Sailing

Affirmation:   Perhaps I cannot control the wind but I can adjust the sail.

While attending a family wedding, I was seated next to someone I had never met before.  For me, that's always an opportunity to learn something new.  This woman was delightful to talk to and we quickly got on the subject of facing our fears, of doing those things that we find challenging.  She shared that she had many challenges in her life and she had several sayings that had helped her through them.  The first one she shared with me was from Eleanor Roosevelt:  “You gain strength and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.  You must do the things you think you cannot do.”  It reminds me of Picasso, “If someone tells you, you are not a painter, paint.”  But, the one she found the most helpful was:  Perhaps I cannot control the wind but I can adjust the sail.  She said she framed it and put it where she would walk past it several times a day. 

She had created an affirmation and she had discovered a way to let it seep into her unconscious.  And, she indicated that it had worked for her.  She had faced her challenges and she was well on her way to a fuller, healthier life. 

When we create an affirmation, we are adjusting the sail.  We are adjusting our sail.  We are putting it up into the winds of life and steering it in a direction that will benefit us.   Life is full of breezes and storms.  Why not do everything in our power to set our course the way we want it to go?  Write out your affirmations.  Put them where you will see them and read them daily, or as she did, several times a day.  They will take shape and help you sail into a life full of meaning and blessings.

Lent

Affirmation:   I know by meditating on Jesus throughout my day, I am in union with the Divine, miracles are created and without struggle my life will be transformed in ways beyond my imagination.

We are now in the season of Lent.  If you grew up with this concept, you know the first question most people are asked about their Lenten practice is,  “What are you giving up for Lent?”  For years, I gave up nothing.  I just didn’t see the purpose.  And then, I heard a homily on the advantage of developing self discipline, self denial and it made perfect sense to me why I would want to develop such a skill and so, I gave up things I really enjoyed like chocolate and wine.  But, I also found myself thinking maybe I’d drop a few pounds as a side benefit.  After a while, that seemed quite self-serving.  I think I was missing the point.  Now, I understand while it is a season of fasting and abstinence, it’s also a time to rest in the Lord, to take time to listen to His voice, to the voices of my Angels and Guides.  It’s a time to share those things that are truly precious to me; my time, talent and treasure.  It’s a time to plant some seeds and to tend to them so they may produce the flowers and fruits of love and joy.  Now, that is something that takes quite a bit of guidance.  What do I need to do to create a bountiful harvest?

Several years ago, Father Emmanuel from Africa gave the Ash Wednesday homily.  He had a very eastern approach to Lent.  He said he had watched our American culture take on more, do more, struggle more, during Lent and he wondered if maybe we shouldn’t consider “doing less.”  Doing less!!  Oh my, now there was a self discipline I might find very difficult to embrace.  I like to “do.”  I like to be busy, busy, busy.  I like to think I’m making a difference in the world.  I’m contributing; I’m making the world a better place to live.  And now, I am being challenged to do less. 

Well, I have accepted the challenge but along with it, I have decided that with my “free” time, I will pray more; I will listen harder.  I have decided that with these three steps in practice, I will open myself to God’s grace and will move forward in whatever direction I am led.  I’ve decided not to be in charge but am hoping that by focusing on my faith, on my relationship with Christ, I will be led to that place where it’s not up to me how I use my time, treasure and talent, but up to God and that with the guidance of my Angels and Guides in those quiet moments, I will be used as their instrument. 

This is my Lenten practice. 

Charter of Compassion

Affirmation:  My seven step Charter of Compassion is: Pray, Embrace Silence, Meditate at least 20 minutes once a day, Listen to God’s Voice, Affirm what is Important to me, Release it into God’s Love and Love; non-judging, non-grasping, and unconditional.

I was lucky enough to be invited to a small workshop led by Sister Maureen (Sister Mo) of the Sisters of the Precious Blood.  She is a consummate retreat leader.  She has led many retreats and is a spiritual counselor.  I didn’t know Sister Mo before the retreat.  It was an honor and a pleasure to meet her and work with her.  We spent the weekend working on our Charter of Compassion.  There were several of us who attended and I must tell you, we each had a very different concept of what this charter should look like.  We weren’t instructed how to formulate it or given any outline for it.  We simply spent time talking about compassion.  What did it look like?  How did you know it when you saw or heard about it?  Who do you know that you consider compassionate?  Who have you heard about who you thought embodied the concept?  Do you think it’s important?  Why?  When?  Where?  Then, we were instructed to journal and write about whatever came up and see where it might lead us.

Some people wrote eloquently about compassion for the world and how they believed that could be accomplished; some wrote about their families, some about their volunteer work.  There was a myriad of concepts, all wonderful, all filled with hope.

The above affirmation was the charter I developed.  I decided I needed to begin with me and hoped it would be like throwing a pebble in the pond, only to see the ripple reach out to the very ends.  And, for me, it seemed these were the necessary steps.  I’ve kept it just the way I formulated during the retreat, except I had hoped I could meditate for 20 minutes, twice a day.  I did for a long time, and I may again but it became onerous as time went on, so I took compassion on myself and changed it to once a day.  I still have days when I don’t get to it but I am always aware of my intention.

What about you?  What would your Charter of Compassion look like?  Do you think it might be a worthwhile endeavor to develop one?  If you do, I hope you’ll share it here and with the world.

Creating

Affirmation:   (1) I embrace prospective travel with grace and ease.  (2) I travel joyfully.

I was preparing to leave on a trip, a fun trip.  I was going with my friends on a Caribbean cruise.  I can hear my 90 year old mother-in-law’s voice, “I hate, I hate to pack.  I hate it with a passion.”  I’ve been lucky enough to travel quite a bit and to many fascinating places but to be honest, I think sometimes I like the idea of travel more than I actually like the experience. 

I was lucky enough to visit my friend/counselor/massage therapist before I was to leave.  She is a remarkable therapist and as she worked on me, we talked.  At one point she said it was obvious to her that I was preparing to travel.  She’s known me now for more than ten years and I see her as often as possible.  She said whenever I’m preparing for a trip; my body gets knotted up especially my stomach and my back.  I told her that my affirmation was, I travel joyfully.  She told me, that was good but it was more about how I had physically responded to travel in the past.  The response was etched into my cellular memory. 

Dr. John Sarno tells us that to change how our bodies response to our emotions we have to work on it until it seeps into not just our subconscious, but our unconscious.  It can happen, he says, it simply takes time.  It takes some of us longer than others.

The next morning as I journaled I created another affirmation to change how my unconscious responds to upcoming travel.  This is what my stream of consciousness produced:  I respond to travel viscerally and I have worked on the unconscious, although that seems to require a change.  I travel joyfully. I travel with ease. I relish the preparation and know the adventure will open my mind? I gracefully anticipate or embrace the whole experience?  I invite this new way of thinking into my tissues and my cells.  I must know, I must practice, I must work it out so that when travel looms my body responds with calm and with joy.  What words do I want to use for this affirmation?  I embrace prospective travel with grace and ease.  I think that will do it.  Let it be so. 

I am sharing this journal entry because this is the process I use to create my affirmations.  I listen for hints about what I need to re-frame in my mind to make my life richer, easier, less anxious.  Then, i write about it in my daily journal.  After I've examined my response, I look for the words, the sentences that resonate with me or perhaps the ones that don't resonate but that would change something that isn't working for me.  I write and write until the sentence comes alive.  Then, I transfer it to a few pieces of paper and I place them in places where I can't miss them, e.g. the bathroom mirror, the car dashboard. 

It’s only been one day and I’m feeling calmer but I know this is not something that can be resolved overnight.  But, hopefully I will respond with grace and ease while anticipating my next trip or the one after that.