Finding Your Way

I was on a long (6 hour) road trip to Kansas City the other day with a colleague of mine from the office. When we hit the "no radio" area, she glanced through my CD's and popped in Sting's "Mercury Falling" album.

I hadn't listened to this one in a while and found myself happily humming along through the first few songs, lyrics seemingly coming from the depths of my brain to allow me to sing along in my head. And then we hit the song "Soul Pilot" and I had one of those mini epiphanies that can either make or break your day.

It's a really simple song - basically, Sting is saying to trust your Soul (aka your intuition, gut instinct, etc.) to guide you on your path, whether things are going really well or really badly.

What a simple solution to everyday stress - stop, breathe, listen to your Soul, and move ahead. I think it's actually the Stop part that hangs everyone up - we're so busy getting things done that the idea of actually stopping and standing (or sitting) still for more than 5 seconds seems impossible.

So - I tried it. I've been fretting about a lot of small things lately - we're getting ready to put on a major festival, and with these types of events there are 101 oddball odds and ends that need attending to, and seemingly no time to get them all done. So, as I said, I tried it by stopping - stopping what I was doing, stopping thinking about work, and just clearing my mind. You would not believe how hard that was. Try it - you'll see. Tuning out co-workers, phones, computers, printers, the worries in my head - oy!

I eventually got to a serene place, took paper and pen, and made a list of the small worries that have been eating at me. Then, one by one, I went through each item, and focused just on that one thing - and really listened to myself and to my higher self about it. One by one, I got ideas and ways to move forward, until I'd made it to the bottom of my list. Then I sat back and looked at it - wow - there was a lot of relieved stress and worry on that page - there was direction and potential movement in its place. Pretty darn cool.

So now, I'm not worrying, because I have a plan of action, and my day actually feels lighter and brighter than it did a few minutes ago. What a marvelous feeling of accomplishment. I highly recommend the exercise - it might surprise you.

Musings from the Back Porch

I am lucky enough to work at a pagan-owned company, smack-dab in the middle of the Ozarks, that just so happens to be on the third floor of a building in the city's Courthouse Square. We have a lovely porch out back that looks out upon the vast sprawl of the city and the bountiful greens of the ozark forests beyond.

It's a wonderful place to take a brain-break, relax and watch the last of the hummingbirds fly through, stealing the final sips of nectar from the vines that crawl along our porch railings. We've been fortunate enough at home to have been entertained this summer by these fast flying acrobats - I've marveled at how quickly their young matured, and at the strange and melodious chirpings they make, especially when defending their territory. At the height of our season, we had over 12 hummingbirds fighting over our one measley feeder - the cats (needless to say) spent the majority of their summer with their noses glued to the window.

Today's high flyer on the back porch here at work was alone, quickly and efficiently slurping down the flower sap as it flitted from flower to flower. No rest for the weary it seemed, as he skillfully worked his way along the vine, not missing a single flower that I could see. Made me tired just watching him.

How often do we behave just like him - quickly working through our errands without a second to pause and take in the beauty around us. It made me realize that I had been doing just that all morning - rushing to work, working through meetings, running several errands on my lunch break, then rushing back to work and working through my To-Do lists...all the while completely oblivious to the beautiful weather outside - bright sunshine, azure blue skies, a lovely breeze and cool temperatures - my short break out on the porch has completely managed to reinvigorate me for the rest of the day.

How about you? Been buzzing around at high speed like the hummingbird? Make the choice to allow yourself a moment to catch your breath, breathe in deep and let your shoulders relax. Bet you feel better too!

The Power of Forgiveness

Remember the old adage, "Forgive and Forget"? As children, we're all reminded to forgive, and better yet to forget when bad things happen and move on. I advise a different strategy - "Forgive and Learn."

I don't see how "forgetting", or really just pretending to forget, helps anything. Instead, we should forgive and we should learn from what has taken place, and then move forward. Forgetting seems like a waste, a cop-out.

If we instead Learn from what happened, we at least have a leg up on the situation if we encounter it again. And we've grown - we've allowed ourselves to grow in some way by choosing to learn. When we forget, we choose to stagnate, to stay mired in our feelings of hurt or betrayal.

Be honest - can you ever truly forgive and forget? Isn't it easier to forgive and learn?

Gratitude

Gratitude - saying "Thank You" - giving thanks for the harvest - acknowledging the efforts of a friend, or even a stranger - being grateful you're not alone.

How many times do we take it for granted that people know we are grateful for them - for their help, their wisdom, their advice, their shoulder to cry on, for being a sounding board, for just listening, or for doing something completely unexpected but urgently needed?

What are you grateful for today? Not just grateful for in general, but grateful for TODAY...what's happened today so far that you're grateful for? For myself, I'm grateful to have woken up next to a very sexy pagan man, grateful for my puppy's unabashed lickings of love as I stumbled to the door, for my cat's well-timed jump into my lap as I sipped my coffee so I could give her some well deserved pets. I'm grateful to the man at the stop sign who waved me through, for the coworker who started the coffee this morning so I could grab a cup without having to make a pot.

Do you see where I'm going with this? There are so many little miracles that happen everyday to lighten our lives and lighten the weight the world places on our shoulders. Open your heart, and find the loving gratefulness that's in there, waiting to be unleashed and gifted to all those around us that we're grateful for every day - you'll be amazed how being grateful for others can make you feel better yourself.