April 30--Soul Delight

There is nothing the body suffers that the soul may not profit by. --George Meredith

     We learn from all our physical experiences here in earthly life. There is good in every circumstance, though sometimes we have to search long and hard to find it.
     I'm in the mood for a goofy story. I am of the age where cataracts are a common issue among my friends and me. I had one removed from my right eye about three years ago. I "suffered" difficult night driving for a few years before I finally had the surgery. There is an eye surgeon in town who is well-known in part because he is extraordinarily good-looking. Those of us who have been to him for procedures refer to him appreciatively as Dr. Eye Candy. Unlike most doctor visits for me, going to see him was no trouble at all--it made my soul quite happy. No actual names will be mentioned here. If you've been to Dr. Eye Candy, you know it.
     This is just a gentle reminder to not take life too seriously.
     Happy soul,
         Leta

April 29--You Were Born With...

You were born with potential. You were born with goodness and trust. You were born with ideals and dreams. You were born with greatness. You were born with wings. You were not meant for crawling, so don't. You have wings. Learn to use them and fly.  --Rumi

     Do you believe that? What actions have you taken to prove it to be true about yourself?
     At a baseline, we all passed through the crawling stage and learned to walk. But have you believed in yourself enough to pursue and realize a dream? I have, many times. I've also let dreams fall by the wayside, for assorted reasons.
     For a while now, I've been in a state of "what's next?". I'm not sure what I want to do with my current potential. I'm OK with hanging in this liminal space. I have faith that "what's next" is being revealed to me. I simply keep doing the next thing in front of me.
     Life is good,
        Leta

April 28--Appearances

Just a step at a time--meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down. 
--Eleanor Roosevelt

     One can become overwhelmed with how dreadful appearances are right now... folks dying from COVID-19, our corrupt government, the economic downturn, the attack on women's and voting rights, on and on.
     But humans are resilient. We keep on keeping on. I believe that what we are experiencing now is the chaos that precedes all change (see Jan. 23 post). The old white male patriarchal energy is dying hard, kicking and screaming, and it's ugly. It's not pleasant to live through. We do have the strength to stare it down.
     That's a bigger picture. In individual lives, "meeting each thing that comes up" is what we do. Attitude is everything. We can choose to be overwhelmed by a dreadful appearance or reach within for the strength to stare it down. That choice is always available to us. Let's believe in ourselves and each other.
     Leta

April 27--How Do You Know You Can't?

If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?  --T. S. Eliot

     If you don't ever challenge yourself, how can you know what you are capable of?
     All of earthly life, the mere run-of-the-mill daily practice of it, can be a challenge, no doubt. It is awfully easy to get into a comfy routine and stay there, never venturing outside one's box. Alas, eventually the box gets boring.
     There are lots of things I didn't know I could do until I tried it: golf, yoga, teaching, gardening, solo travel, sewing, painting, crocheting, tax preparation, coaching, and public speaking, to name a few. Certainly I am not spectacular at all those things, but I employ one of my favorite lines: My enthusiasm makes up for my lack of skill. It is fun to learn and to try new things.
     We can keep on learning, or we can wither and die. I'm going with the learning option.
       What's next!?!?
             Leta

April 26--Pooh Bear Wisdom

Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.  --A. A. Milne

     Yes, you are. So am I. And let's not forget it. We've all had to exceed what we thought were the absolute limits of our capacity in courage, strength and smarts. We need look no further than living through the current pandemic to see this. Let's hear it for human creativity!
     Expanding,
         Leta

April 25--Conscience

Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.
     --George Washington

     I found this definition of "conscience" in the Cambridge Dictionary: the part of you that judges how moral your own actions are and makes you feel guilty about bad things that you have done or things you feel responsible for. This seems to be what we commonly think of as our conscience. This definition tends to make it a "head" thing.

     "That little spark of celestial fire" is quite a different definition. Use of the location "in your breast" implies that conscience is a "heart" matter rather than a "head" matter. Celestial fire suggests an other-worldly source, to me a spirit-given, born-with implant, if you will, that guides us in the direction of love, always, if we will simply follow it.
     I would say that my greatest teacher relative to conscience has been the 12-step program. Addicts are burdened with a guilty conscience from the get-go, due to inability to control one's substance abuse and all the collateral damage that results from it. The 12 Steps are all about clearing one's conscience, with the ultimate cleansing process being the making of amends. While it is a very worthwhile and necessary process, making amends is not my favorite thing to do. Therefore, I strive to be very aware of "that little spark of celestial fire" and follow it, so that I don't get myself into situations requiring amends. This makes for a peaceful heart and a peaceful head. 

     For your consideration: I periodically ask myself if there is anyone I am in relationship with, should they die today, I would feel guilty about anything "on my side of the street." At this moment of writing, there is no one. That's a lovely clean way to live, and I strive to keep it that way, an ongoing life practice. Maybe you have some tidying to do? 

     Loving life,

           Leta

April 24--It Takes Courage

Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others.  --Winston Churchill

     It is said that the Cowardly Lion was the wisest of Dorothy's Wizard of Oz companions because he asked for courage. Wisdom (Scarecrow's "brain") and love (Tin Man's "heart") both are results of courage. Courage to live life fully brings wisdom, and courage to be vulnerable brings love into one's life.
     Where has courage taken me?

• Through college and graduate school
• Through grieving the death of both parents
• Through multiple geographic relocations
• Into 12-step recovery from addiction
• Into marriage
• Into motherhood
• Into multiple jobs and career changes
• Into lifelong learning
• Through yoga teacher training
• Through zip-lining and jumping from a perfectly good airplane
• Through glorious world-wide travels
• Through lifelong self-exploration 

All these things were possible because I said "yes" to the call for courage.
     Where has courage taken you?
            Leta