Showing posts with label Frustration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Frustration. Show all posts

Friday, April 6, 2012

Tasting the Artichoke…

Wow…a lot of time in the contemplation chair lately…lots to sort out…at first…I was frustrated…I thought I’d peeled that artichoke…I’d tasted the artichoke heart…it was good…I liked it…I thought I was done with that…
Wrong…
Bertha…reminded me…letting go of the past…letting go of…old fears…old ideas…old frustrations…is not an event…like graduating from college…I don’t do it…and then it’s done…I can hang the diploma on the wall…for the world to see…
Rather…
It’s an ongoing process…like my closet…the first time I clean it…there is a ton of stuff to discard…stuff that doesn’t fit…that is out of style…that is in disrepair…and…although…it looks lovely...in the moment…it takes ongoing effort…to keep it…cleared of the things that no longer work…because…things are continually changing…my taste in clothes…the styles…unfortunately…my size
This continual…closet purging…says…nothing…about my character…about my resourcefulness…it only means…I need to let go of some things…that are no longer useful…and…the more often I do it…the easier it is…
She’s right…of course…I do find…that every time…I uncover another layer of the old stuff…and…heal it…forgive it…maybe even…love it…for the lessons it brought me…the easier it is…
And…
Every time…I taste that…sweet…tender…artichoke heart…I want to taste it again…and…that taste…makes all the peeling…worthwhile…
Jane

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

All That Glitters…

Bertha Contemplating
I meant to write my blog today…but…sometimes…sometimes…life gets in the way…blocking my words with shiny objects…shiny objects…to explore…to examine…to experience…
All that glitters…is not…gold…I am reminded…and so it is with shiny objects…sometimes they surface as old fears…old frustrations…old ideas…freshly polished…shining as brightly…as the day they were born…
And…so…instead of writing…words of wisdom…words of wit…I sat staring at the shinies…wondering how they got there…in the middle of my words…I thought I had hidden them…where they couldn’t be found…
But…alas…they could…
Jane

Friday, March 2, 2012

Dreams…

Dreams are sneaky…no…not aspirations…dreams that come at night…bringing back situations and people…that my waking mind…my logical mind…banishes when they come up…in the daytime…
Dreams are sneaky…they creep into my sleep…when I am defenseless to stop them…and…then…they torture me…ahhh…too strong of a word…they aggravate me…until…fighting back…I wake up…
Dreams are sneaky…as soon as my eyes close again…they return…pick up right where they left off…bringing back all the drama…all the frustration…until…finally…I give up on slumber…and get up…
Dreams are sneaky…even after I’m awake…they roll around in my brain…why am I dreaming that…what does it mean…what should I do…I don’t want to dream that any more…I’m beyond that…but…I know…they’ll be back…on some unsuspecting night…because…
Dreams are sneaky…
Jane

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Rules…the Things that Dreams Are Made Of…

Sometimes we need a different set of rules…for good day and bad days
These words were going through my head when I woke up this morning…not sure exactly what I was dreaming about…but…it feels like I was talking to a child…giving advice…
So…I’ve been thinking about what these words mean…what they are trying to say to me…and to be honest…I’m not completely certain…we’ll see what transpires as I write…not much time for editing…so here we go…
My first thought is those days that I get up on the proverbial wrong side of the bed…you know those mornings when everything seems to be going wrong…I wake up late…can’t decide what to wear…forgot to set the coffee pot the night before…get stuck in traffic…or at the train tracks…what if…on those mornings…I made new rules…different rules…what if for starters…I didn’t worry about being late for work…
Now...hear me out…before you call my principal and tell him to start checking my arrival times…read what I said again…what if I didn’t worry about being late for work…that doesn’t mean I’m not going to do everything in my power to get there on time…it just means I’m not going to fret about it…
I like that rule change…in fact…I like it so much…I want to use it every day…not just on bad ones…hmmm…
The next example of a bad day that comes to me…involves a disagreement with a friend…family member…co-worker…you know the kind that just keeps playing over and over again in your head…like reruns of a bad movie…what if I changed the rule…and changed channels…
What if I said the Forgiveness Prayer…until I felt better about myself…and better about them…what if I said it until I felt peace and forgiveness…
Hmmm…I like that rule change a lot…it feels calming…in fact…think I want to use it every day as well…
The next bad day that comes to mind is frustration…the day that words won’t come…that my to-do list rivals Santa’s delivery list…when the cake I need in 45 minutes…takes an hour to bake…what if I change the rule and go in a different direction…
What if I leave the computer…and do something fun…until the words return…they always come back…and they usually tumble out quickly when they do…what if I threw my to-do list in the trash…and asked my heart what I needed to accomplish for the day…what if I changed directions with the cake…what if I switched to cupcakes…or bought one…or just let it go…
Well…I hate to admit it…but I like that rule change as well…I think it’s a keeper…hmmm…
Well…I’m still not sure what the dream reference was all about…but…I’m beginning to see the fallacy of it…maybe it has no more significance than those dreams where I show up to Church in my nightgown…or worse…without it…but…I digress…
Maybe I just need new rules…rules that are softer…more gentle…rules that work with me…not against me…rules that don’t beat me up…
Or…better yet…maybe I don’t need any rules at all…maybe each day…each moment…should determine what I actions I take…maybe I don’t have to figure them out ahead of time…and set them in stone…and always adhere to them…
Definitely something to think about…
Jane