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Musings: Dealing With My Frustration

I know that talking things through with someone helps to diminish the hold that anything that is frustrating me or causing me anger or resentment has on me.  Writing also helps in the same way.  So here goes.  Whether I’ll be able to post is another matter, and that’s where my present frustration is coming from.

I haven’t written in a while.  I’ve given up trying to understand why this happens.  It’s not that I have nothing to write about.  I have been keeping, and adding to, a small list of topics that I want to express my feelings about. But something is getting in the way.  The weather has been gorgeous lately.  We have been enjoying the best Florida spring weather – no grey, no de-pressing stuff going on outside, so that’s not the issue.

Now that I think about it, maybe there is still an issue connected to the weather that’s been keeping me from writing, but it’s the reverse of dealing with the de-pressing grey.  It’s been so perfectly beautiful outside of late that I have been called into the garden and have struggled to balance my time outside with all the other things that I want/am committed to do.

It has been really amazing to watch the garden come to life after the long cold winter.  It seems as though with each passing year I become more aware of the transformation that takes place as plants come back to life, buds appear, then full foliage and flowers blossom out.  The Confederate Jasmine, that I planted as two very small 20-inch tall plants at the base of the front supporting columns of my old gazebo two years ago, has now grown into thick, lush greenery that covers both 8-foot tall columns and trails upwards onto two of the roof supports and is also quite thick as it meets across the front horizontal bar.  It is also full of flowers which I hope will last so that I can see them and enjoy them when I return from this trip.

And therein lies another source of frustration.  I have been travelling on and off since 28 March.  Being out of my normal habitat and routine is always somewhat disconcerting and disruptive, and I haven’t yet learned to handle that with total grace and acceptanceSad smile.  I drove up to Newport News, VA back then to spend a few days with my son who was there from Italy to attend a work related conference.  It was a gift that I had no intention of passing up.  We had a great three days hanging out together.  On the way home from there, I was then able to stop in Fayetteville, NC to spend an afternoon and night-over with my dear sister-friend LeeAnn.  She and I never waste time on pleasantries, diving deep into our sharing from the heart and soul which allows us to broaden, deepen, and strengthen our relationship on all levels, especially the spiritual levelSmile.  Another enormous gift for which I am truly grateful.

Arriving back in Florida after that trip, I had three days to catch-up (I always say that with tongue in cheek because, how on earth do you catch up with time that has already passed??).  So it was a flurry of unpacking and keeping up with some commitments that were on my calendar, before I then had to pack for the trip that I am presently “enjoying” ( barring bad internet connections – grrrrrr!) with my husband.

And therein lies the ultimate frustration.  Yesterday evening I had the first real longing, desire, to do some creative writing.  I sat down eagerly in front of my computer and – nothing.  I don’t mean nothing would come out on the page.  I mean nothing would come up on the computer.  No worries, I have my resident computer technician travelling with me, no?  But after checking things out he told me that there was nothing he could do.  There simply was no internet connection and he had no control over that.  Talk abut frustration!!!

As well as the creative writing I felt called to do, I also had a bunch of emails I wanted to send out, and there were several things that I wanted to check out on Google.  I was stuck.  Couldn’t do a thing.  So I called it a day and picked up a book and decided to read.  But the frustration was there, bubbling under the surface and even though I checked in with God and asked for inner peace, I guess I was wanting to hang onto the frustration and wallow in it for a bit because it was still there this morning, and so was the lack of connectivity!!!!!!!Sad smile.

Rich has struggled all morning to give me some connection, but it has been been frustrating for him too.  Right now I have no idea if I have connection or not, but I did learn (thank God I can always learn something), that I can at least access my Live Writer programme and get the words out and down, and in doing so I have released some of the frustration.  Whether I will be able to post my writing is another matter, but at least it’s ready to go if and when we get a connection.           

Spiritual Growth: Forgiveness

I came across some notes that I took during the course of a retreat.  The speakers had been presenting their views on forgiveness.  These are the notes that I made during the presentations.

 

-  Forgiveness:  the warm fuzzy feeling doesn’t happen immediately – maybe never.  The important thing is to make the decision to forgive because it is the
   right thing to do, for God and for us.  And most times we have to make that decision on a daily basis for a long time before any peacefulness about 
   the situation or the person comes into our hearts.  “Faking it till you make it” doesn’t quite apply in this circumstance, because a deep willingness to forgive
   needs to be there.  It is important that we practice making that decision every day for the peace to come.

 

I thought it was quite God-incidental that I came across these notes a couple of days ago because someone has just sent me a very interesting article about forgiveness which, I think, puts another slant on the topic.  It is the recording of a conversation between a person called John Cali and another “person”, Joseph (referred to as Chief Joseph), whom Cali channels through. These are Chief Joseph’s thoughts on forgiveness.

 

“We are going to say something right here at the start which may surprise or even shock some of you. 

There is never a need or a reason to forgive another person.  That’s not your job. 

True forgiveness, friends, is forgetting – forgetting the pain, the anger, the sadness – and remembering the love.

Forgiveness is really about letting go.  Letting go, and forgetting, the pain you’re holding onto.  And whatever that pain is, you – not the other person – created it.  The pain is self-inflicted.  Always, no exceptions.

Forgiveness has nothing to do with the other person.  It has everything to do with you, and only you.

Do you think God holds grudges? Do you think your higher self holds resentments?

When you are willing to go through that process you call forgiveness, you are remembering who you are, who your higher self is – God.

If you insist on forgiving, then forgive yourself.  Whatever real or imagined harm the other person did, did not hurt you.  Only your thoughts allowed you to be hurt.

No one can hurt you without your consent.  The other person, acting in the best way she or he could in the moment, was there in that moment because the two of you co-created that experience.

No one is to “blame”.

If you see such situations from your higher self’s perspective, your pain will go away.  All that will remain is the love.

Pain is illusion.  Love is real.”

 

I have been pondering on this for the last few days and although it is tough, I think it is right.  I probably need to give it some more thought and talk it through with some friends that I trust, but the more I think about it the more it resonates in my heart.  Hope it gives you some food for thought.

 

Blessings.

Journaling: A Way To Heal

I have been “off the grid” for a couple of weeks.  This does not mean I have not been writing.  The fact of the matter is that I have been writing a lot, just not publicly.  Normally, I am a very “open” person.  Those of you who read my postings regularly know that I share quite freely about my emotions and the circumstances and events that take place in my life.

However, there are some things that come along that I need to deal with on a more private level.  I have several networks of friends whom I can turn to on occasions such as these.  I also have my intimate relationship with the God of my understanding and even when friends are not available, He is always ready to help me bear my burdens.  And, of course, I have my best friend, my husband.

But, perhaps because of my deep connection to the written word, I also use the tool of writing to help me in such times.  I find that journaling about a problem or an issue helps me to put things into perspective a little easier.  And just the fact that words appear on paper is already a balm to my troubled spirit.

When I journal I always use pen and paper rather than the computer.  I love the old-fashioned way of expressing my thoughts by manually writing them out.  There’s something more personal, more intimate, about hand-writing.  And, of course, it’s my handwriting, which brings the subject matter even closer to home.

So when I am heart-burdened, writing out the problem, the pain, the confusion, in long-hand is very therapeutic.  I can sometimes find the courage to put some words down on paper that I might not be able to express verbally.  And even though it’s subjective, there is also that sense of it being someone else’s problem.  In fact, sometimes I write in the third person singular, as though I were writing about another person.

Journaling my sorrow allows me to get what’s inside, outside.  It is yet another way to nurture myself.  I refuse to be bogged down by pain, and I surely do not want the pain to fester into anything like resentment or anger!!  Those are two cancers of the soul that I will not allow to hang around.

And so my pen travels across the pages of my journal, and as it leaves its inky trail my heart lightens and everything seems more bearable.  I always have a handful of pretty journals on hand for such writing.  Wrapping those dark feelings between two beautifully designed covers somehow lessens their hold on my heart and turns my journaling into another level of spiritual growth.    

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