“May you find serenity and tranquility in a world you may not always understand. May the pain you have known and the conflict you have experienced give you the strength to walk through life facing each new situation with courage and optimism. Always know that there are those whose love and understanding will always be there, even when you feel most alone. May you discover enough goodness in others to believe in a world of peace. May a kind word, a reassuring touch, and a warm smile be yours every day of your life, and may you give these gifts as well as receive them. Remember the sunshine when the storm seems unending.

Teach love to those who hate, and let that love embrace you as you go out into the world. May the teachings of those you admire become part of you, so that you may call upon them. Remember, those whose lives you have touched and whose have touched yours are always a part of you, even if the encounters were less than you would have wished. It is the content of the encounter that is more important than the form.

May you not become too concerned with material matters, but instead place immeasurable value on the goodness in your heart. Find time each day to see beauty and love in the world around you. Realize that each person has limitless abilities, but each of us is different in our own way. What you feel you lack in the present may become one of your strengths in the future. May you see your future as one filled with promise and possibility. Learn to view everything as a worthwhile experience. May you find enough inner strength to determine your own worth by yourself, and not be dependent on another’s judgment of your accomplishments.
And May you always feel loved.”

- anonymous

‘The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things,

I possess God in as great tranquility

as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.’

- Brother Lawrence
The Practice of the Presence of God

I said to the wanting creature inside me;
What is this river you want to cross?
There are no travellers on the river, and no road
Do you see anyone moving about on that bank or resting?
There is no river at all, no boat and no boatman.
There is no towrope either, and no-one to pull it.
There is no ground, no sky, no time, no bank, no fjord!

And there is no body, no mind!
Do you believe there is some place that will make the soul less thirsty?
In that great absence you will find nothing.

Be strong then and enter into your own body;
There you have a solid place for your feet.
Think about it carefully!
Don’t go off somewhere else!

Kabir says this: just throw away all thoughts of imaginary things, and stand firm in that which you are

- Kabir

This is the first chance I have actually had this whole week to sit at my computer. I have just been busy with the kids and a few unexpected social occasions (a play-date, joining my mom for bookclub, playgroup, dinner with a good friend and another dinner). I had been intending to sort a few admin things out and plan an online course in detail this weekend, but it does not look like I will get a chance. Life has other plans for me at the moment. It is so funny how these things work. It has been months since I have had a busy social life and even the most basic plans to get together with friends have usually fallen through. Then suddenly the dry spell is over and I actually have to turn down invites.  So I have experienced a social theme. The energy and central ‘themes’ for our lives continually change. They are influenced by our own personal emotional and spiritual growth, priorities, as well as the seasons and the movements of the planets at that particular time. Apart from this current social theme, I have also had the increasing feeling that I am needed for healing/listening in various people’s lives right now. These are mainly people close to me but also a few acquaintances have unexpectedly broken down and confided in me. Often when this happens, the person is surprised at themselves and embarrassed, yet this is something I have become quite used to in my life, even out of a work environment. I guess you are what you are and for whatever reason, people just do open up to me. In all honesty it is an honour that they trust me in that way. Anyway, I feel that right now I do not need to try and fix things in the lives of the people I care about. Right now, I am being guided to simply be present for them and listen. This is what I have been doing and continue to plan to do. It is not always easy when you have a tendency to take on other people’s stuff and have a strong desire to eliminate their suffering. Not easy when you want to be able to take their pain away and ‘fix’ all the things that weigh down on their shoulders or make them sad. But, one of the lessons I have learnt on this long journey is that I can’t always do that. Most of us can’t. Each person walks their own path and experiences their own pain. We should not judge. We should try our best to empathise, even though we can never fully comprehend another person’s experiences like our own. We can not tell them what to do or fix their problems and often they don’t actually want us to anyway. What people want most of all, is to simply be acknowledged. More than to be loved, to be acknowledged. To show someone that you really ‘see them’ and acknowledge their feelings, is the greatest gift you can give them. As Oriah Mountain Dreamer said, “I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it. “  So, the lesson is that if you want to be there for someone in your life, just listen, really listen, to them. That will help them in more ways then you could ever comprehend. Acknowledge their feelings, open your heart and just listen. We can all benefit from a bit of that.

I thought you had materialized from another planet or star
A familiar stranger
Gazing calmly through the stained glass windows of my eyes
Stained with grief and of old mistrust

I returned your smile, uncertain,
while with some magical permission (Surely not from me)
You rang the bells of my heart, long stilled
Knocked on the door of my mind
‘Till it opened

Then reverently, as monks walk
You entered the dark lonely temple of my soul
And you took a moment
To light a candle

- author unknown

My friends and I have been talking a lot about how we as women, need each other. We need the moral support, the empathy and nurturing care that to be honest one often can’t get from a partner. Men tend to want to ‘fix’ things, while women just want you to sit and listen. Maybe a few tears will be shed, maybe a few bouts of hysterical laughter. Women need to connect with other women to feel fully understood and supported. Ladies we need to stick together to help keep each other sane in an insane world. So, here are some great words from today’s Daily OM:

” There was a time where women stood together in a bond of sisterhood, women supporting women. It is only natural that the pendulum swings out of balance for a while so that we may have the experience of what we do not want. It is up to women to bring the pendulum back into balance and bring back the sacred sisterhood we yearn for at our core.”

In another email I received today, there were these words,

“God doesn’t give you the people you want; He gives you the people you *NEED… *to help you, to hurt you, to leave you, to love you and to make  you into the person you were meant to be.”

Worth reflecting on…

Oops, it is already Thursday tomorrow! Here is a rather late but still (hopefully) inspirational quote for the rest of your week. Hope you are having a good one xxx