A Single Step

Today's Quote:
If you take a single step toward positive change, that divine energy will take a hundred steps toward you. New worlds and unbelievable possibilities will open up for you. The synchronicities that will begin appearing in your life will become a source of delight and amazement. - Joan Borysenko

A single step seems such a simple thing... lift foot... replace it in a different position...  even an idiot could follow those directions with ease. I know from personal experience that the first step is always the most difficult, and the more we consider it the harder it becomes to accomplish. We could hike for a million miles on feet that never lose their rhythm, but start a journey of soul-shaping importance and we all become like babies taking their very first step. We wobble, hesitate, struggle for balance, worry bout falling, and sometimes there are no arms ready to buffer our landing if we do tumble.

Standing still should never be an alternative, but that is all too often used  as a solution. Why try when we can simply grow deep roots and avoid all pitfalls. My answer to that is very easy. A tree cannot ever hope to fly, except during a tornado. I would rather risk a million "fall on my face" steps than ever be satisfied in a narrow spot at the mercy of every storm that passes by. And believe me there will be wild winds galore even if you stand frozen and hold your breath. Huddle all you want, but never imagine for a moment that you are safe from shit happening that you cannot control.

Sometimes we run away from things... sometimes toward... and God help us at times we do both at the same time. I tend to go away from the darkness into the light, because I have learned, (most often the hard way) that when i aim for the positive place my soul tells me i must reach the positive comes to reach me before I have the time for a total crash and burn.

A main catalyst for my movements is always an unwillingness to be satisfied with what is if I am certain what can be is better. Settling is for dust. Rooting is for vegetation. Souls are meant to soar past the possible, always reaching for that sweet spot of perfect peace. That is never possible unless you take that first step. It truly exists, I have seen its borders and heard its echoes. Meet me there... think about it... let it ride... then decide!!!

  

Daily Awakening

Today's Quote:
If every day is an awakening, you will never grow old. You will just keep growing.
-Gail Sheehy

I love this quote; I believe it soul-deep, yet I have wasted a lot of time ignoring its healing power. I needed to re-read it, now all that is left is to re-live it daily, while doing my level best to not misplace its magic ever again. One day at a time... every day... one step at a time. The buck stops here!!!

Our level best can never be achieved while wandering within the confines of a prison constructed of negative emotions. It hardly even matters who, or what inspired the walls. The strength of their construction matters even less, because the builder will always have the energy to demolish their handiwork, if they can only find the willingness to do the work.

The why of things is key to learning how to avoid simply knee-jerking into the same behavior throughout a lifetime, but to use it as an excuse for self-imprisonment is lame. A person, or situation is never to blame for how we react... they are certainly responsible for the feelings they inspire, but how we CHOOSE to process them is on us.

But it is not only other people or tense situations that test our limits for growth. Some of the hardest things in life to overcome are the ones we willingly embraced in our real youth that haunt our adulthood. Addictions of every sort are danced with when our feet are nimble, but become a real burden as we age.

My big endeavor at the moment is that I quit smoking on Friday. I found myself sick to death of being controlled by  a demon I had invited into my space. I have no doubt of my success, but I also realize that unless I had been willing to go through some major pain that it was useless to even try.

I always smoked a lot, but the real chain smoking developed when my husband was ill, and continued after his death 7 years ago today. Soon after I moved to California I quit, but began again when I began a job, (2 yrs later) that often tested my limits... and the chain smoking reappeared. I invited the comfort it brought, so now I must embrace the pain of its departure.

The use of patches dulls the ache just a bit, but they do not produce a patch to simulate the amount necessary to pacify a chain smoker. When this box is gone I doubt I go on to step 2... the worst will be over within the 2 weeks step 1 supplies. I take complete responsibility for doing this to myself, but what matters much more now is that I will never willingly invite any sort of demon into whatever measure of life I still possess. 

I refuse to say that I am trying to quit, as I have before many times. I am not trying.... I am doing... there lies the difference.  I have other things on my list... things to really do... things to accomplish... all aimed toward growth. And this quote spoke volumes to me about the liberation of growth and the terrible aging involved in giving up on real life. Think about it... let it ride... then decide!!!

I added this video in case the quote listed above does not speak a personal message of hope to you. Perhaps there is one included there that will jump start you in some fashion.