281 SO WHERE WAS I IN MY STORY ... OH YES ...

  As TWINKLE TWINKLE Part 9 was posted a while back, I've decided to reprint it, here, because we're getting closer to the station where Part 10 has been awaiting our arrival, and when this story was originally written, both parts comprised one train of thought...

As Jennie and Jack walk through the foyer at the bottom of the stairwell, Jack glances into their mail box. “It’s probably all bills,” he quips. “They can wait till tomorrow.  I don’t want anything to dampen my mood for the surprise I've planned for you, tonight.”  Then, sharing a smile with his best girl, Jack opens the front door and follows his sweetheart outside.

Though the weather is damp and cloudy, it’s a glorious moment for a young man to pause on the cement stoop and inhale his joyful anticipation of celebrating with his favorite girl.  Since Jennie shies from showing public affection, while Jack exposes a kaleidoscope of emotions, he’s likely to grab her round the waist, pull her close and laugh aloud at her attempts to charm him into revealing the surprise that he’s planned for their evening.

Ah yes!  The air is crisp.  Love fills the air.  And the sun shines so brightly within my parents’ hearts that clouds seemingly disappear. All in all, LIFE is beautiful when the pair jump into their car.

While turning onto a major thoroughfare, Jack turns to Jennie and says, “Honey, someday soon, I’m going to teach you to drive.”  Jennie answers with a sweet smile—which Jack accepts as acquiescence.

Mortals aren’t equipped with x-ray vision.  So Jack misses Jennie’s quiet resistance to his declaration to teach her to drive.

Though most instincts are innate, others are acquired.  As experience has taught Jennie that her impassioned Jack is not a patient teacher, she senses the probability of challenge arising.

When instinct alerts Jennie to possible conflict, she's learned to protect herself by way of woman’s wiles.  And in this case, Jennie’s instinct NOT to be taught to drive by Jack is right on the mark.  (I can state that as a fact, because when I got behind the wheel in an empty parking lot—guess who taught me?)  J

280 LET'S LAUGH AT THE TRUTH—AGAIN!

Post 270 LAUGHING AT THE TRUTH was rewritten, today, Sept. 29, 2011.

While rereading post 270, my mind began to edit, and a simple, two-step plan for resolving inner conflict emerged, which you may consider worth reading!
J

279 FOUR PILLARS WERE INTRODUCED IN POST 55 (MAY 16, 2011)

If you'd like to review the post in which THE FOUR PILLARS OF FRIENDSHIP (AND STRENGTH) were introduced, please check back to Post 55, written May 16, 2011.

278 DOES HODA KOTB'S ARTICLE SPEAK TO YOU AS IT DID TO ME?

Hoda Kotb of NBC's Today TV show writes in today's USA Weekend Magazine—and I quote:

"I never saw it coming."  [Cancer and divorce.]

Hoda was on a plane when a conversation with her seat mate changed her life.  She quotes him as having said:

"Breast cancer is part of you, like getting married or working at NBC.  You can put stuff deep in your pockets and take it to your grave or you can help somebody.  Don't hog your journey; it's not just for you."

Hoda goes on:

"Getting sick and divorced was probably the worst chapter of my life.  I never would have imagined that the best chapter was [coming up] ... Life is like that.  One day it's great, the next it's terrible, and the day after you're in love and on top, saying, 'It's great again.'"

The article then explains 'tackling adversity, Hoda style':

"Surround yourself ... with people who fill you up ... don't hog your journey; share it to help others ... allow yourself dark days to stay under the covers watching Law & Order reruns and eating junk food."

One of my dear friends, a breast cancer survivor, dived into yoga and old movies while healing.  Another healed by diving into her work.  When I need to heal, I dive into the dark side of my mind in hopes of cleansing my closet of baggage.  And low and behold, each time I dive,  insights, which lighten my load, float to the surface of conscious awareness, and my spirit brightens.

While teaching at the college, I shared insights into taming mayhem and resolving conflicts by telling stories about raising my family.  Today, my focus has expanded to include each stage of life that I've experienced, thus far.  At the outset of 'my life story', I was ten.  Then twelve.  Now, we'll take a flying leap back to three.  Why jet back and forth across the time line?

As additional details expand that which we think to know, a deeper understanding of ripple effects develops for the reader and this author, as well.

For example, once you get to know me at three, you'll understand why I told no one about being bullied at ten.  And if insights emerge as this story unfolds, it's likely that our understanding, concerning why some children open up and ask for guidance while others stuff their baggage inside, will deepen.

So thank you Hoda, for sharing your personal experience as well as your seat mate's perceptions—thus validating my dedication to writing this blog.

You see, it's impossible to heal until we know the deeper reason for our pain, so presently, I want to know why I feel a sense of dread, each time I sit down to fill in the details of this story.  So why do I persist?

While making my way through the process of uncloaking another spot of subconscious pain, my vision of the future moves past surviving, because my spirit 'knows' the joys of thriving—and that's where I'm headed, again. J

  

277 LET'S TUNNEL BACK A BIT FOR THE SAKE OF CLARITY

As
Post # 262 TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR  #9
Was published a while ago
You may want to review it
In order to ensure
That my reasons for writing
TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR  #10
Become crystal clear

As
You may recall
My blog will move back and forth across the time line of my life
In order to showcase specific examples of how relationships grow complex
When our perceptions remain off track, over long
Unfortunately, instead of learning to identify misperceptions
Which intensify confusion, all around
All too many worker bees remain blindly divided until the honey dries up

On
The other hand
In hives where worker bees choose to open their eyes, ears and minds, all around
Misperceptions clarify

Complications simplify

Conflicts are resolved

And as a result of learning to support each other in positive ways

The honey produced in these hives tastes sweeter than ever before

PS

Love stories with happy endings are filled with ups and downs—

And ups outnumber downs when insight conquers subconscious fears, which
Tend to knock courageous moments of intimacy on its ear

If you'd like to turn love gone wrong around
Then please remember this:
Opposites attract for good reason, and

Tis wise to reconsider which role you've taken as your own:
The cock-eyed optimist or the closet pessimist

As you shall see ...
Balance in all things proves vital when
Friendship and love are in need of reconditioning

276 AHA! MOMENTS RELIEVE INNER CONFLICTS ...

It can be difficult to tell what's more disturbing to your sense of peace:

Conflict with another person

or

Conflict within yourself—concerning what to do once you see how unhealthy a relationship has become.

If you are emerging from denial but others are not, here is what results:

Your patterns process through phases of change while theirs remain unchanged

As it's common for change to advance one painful step at a time, monumental changes take t-i-m-e

If change creates confusion
Which escalates into mayhem

Conflicts may deepen until you—

Can't live with'em

Can't live without'em

Change is classic to all relationships, because—

Love is like that

And

Old habits die hard

And

Habits form patterns

And

If I feel a compelling need to change my pattern

While you can't see any need to change yours

Then our puzzle pieces can't fit together

As securely as they had in the past

As it's natural for friendships and love relationships

To advance through this s-l-o-w process of change
The pain we each feel is classic
Because personal growth takes place at every stage of life:

Babies develop into 'terrible twos'

Children develop into moody teens

Teens develop into beginner adults

Some beginner adults mature in certain areas

Some beginner adults mature in other areas

Couples marry and various life styles and values try to merge
Parents age

In short no one leaves childhood unscathed
And as maturity does not occur in ABC order

Individuals do not mature, simultaneously, in every aspect of life

As some will experience one frustration while others experience another

One individual may be busy learning certain lessons

While another person is paying mind to others

So rather than putting down each other's flaws

We'd each fare better by choosing to open our eyes, ears and minds

And take note of each other's strengths

Once we learn to work side by side, compassionately

We'll glean insight from each other, eagerly, rather than defensively—

But then—

Choosing  to learn that which we need to know about ourselves, takes maturity ...

And so it goes ...

Something tells me that this train of thought is suggesting that my sense of readiness is nearing the station where  my three year-old self waits to be revealed.  In other words, I may be in the process of maturing (shrugging off subconscious fear—relieving inner conflict), and I really hope that's true...

275 An Aha! Moment ...

Today is Sunday, 9/25/2011.

Upon rereading post 270, today,  I had an Aha! moment.

As I've added that Aha! moment to post 270, you may want to reread it.