Tag Archives for pendulum of life

The Pendulum Swings

pendulum of life

Image inspired by the song Pendulum by Pearl Jam. Source: http://jimmybuiphotography.com

Have patience. The pendulum
that swung too far in one
direction will swing back.
At the moment of its turning,
everything hangs in the balance.
All the momentum of past actions
is suspended in mid-air, and
those who care about what happens next are poised with it.

There is a long and anxious
pause before the motion shifts,
and then the sense of free fall,
when the world is turned on
its head and nothing is known
or normal. Have patience then,
and do not rush to either extreme.
The way will paint its own arrows
on the trees if you can wait for clarity.

~ Danna Fauld

The pendulum of life is always moving and shifting. Yet, with patience, the pendulum also comes close to the ground and finds stillness there. In that moment it finds its middle ground. This is the place where clarity and direction appear.

Life in Balance

This is a reblog and gentle reminder to stop the juggling today 🙏

oo0O0oo

It often seems so hard to keep life in balance.

If we see life as a balancing act between opposing sides, then we feel ourselves dipping from one side to other. Balance becomes a juggling act of opposing sides. An other thing to work at and get just right!

blancing act

If we see balance like this its no wonder that we feel off balance most of the time.  In life, everything is changing and nothing stays static. If we see life as a balancing act, then we constantly find ourselves trying to find balance again and again.

Isn’t it exhausting to always try to realign ourselves like this?…

I see balance in a different way…. Balance is finding wholeness that comes from our center of being.

presetn moment

Our center keeps us grounded in the present moment. As life goes on and everything in the outer world shifts and changes, our inner being is a constant presence.

Without connecting to our center we will continue to swing back and forth in the pendulum of life.

This center is what I call our Middle Ground. That place where we pause and let go of the external world of striving, strategizing and planning…. and instead, allow ourselves to let go and simply be.

pendulum resting in center

To let go of thinking, and tuning into our inner being and the Presence within.

Here we nourish and refresh ourselves … and find our natural state of balance.

When we come from this center we will never lose our way in the highs and lows of life.

Instead of looking outwards to see what you can juggle, look inwards and find your center  of being.

Let this be a gentle reminder for all of us to make time to pause and find peace within.

It is so precious.

* Haiku – pendulum

pendulum of life

Image inspired by the song Pendulum by Pearl Jam as part of the Music to Life photo series by Jimmy Bui photography – http://jimmybuiphotography.com

~

Take time for yourself

In the pendulum of life

Find Your Middle Ground

~

If you are new to this site, welcome!

 Follow these links to to find out more about finding your middle ground and the steps to get there.

* Kindling the Inner Fire

“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should be all thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.”

Albert Schweitzer

kindling candle flame

Accept that there will be low times

Yet we can rekindle inspiration

Spark off each other

Bring fresh awareness of our inner fire

And fan the flames together

Thank you all for kindling our inner spirit 🙂

Namaste

* Tao Inspiration – the universe is its own

rule the world

By taking control of the universe, would you improve it?
The universe is its own, and no one can better it.

Its complexity is deep and unimaginable.
It cannot be harnessed.

Try to manipulate it and it will eventually slip away.
Try to keep it and it will eventually spoil.

Sometimes tension, sometimes ease;
Sometimes sickness, sometimes health;
Sometimes leading, sometimes led;
Sometimes clear, sometimes confused.

The sage consciously avoids extremes.*

I love this first question. Without realizing it, many of us  try to control the world and life.

Recognizing that the universe is better than anything we could come up with,  puts me in my rightful place… 😉

In this place there is a natural rhythm like a pendulum of life.

The place I call our middle ground.

Namaste

 

*Braun Jr., John; Tzu, Lao; von Bargen, Julian; Warkentin, David (2012-12-02). Tao Te Ching (Kindle Locations 435-446). . Kindle Edition.

* Reflections – People are our Mirrors

No pun intended here 😉 just some morning musings…

There is an old saying, “It takes one to know one.”

We see in others what we like and don’t like in ourselves.

 

 

people are our mirrors

If people are our mirrors, then everyone is a reflection of myself.

Its important for me to accept others for who they are.

Otherwise I am rejecting aspects of myself.

When I admire an aspect of someone I am recognizing that this is a part of myself.

When I am judging of others I am not accepting that I am judging of myself.

When I get annoyed because they are needy, I am rejecting my own needs and nurturing myself.

When I get frustrated when people go too slowly, then I am not accepting when I need to go slowly.

And of course, the best of all …. When I get upset when I feel others are controlling, I am rejecting the controlling part of me.

Ouch!

Our own inner critic is the voice of this self rejection.

Listen to it and love it for pointing out what to embrace rather than reject.

Remember there is no good or bad… And beneath it all is our deep longing for love and acceptance.

Namaste

 

 

* Inspiration – Your Middle Ground

I am deeply moved by these words of Wu Hsin which I came across at Superaalifragilistic.

pendulum of life

 

“Dismount the pendulum of fear and desire.

The ground beneath you is the Source and Support”

Wu Hsin

For me this captures the essence of Find Your Middle Ground in a way that I have not been able to fully express with my own words.

My gratitude to you Aalif and the lost writings of Wu Hsin.

Namaste

* Where the Light Enters

This is one of my favorite poems from Ihsan over at iiThinks. This is taken from his book “Finally Back Home”. I love how these words lead us gently to the priceless treasure that is buried deep within us all.

shining into the dark

Where The Light Enters

Nature is a sacred text
Pages with the deepest Truths
Beyond all the outward forms
Lies the secret place of wisdom

Valuable things are buried deep
The ocean’s pearls and mountain’s gems
If you wish for worthy objects
You must brave the depths of darkness

Here is where the lesson lies
It’s the same with you and I
We must feel the hurt and pain
Campaign in the aching grief

Beyond all the crippling fear
Beyond all the violent tears
Unveiled is the greatest treasure
Nothing but your holy heart

So meet the dark with a smile
It’s a gift that knows no price
Priceless is the path
And each step that leads you in

Jaffer, Irfaan Ihsan (2014-07-20). Finally Back Home (Kindle Locations 741-743). . Kindle Edition.

Ihsan, Thank you for sharing Rumi today and letting us know you are well.
We miss you and your soul inspiring words ❤

* Off the Path

In the pendulum of life  … when we find ourselves off our path

woman off her path

Remember

every moment is an opportunity to re-commit

Don’t let your thinking get you down and disconnect you from what matters most

Remember

you are not your thinking

and the past is over

Let go of the thoughts and come into the present moment

The only moment is now

Connect with the spark within that is your guide and shining light on the path

girl walking on her path

And keep going – one step at a time.

Hugs

Val

* Inspiration – Feeling Miserable

winding roads in ItalyOne day on vacation in Italy things didn’t go as planned.

It wasn’t the morning of the flat tire … or any of the other days of missed turnings. It wasn’t ordering the wrong item on the menu. It was the day I started to feel sick at all the bends in the road. Literally queazy and sick. Trying to navigate while on a roller coaster will do that!

I blamed the roads, the driver, and the need for map reading as the GPS was in some other part of the country with the same name! This blanket of negativity started to wrap itself around me. I felt miserable. I stepped into the self righteousness that comes with being put upon and I embraced it. In doing so I became a miserable person and a miserable passenger to be sure.

On reflection, I can see things so clearly. Here are my insights from this experience.

Life energy, essence or source is always within us and around us.

Yet sometimes we feel miserable and think that life sucks.

It is our thinking that makes it so.

When we feel  hurt, we go into our head and more thoughts take over.

Our hearts become guarded as we lose touch with our own essence and sense of Presence.

We cannot fully connect to ourselves .. or others.

There is interference in the force.

Our life energy is blocked.

We become defensive, judgmental, withdrawn and irritable.

There is no grace or gratitude in this place, because we know – by this pain and sacrifice –  that we are right!

Our heart closes more as our thinking ego casts blame and seeks retribution, and to find any way to end this endless  perceived agony of  discomfort!

We feel miserable and don’t stop to understand. We try to figure it out in our heads but get tangled up in a web of thoughts and further judgments.

And then in a quiet moment we are able to step back …. and  we know.

We know that this is of our own creation.

This is the time to come into the present moment. Step back.  And plug in to our deeper self and inner wisdom.

Let the life energy flow.

Feel what needs to be felt and hear what needs to be heard.

Be with it.

Letting go so we can open our hearts once more.

For me, I got out my yoga mat. Sat in meditation, focusing on my breathing and feeling my sitz bones grounding me. Spine tall. Heart open. Breathing slowly.

The thinking slows. The body relaxes. The witness takes over from “me”.

Then moving into child’s pose until my body feels the same grounding and sense of connection too.

Slowing moving with grace and gratitude in full realization of the highs and lows of this life.

Letting the life energy flow.

We lose touch with our Selves and don’t know it until we realize we feel miserable.  The real lesson for me is to be mindful enough to recognize this as it emerges.

Val x

* The Space Between Resistance and Inner Peace

How can we move from resistance and struggle to acceptance and inner peace? I believe there is a space between the two. Like the pendulum of life, we find ourselves moving from one to the other…. yet there is a moment when we can slow down and pause.

pendulum of life

 

Tara Brach calls this The Sacred Pause. For me, it is a place of grounding as well. I call it our Middle Ground.

It is the same space that we all aspire to experience. It is the doorway to clarity, inspiration, understanding and peace of mind.

blue door to our true natureHere is some of Tara Brach’s practical wisdom from her Spirituality and Practice website:

“The Sacred Pause. helps us to reconnect with the present moment. Especially when we are caught up in striving and obsessing and leaning into the future, pausing enables us to reenter the mystery and vitality only found here and now.

Choose a time when you are involved in a goal-oriented activity — reading, working on the computer, cleaning, eating — and explore pausing for a moment or two. Begin by discontinuing what you are doing, sitting comfortably and allowing your eyes to close. Take a few deep breaths and with each exhale let go of any worries or thoughts about what you are going to do next; let go of any tightness in the body.

Now, notice what you are experiencing as you inhabit the pause. What sensations are you aware of in your body? Do you feel anxious or restless as you try to step out of your mental stories? Do you feel pulled to resume your activity? Can you simply allow, for this moment, whatever is happening inside you?

You can weave the sacred pause into your daily life by pausing for a few moments each hour or as you begin and end activities. You can pause while sitting, standing or lying down. Even in motion — going for a walk or driving — you can pause internally, eyes open and senses awake. Whenever you find you are stuck or disconnected, you can begin your life fresh in that moment by pausing, relaxing and paying attention to your immediate experience.”

We can create the space between resistance and inner peace by letting go of what is taking up our thoughts and bringing our attention to what is happening within us in this very moment.

It begins with noticing where our mind is, and then pausing with eyes open and senses wide!

Just like the samurai warrior.

The Last samurai

This is a practice… and can become one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves to live fully  in the highs and lows of life.

May you find your middle ground every day