank God

[“The Traitor”]  was about the feeling that we have of betraying some mission that we were mandated to fulfill, and being unable to fulfill it. And then coming to understand that the real mandate was not to fulfill it, and that the deeper courage was to stand guiltless in the predicament in which you found yourself.

 

Simplify

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I want to learn how to walk down the ladder gracefully. 

I have this image – I would like to get smaller and smaller in a relevant way.

Carly Simon, on what she learned from dealing with cancer and other life setbacks, quoted in Sara Davidson, The First Day of the Rest of My Life

What are you harvesting?

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In the old Celtic calendar today is the last day of the year, and the New Year begins tomorrow: Letting be and letting go are two processes that challenge us every day to accept things as they are, especially during times of change. Once we are clear about what is important in what we long for, we can recognize the issues and obstacles that are in the way. It is in this recognition that we become committed to sacrificing or releasing the obstructions that impede the actualization of our longing. These conscious sacrifices simultaneously purify our longings and provide a means for them to manifest. These lessons of living and being human – of harvest, of letting be and letting go – surface in the Fall as we prepare for winter and the close of the year. What did not come to fruition or what did not hold our interest may reveal where we have tricked ourselves and it shows us that it did not truly matter.We learn that what has heart and meaning for us comes into being,  and that,  in contrast, any ambivalence or doubt we may feel often produces inconsistent results. – or none at all . Consider now what you are harvesting in this light. At this time of the year, what are you letting go of; what are you allowing to let be; what are you harvesting? How has October revealed the treats or fruits of your labors this year? What have been the tricks or surprises of this year?

Angeles Arrien, Living in Gratitude: A Journey That Will Change Your Life

Soil

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Inside each of us, there’s continual autumn.
Our leaves fall and are blown out over the water…..
There’s a necessary dying,
and then Jesus is breathing again.
Very little grows on jagged rock.
Be ground. Be crumbled, so wildflowers
will come up where you are.
You’ve been stony for too many years.
Try something different.
Surrender.

Rumi, A Necessary Autumn inside Each