It is all about slowing down, taking time for yourself and establishing new habits that will last a lifetime.
Theme – En-courage
This is the art of courage: to see things as they are and still believe that the victory lies not with those who avoid the bad, but those who taste, in living awareness, every drop of the good. (Victoria Lincoln)
The focus this week was to explore what it means to live a wholehearted life; to see how courage and vulnerability work together to complete you.
En-courage yourself today by completing these statements:
Without apology and hesitation, I would like to declare ...
That I have always tried to live a productive life, to not do harm to others and to do my bit to look after the environment and animals.
I know the truth when I hear it because …
The truth is that I don’t know the truth. I like to believe people and have faith in them until they prove me wrong. I think that at some point in their lives everyone is guilty of telling lies, but it is the severity of them that is the real key to making you the person you are. A lot of lies hurt, they are unfair, and they can cause so much heartache but, they also destroy confidences and trust. It is broken trust issue that the crux of what happens after that. I think that not matter how much forgiveness is given there will always be a little piece missing from that relationship, friendship, working arrangement etc. form then on. Once trust is gone I don’t think things can ever be the same.
Telling myself that "I matter" makes me feel …
I’m not so sure that I do matter, not on a universal level and by saying it about myself makes me uncomfortable. I am not saying that I have no confidence in myself or that I am not worthy of my life, far from it … it is rather that I matter no more or less than everyone else, of every other living creature, or of anything intrinsic to what goes to make up our planet.
So, what have I uncovered about myself this week … well, for one thing the clutter in my life takes on two distinct regions. I have the emotion, sentimental accumulation of things that mean the world to be because they were owned by someone that I love that is no longer here and, then there is the practical stuff that I keep because it may come in handy one day. In this throw-away culture that is a throw-back from the past ‘make-do-and-mend era that my grandparents lived through and which is fast becoming a trait associated with the older generation.
I know that physically I matter to the people around me, my family, my friends, and associates but ultimately it would only be those that are very close that would be affected if I wasn’t here. Even then, the death of someone that was very close, although devastating for most is a transition that is endured and in time accepted, however much it will continue to always hurt.
Then there are the ones that rely on me especially my animals but even then, provisions are in place to ensure that the best is done for them when the time comes and from my years of working in rescue I know they are resilient and as long as they are given the right chance they will be fine.
But I think the most important thing that has come home this week is that I matter to me.
I love the life I now lead, I love the place we live, the people and creatures that have chosen to live with and around me and, the life I have had thus far. Okay, there have been the traumas, the murder of my partner, the death of a child, and the myriad of other incidences that have struck unexpected blows to my existence but, whatever I have had to endure there are, as they say … always people off that have had it worse.
So, I matter to me and I suppose knowing that is one of the greatest natural highs there is.