I like being mindful of all the wonders in the universe.
Maybe I have been whittling down risks lately because of some misguided fear of taking a risk with my heart. The safety factor in place.
Safety in not venturing beyond or outside of my comfort zone.
No risks taking involved there.
While reading another blog about the blogger’s adventures on his weekend meanders. It woke me up.
Hello.
But also means my favorite season of the year is coming upon us.
I have been forgetting..
By being so caught up in just living I have forgotten that when we look upon the Universe with an open heart we allow our inner wanderer…. well…to wander.
The adventurer within us awakens, we make choices of which paths to follow.
Making the most wide awake choices for our lives while watching to be mindful that we are not whittling down the choices out of fears just so that we are living without risk.
This cannot be loving the living of life to its maximum potential.
Admittedly, there are times when living life isn’t about loving life quite so much.
Thankfully for me these times have been few and short-lived enough that seeing the light in the storm again was fast & forth coming. I know this is not necessarily true for everyone. And I certainly do not mean to minimize this is any way.
Finding that light sometimes takes practice, which I mean in terms of utilizing skills and tools on a regular routine so that if and when that light starts to dim you can find the candles you need. In the dark. Quickly.
It absolutely is about finding those things that will allow your soul to giggle again and bring you back into the full brilliance of your life.
When this happens in my life I hear my spirit calling me out.
I feel my spirit almost screaming within my soul, typically its that call out for a revival.
For a ‘revival’ in my world I pull out all the stops. I lift the lid completely off my tool box that over the years I created, it holds the tools I need that help soothe my soul, heal my heatbreaks, and repair my mental wounds.
Candles included at no charge.
I start looking for the right tool, for the right job.
,My Spirit
Takes Flight
I am hopeful
and I am free;
To express
To Explore
To begin
To be Me.
( from my journal 12 February 1999- Seattle Washington )
Having a tool box filled with skills that can saw right through shadows that tend to try to diminish living in brilliant light can lessen the impact of those shadows.
The shadow might still will be there, but you will have found that favorite set of candles, and you can begin lighting your way back to where the light shines again, without assistance.
Tools & skills are the necessary component for any job, and lets face it, living is a full-time job. Why not have a tool box full of life skills and tools?
I have had this list in a journal since the mid 1990’s when my health took a nose dive into a shadow that took me out of the equation of loving living life for four years. I began to fight my way back without any toolbox created initially…. Building as I learned.
I had to start collecting tools on the fly.
Lessons were learned, and looking back at old journal writing in recent days I have been reminded so beautifully that said tool box of mine that I gave moved with me twice is still filled to the brim with expensive & customized tools. I paid a lot in my life to earn them. I should use them.
Filled with the life lessons that became my mental tool box that help me stay grounded.
I thought since I was in obvious need of the gentle reminders lately that sharing them out loud would help create a permanent mind-set for me. A mind-set that when I see the light flickering warning of a pending storm that I recognize it right away. Before all the brilliance is dimmed completely.
I do well to remember and go directly for my tool box.
So I am sharing.
The first and most important thing to be mindful of is relaxing all muscle tension; taking deep and slow cleansing breathes. Let go of all body tension by practicing relaxation techniques (the Internet has a plethora to choose from)
Re-examine and reflect on any stressful circumstances with a relaxed body so your choices are clear.
Let go of any stress you have no control over. Change how you think about it, maybe change your expectations.
- Create & Strengthen your mental muscle.
Be real about your personal needs and wants for yourself, while also expressing them to those important in your life-where applicable. Don’t settle for less.
Turn your limitations into your dreams and hopes.assets.
Get outside of your own head.
Look at life through some one else’s eyes and their perspective.
Have empathy for others, so you may empathize with yourself.
- Make Work & Pleasure a balance.
Have a GOOD time loving your life.
Be active in your days, doing what feels good to move your body.
Make your work enjoyable, not dreaded.
Reflect on what things you know will bring you pleasure,
And Do them.
Eat & sleep well. Don’t sweat it when you cannot.
Keep connected with people you enjoy. And/or animals.(domestic or otherwise)
Make an effort to open yourself to new friendships.
I have said it before and it’s worth repeating; I am meeting the most amazing people these days.
Finding and making new friendships is the quite possibly the most priceless of tools to have inside that tool box. It might even be said it is a skill.
* * I recently became friends with a woman whose name is Donna. I want to share here how this “amazing” woman blew me away. Her kindness of friendship in reaching out to me by taking a moment to share what she was thinks about my writing still leaves a smile in my heart today. This friend knows the skill & art of making friends, and nurturing friendships. I have a sense she knows how important this is.
She made my soul giggle with delight,
This post is for her. Thank you so much Donna (from FB)
Open yourself to new friends. New possibilities.
-
Make a personal plan of action.
Take time to be alone with your reflective thoughts. Think, examine, summarize, and discover all your options before you decide.
Then plan. Then execute.
If your light in your loving life begins to dim, have that tool box at the ready. Know without much thought the candle needs to be lit, and tbat know where exactly you have your candles stashed for emergencies.
Remember this gem my grandmother use to say ” every storm runs out of rain.”
Do something every day that feeds your spirit.
Make that something be what puts a giggle in your soul today.
©tjtaylor
