Sorrow and Delight

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“When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.”

~Kahlil Gibran

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the loss and sorrow. A part of us has been taught that this is somehow wrong, and we create stories to help us cope. We may get angry, resentful or vow never to put ourselves in that situation again. We resist these powerful feelings and try to escape them.

Yet it only takes a moment, a pause and perhaps a deep releasing sigh, to see that the source of this deep feeling is love.

Sorrow and love are interwoven because the two are always connected.

With our hearts open, there is yearning and longing. There is love here.

When we recognize that what we feel sad about, is really an opening of the heart, we can begin to smile in the knowing that we are alive and loving beings.
This is what makes us special.

Inspiration – Heart Like a River

If you pour a handful of salt into a cup of water, the water becomes undrinkable. But if you pour the salt into a river, people can continue to draw the water to cook, wash, and drink.

The river is immense, and it has the capacity to receive, embrace, and transform.

When our hearts are small, our understanding and compassion are limited. We can’t accept or tolerate others and their shortcomings, and we demand that they change. In this state, we suffer.

But when our hearts expand, these same things don’t make us suffer anymore. We have a lot of understanding and compassion and can embrace others and their shortcomings.

We accept others as they are, and then they have a chance to transform… in their own way and in their own time.

Our heart is immense, and it has the capacity to receive, embrace, and transform.

Haiku – Heart Awareness

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~

Open heart expands

Closed heart contracts and defends

Awareness brings flow

~

When something is bothering me, one of the most useful questions I ask myself is “Is my heart open or closed?”

And in that moment of recognition, it hears and something is released.

It begins to open with love and understanding.

Everything comes and goes.

We get stuck when we get attached to our thinking.

Awareness opens the heart and brings flow.

If we Believe in the Unity of us All

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If we believe in the unity of us all

Then we must let go of judging an other.
Judgment keeps us separate
And grows thorns around our hearts.

As long as we judge, we will suffer.
We are no longer living in connection
With ourselves or others.

Pause and listen to what wants to be known
Let go of spiraling thoughts.
Feel what needs to be felt.

We must touch the love within
And open our hearts to all.
This is the path to contentment.

Namaste

Breaking All the Rules

There are moments when rules
are meant to be broken; when
bursting out of context is the
sole way to see with new eyes.
There are fences built only to
be torn down. The slats look
solid, but no one drove the nail
in tight. There are barricades
around the heart asking to be
breached. Sooner and later we
all run out of excuses for
staying small and safe.

~ Danna Faulds

May we all find the love and courage within us to break free!

Haiku – keeping score

~

Results may vary

Yet keeping score closes hearts

Find your Middle Ground.

~

When we engage the analytical mind, we start to close down our ability to empathize.

Aways reminder what is at stake behind the counting, and keep our hearts open.

To find out more about finding your middle ground, please click here.

* Inspiration – People are our Teachers

“If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.” ~ Pema Chodron

I was with a group of caring yoga teachers yesterday, and we shared experiences of who showed up in our classes. There was one student who always gave an unsolicited evaluation of how the class went and what the teacher could do differently. An other student would send long emails about a substitute teacher, pointing out where she was not as good as the original one. An other student made comments in class about how uncomfortable she was.

Then there were the students who were grateful for the teacher’s guidance and came back class after class.

I awoke this morning with this thought. People show up for different reasons, yet they are all our teachers.

Should we dismiss the challenging ones as external disturbances, taking us off balance? Or perhaps, as people who have things going on that they need to address?

There’s an opportunity for deeper understanding here.

We attract the people who reflect our selves.

The wonderful thankful students, are reflecting the parts of ourselves that we appreciate and accept.

The people who disturb us, are reflecting the parts of ourselves that we have not fully accepted or integrated within ourselves. The parts of ourselves that we haven’t learn to love.

If we look as every person as a reflection of our selves and as our teachers, it becomes an opportunity to learn and grow.

Every person is bringing a gift for us to receive and to learn from.

If the same “gifts” keep showing up in your life, then there is something that is longing for your attention.

Take a moment to pause and breathe deeply

Allow the breath to become fuller

Imagine breathing into your heart

Allow this area to soften

Let your heart open and be ready to receive

To the teacher whose student wants to be in control of the class … What is the heartfelt lesson for you?

To the teacher with a student who criticizes and complains about not having things their own way… What could be the heartfelt lesson for you?

To all of us who have a spouse… colleague… child… neighbor… relative… showing up as “gifts” to learn from … What are the heartfelt lessons for us all?

Remember, its often what we don’t like, that we grow from the most. The practice is to keep our minds and our hearts open.

Namaste

* Open Your Heart

No matter what has happened before

Your past experience has brought you to this moment.

Let this awareness fill your being with gratitude.

You are right here.

Its time to come home.

Open the door to your heart

Find your Self waiting with open arms.

Hugs

* Asking for help

It takes courage to admit that we are struggling and to ask for help.

We often think that admitting struggle is a sign of weakness, yet it happens to all of us. We all get overwhelmed sometimes. We all experience the highs and lows of life.

We all need help sometimes.

Acknowledging this, is not a sign of weakness, but is rather a sign of acceptance and humility. We recognize that we are not perfect, and are simply human. We all need each other.

To deny that we need help is to deny reality. To choose not to ask for it, is a choice that comes from a false sense of who we “should” be.

It can be hard to let go of this ego thinking, yet the good news is that people really do care.

If someone you know is hurting, would you offer your support? If someone you know got into a tough situation, and they ask you for help, would you give it? I expect you would, because you have been there too.

It takes courage to open our hearts to being vulnerable and letting go of ego thinking and judgments.

If you are carrying more than you can handle right now then take heart, ask for help and let someone else in.

You are not alone.

* Being There For Yourself

This post is inspired by one earlier (Being There is Enough) where the focus was on being there for someone else. Now it is your turn. xo

Sometimes all we can do is to be there for our selves…
Being present to our inner state, without judgment or temptation to fix.
Setting aside our urge to make things different or somehow “better”,
By evaluating the pieces and trying to mould them into solutions that make sense,
Or rushing to move past the hurt and discomfort of feelings and thoughts.

In this place of being right here, allow the strategic mind to quieten and open your heart.
Simply be with your heart and your own aching humanity.

In this vulnerable place, the life energy that flows through us all begins to expand and flow.
This knowing presence that acknowledges the sadness, loss and yearning.

Remember, within all of us is a deep longing for love and wholeness.
Trust that when you touch this tender place, the life energy will awaken and transform you.
Let it flow within you and through you.

All is well in its presence.

Haiku – when your heart is closed

When your heart is closed

in the isolated dark

look up to the sky.

Open your window

Let the great expanse and light

fill your heart with life.

Let love flow freely.

Pause and nourish your Being.

Find your Middle Ground.

If you are new to this site … welcome!

To learn more about finding your middle ground, click here.

* A Question that Makes me Pause

At the beginning of my journey of self exploration into awakening … there was one question that was most helpful for me. It helped me find my own Middle Ground – that place where I could let go of thinking, judgment and blame. Where I begin to relax, accept the way things are and find peace within.

You see, I am a thinker and a ponderer. An analyzer and problem solver. I am a naturally intuitive fixer with mixed layers of dreamer, creator, strategizer and practical implementor. (If we’re going to give ourselves labels make them meaty ones eh?)

When I am in my head I can analyze until the cows comes home. Sometimes they don’t come home and I get stuck in a mind boggling pickle trying to solve the unsolvable. Trying to control the uncontrollable. Thinking that I have the answer when it simply isn’t possible …

When I become aware of the frustration of not finding the answer. When I realize I am going round in circles. When I feel the tension in my jaw or notice a clenching in my stomach…

The question that brings me back is:

“Am I in my head or in my heart?”

As soon as I ask this, my heart opens up. It wants to be heard and it comes alive. I feel it as a flow of warmth and release. And at that moment, everything begins to fall into place. It is simply all right.

When we live in our heads, its all too easy to lose touch with our hearts. Analyzing prevents our ability to empathize with others. It keeps us wrapped up in our tasks and thinking rather than taking others into account.

While we may think that reasoning and being reasonable is okay, it takes us a step further away from authentic connection and unconditional love.

When our head is in control we are out of balance.

If only we can become this aware at each moment …

I’m come along the road a bit, but still have some way to go 😉 Thank you for being here my fellow journeyers.

Namaste

Find Your Middle Ground

Life is a series of highs and lows. Be grateful in the highs. Be graceful in the lows. Find contentment in your Middle Ground

Tag Archives for open heart

Sorrow and Delight

Inspiration – Heart Like a River