Riddle:
What catalyzes relief during stressful times?
During our family's most stressful experiences, relief commonly results at those times when positively focused, mutually supportive trains of thought are cycling round, as in:
Well Dad—we'll just do what our family does best—We'll love each other like crazy and help each other get to the other side of whatever this is!
See why I write about role modeling coming full circle when positive focus is injected into the minds of our young …
See why all five of us have sound reason to hold The Line of Control in such high regard, specifically when stressful situations hit shockingly hard …
On the other hand, setting a high value on developing this inner strength does not suggest that raw emotion remains indefinitely contained. In fact, at times—as you've just seen—common sense suggests it's best to unleash raw emotion on the spot—as long as one portion of our line of control ensures that hurtful and thus regretful words do not escape from our mouths.
The fact that our family came to value the need to develop The Line of Control in the first place suggests that we all acknowledge, accept, and respect those times when raw emotion is expressed mindfully rather than supressing or repressing that which we honestly feel for so long that explosive outbursts run interference with common sense, thus delaying our family circle from gaining yardage against a mutual threat to everyone's well being. As we work to switch fearful mindsets off in favor of resetting emotional compasses toward positive trains of thought, every brain in our family becomes well practiced at focusing wholly on brain storming, logically, toward mutually enriching solutions that consider needs and feelings, all around. (Whew!)
The fact that I our family circle has gained insight into the wisdom of releasing raw emotion openly, honestly and respectfully during stressful times—while simultaneously employing The Line of Control—offered relief to your friend, Annie, who has spent her adult life learning, teaching, and practicing the value of expressing fear and frustration in moderation rather than falsely repressing those reactions until emotional outbursts fling blame around so indiscriminately as to make scape goats of loved ones, thus pouring salt into hearts already pierced with pain—and in order to end today's train of thought on an up note, let's picture four pairs of eyes, empowered by the spirit of love, leaving family business behind in favor of reconnecting with party guests who'd felt happily charmed while riding in cars hitched to that whimsical engine in which a jovial engineer inspired 'children' of all ages to feel as young at heart as the birthday boy himself.
If you ask: Annie, how is it that you were able to switch tracks that fast? I'd reply—Well, that's not always true. However, when it is true, this is what happens: The human brain is capable of compartmentalizing emotional reactions, suggesting that you and I can actually work at installing on and off switches, which allow us to consciously switch tracks from negatively focused reactiveness to sunny trains of thought by practicing The Line of Control, a postively focused, self discipline technique, suggesting that all humans are imperfect, meaning that not one of us is an angel as long as we're on this side of the grass.
Though The Line of Control is an amazingly simple tool with which to put self discipline into practice, consistently, no man-made tool is infallible. And thus, this The Line of Control may best be compared to a rubber band, whose elasticity can be over-stretched to such taxing degrees that ultimately, elasticity can snap in half, causing problem-solving sessions to fly apart—because, it's not easy being human just as it's not easy for Kermit to be green …
January 2014
Did I mention that last Thursday Will and I enjoyed dinner with old friends?
Old friends whom we'd not seen in thirty years!
Upon answering the phone and hearing their voices
I felt affection bubble over as plans were made to reconnect
When our doorbell rang, and our guests walked into my embrace
Every one of those years disappeared as spontaneously as
The love that I'd once felt for these two
Spilled out of my heart as naturally as if
We'd spent time, together, last week
You see, the kind of friendship I offer
Retains its ever-lasting value for this reason:
Love sparkles forth from deep within my core, pure and simple
When I say my love is pure
That's not to say
That the love I offer is free of defensiveness
Why not? Because …
All humans harbor egos and all egos are defensive
When I say my love is simple
That's not to say
That the love I offer is free of confusion and complexity
Why not? Because …
Confusion and complexity are active parts of personal growth
If you ask what I mean by loving pure and simple, I'd reply:
When I love, I work conscientiously and thus mindfully to
Offer you the best of me, pure and simple.
And as I consciously offer the best of me, consistently
The love you receive is a forever kind of love for this reason:
Rather than allowing my ego to manipulate you to meet my needs
I consciously meet my needs by
Offering kindness and generosity of spirit to you
And being that my love proves pure and simple
I can reflect over time spent together without guilt or regret
As today's train of thought reaches the end of the line
I'd like to say without a shadow of doubt that
If I ever had reason to offer you love …
I'll love you forever and—pure and simple—that's the truth :)
And if you ask how to trust that declaration
To be true, through and through
I'd reply: Connect with me intimately
And you will see my mind working consciously
To offer loved ones the best of me
No matter what they choose to offer up in return
Why is that true? Because …
Each time my ego wants to go toe to toe with yours
Intuition suggests it's high time to place
That little trouble maker in time out …
Thus ensuring that when I offer love or friendship—
No manipulative game playing takes place inside my head
And as it's my choice to call upon humility to place my ego in time out
Humility proves to be the inner strength that
Separates a pure and simple love, which lasts forever
From loving so defensively that separation proves inevitable
As for now, Carrie and her sweet boys are driving in from the coast
And here's our game plan: While Carrie's boys watch football with Will
She and I plan to talk each other's ears off in another room :)
And as they're due to arrive in an hour, I need to attend to brunch …
PS
If you think to ask how I know that the deep well of love
Which flows naturally from my heart toward yours will never run dry
I'll answer by quoting Ghandi—one of many sages
Whose insights into life and love
Inspire my choices to remain on target by bending rules only enough
To ensure personal growth
And here is the insightful quote that inspires
My well of love to overflow with feelings of friendship for you:
Be the change you wish for the world
Next up: Once we've sung a high spirited Happy Birthday to Ray
David and I take a walk on the dark side …
What catalyzes relief during stressful times?
During our family's most stressful experiences, relief commonly results at those times when positively focused, mutually supportive trains of thought are cycling round, as in:
Well Dad—we'll just do what our family does best—We'll love each other like crazy and help each other get to the other side of whatever this is!
See why I write about role modeling coming full circle when positive focus is injected into the minds of our young …
See why all five of us have sound reason to hold The Line of Control in such high regard, specifically when stressful situations hit shockingly hard …
On the other hand, setting a high value on developing this inner strength does not suggest that raw emotion remains indefinitely contained. In fact, at times—as you've just seen—common sense suggests it's best to unleash raw emotion on the spot—as long as one portion of our line of control ensures that hurtful and thus regretful words do not escape from our mouths.
The fact that our family came to value the need to develop The Line of Control in the first place suggests that we all acknowledge, accept, and respect those times when raw emotion is expressed mindfully rather than supressing or repressing that which we honestly feel for so long that explosive outbursts run interference with common sense, thus delaying our family circle from gaining yardage against a mutual threat to everyone's well being. As we work to switch fearful mindsets off in favor of resetting emotional compasses toward positive trains of thought, every brain in our family becomes well practiced at focusing wholly on brain storming, logically, toward mutually enriching solutions that consider needs and feelings, all around. (Whew!)
The fact that I our family circle has gained insight into the wisdom of releasing raw emotion openly, honestly and respectfully during stressful times—while simultaneously employing The Line of Control—offered relief to your friend, Annie, who has spent her adult life learning, teaching, and practicing the value of expressing fear and frustration in moderation rather than falsely repressing those reactions until emotional outbursts fling blame around so indiscriminately as to make scape goats of loved ones, thus pouring salt into hearts already pierced with pain—and in order to end today's train of thought on an up note, let's picture four pairs of eyes, empowered by the spirit of love, leaving family business behind in favor of reconnecting with party guests who'd felt happily charmed while riding in cars hitched to that whimsical engine in which a jovial engineer inspired 'children' of all ages to feel as young at heart as the birthday boy himself.
If you ask: Annie, how is it that you were able to switch tracks that fast? I'd reply—Well, that's not always true. However, when it is true, this is what happens: The human brain is capable of compartmentalizing emotional reactions, suggesting that you and I can actually work at installing on and off switches, which allow us to consciously switch tracks from negatively focused reactiveness to sunny trains of thought by practicing The Line of Control, a postively focused, self discipline technique, suggesting that all humans are imperfect, meaning that not one of us is an angel as long as we're on this side of the grass.
Though The Line of Control is an amazingly simple tool with which to put self discipline into practice, consistently, no man-made tool is infallible. And thus, this The Line of Control may best be compared to a rubber band, whose elasticity can be over-stretched to such taxing degrees that ultimately, elasticity can snap in half, causing problem-solving sessions to fly apart—because, it's not easy being human just as it's not easy for Kermit to be green …
January 2014
Did I mention that last Thursday Will and I enjoyed dinner with old friends?
Old friends whom we'd not seen in thirty years!
Upon answering the phone and hearing their voices
I felt affection bubble over as plans were made to reconnect
When our doorbell rang, and our guests walked into my embrace
Every one of those years disappeared as spontaneously as
The love that I'd once felt for these two
Spilled out of my heart as naturally as if
We'd spent time, together, last week
You see, the kind of friendship I offer
Retains its ever-lasting value for this reason:
Love sparkles forth from deep within my core, pure and simple
When I say my love is pure
That's not to say
That the love I offer is free of defensiveness
Why not? Because …
All humans harbor egos and all egos are defensive
When I say my love is simple
That's not to say
That the love I offer is free of confusion and complexity
Why not? Because …
Confusion and complexity are active parts of personal growth
If you ask what I mean by loving pure and simple, I'd reply:
When I love, I work conscientiously and thus mindfully to
Offer you the best of me, pure and simple.
And as I consciously offer the best of me, consistently
The love you receive is a forever kind of love for this reason:
Rather than allowing my ego to manipulate you to meet my needs
I consciously meet my needs by
Offering kindness and generosity of spirit to you
And being that my love proves pure and simple
I can reflect over time spent together without guilt or regret
As today's train of thought reaches the end of the line
I'd like to say without a shadow of doubt that
If I ever had reason to offer you love …
I'll love you forever and—pure and simple—that's the truth :)
And if you ask how to trust that declaration
To be true, through and through
I'd reply: Connect with me intimately
And you will see my mind working consciously
To offer loved ones the best of me
No matter what they choose to offer up in return
Why is that true? Because …
Each time my ego wants to go toe to toe with yours
Intuition suggests it's high time to place
That little trouble maker in time out …
Thus ensuring that when I offer love or friendship—
No manipulative game playing takes place inside my head
And as it's my choice to call upon humility to place my ego in time out
Humility proves to be the inner strength that
Separates a pure and simple love, which lasts forever
From loving so defensively that separation proves inevitable
As for now, Carrie and her sweet boys are driving in from the coast
And here's our game plan: While Carrie's boys watch football with Will
She and I plan to talk each other's ears off in another room :)
And as they're due to arrive in an hour, I need to attend to brunch …
PS
If you think to ask how I know that the deep well of love
Which flows naturally from my heart toward yours will never run dry
I'll answer by quoting Ghandi—one of many sages
Whose insights into life and love
Inspire my choices to remain on target by bending rules only enough
To ensure personal growth
And here is the insightful quote that inspires
My well of love to overflow with feelings of friendship for you:
Be the change you wish for the world
Next up: Once we've sung a high spirited Happy Birthday to Ray
David and I take a walk on the dark side …
No comments:
Post a Comment