" Surrender ... "

“ ... Surrender every word, every thought every sound.

Surrender every touch, every smile, every frown.

Surrender all the pain we've endured until now.

Surrender all the hope that I lost you have found.

Surrender yourself to me

I think I found a flower in a field of weeds,

I think I found a flower in a field of weeds.

Searching until my hands bleed,

This flower don't belong to me ...

(Surrender) I never had the nerve to ask ... “

~ Billy Talent ~ Surrender ~

***

It takes a quiet knowing within to understand you were born for something unique, something more.  And answering our personal calling is a walk of raw courage.

I have come to understand that surrendering is allowing and surrendering is receiving.  Because when it comes to accessing the courage to step into this life and who we really are, self-doubt rears its ugly head.  Inner criticism, groundless-ness, confusion ... all part of the journey.  So surrendering is a yielding to the calling within.  Avoidance of it, halts our spiritual growth.

When we surrender to our calling or our path, we feel uncomfortable, hidden and misunderstood; yet, the deepest healing, growth and inner transformation takes place.  Because it is in surrendering to the process of the call that we find our whole.  We are brought back to truth.  

Each one of us has a unique gift to share, some just haven’t taken the time to unravel it yet.  Surrendering is part of the unravelling and easily misunderstood as passivity.  Yet it is change in stance, state of being.  It is a softening, a coming home to.  it is what we receive when we’ve made peace with life.  We feel a softness, not striving in our lives.

Take meaningful action and find your true self.  Wake up to what it’s all about and what all the circumstances are for, LOVE.  Begin to see how life is releasing exquisite gems to you in every moment, like water dripping from the tap.  And realize that connection and tenderness are available for the faces that grace your life.

www.walkstrong.ca

" Rest ... "

“ ... You'll have to excuse me, I'm not at my best

I've been gone for a month

I need home for a rest ... 

There so-called vacations

By the light of the moon she'd drift through the streets

A rare old perfume so seductive and sweet

She'd tease us and flirt as the pubs all closed down

Then walk us on home and deny us a round ... “

~ Spirit of the West ~ Rest ~

***

Rest is not what most people think it is.  It isn’t recreation like hiking, watching TV, gardening, reading or getting wasted.  They may provide a restful space, but they are not rest.  

Rest can be defined as a kind of waking sleep, experience while you are alert and aware, like a bridge to sleep.  We achieve rest and sleep the same way, by allowing it to happen.  

When we rest, we allow our bodies to dissolve stress.  The body’s relaxation response can lead to physlogical changes, similar to yoga, meditation or a day on the beach.  

And the spiritual benefits of resting is profound.  When you slow down and get quiet, you can actually begin to hear you own inner knowledge.  When we make space in our lives, it helps us to make sense of life on life’s terms.

Having the ability to take a few conscious breaths, during which you focus on your inhalation and exhalation or the space between breaths ... 

Having the ability to make a statement and do nothing, does something for you.  Having the desire to put boundaries around so you can claim that time ... 

Most of us need to learn how to rest.  The more we integrate periods of rest and silence into our daily lives, the bigger the payoff will be.  And  during crisis, more rest and silence are called for.  It is similar to preventive medicine.  So important to make it intentional and make it a sacred time.  

The yang lifestyle can cause damage to our quality of life.  So this activity of REST, allows us to restore our body, mind and soul.  Concentrated rest confronts stress in both ways.  It reduces the demands of the situation  and it reduces our energy for that demand.  We have an opportunity to reflect, strive for balance, and again hold reserves for life’s emergencies.  

Properly developing a discipline of concentrated rest requires both inward and outward changes. So, stop focusing on what you don’t have and start enjoying the things that you do.  And plan your rest.  It is hard to simply be but test will come only from intentional planning and planning rest will come only if it is truly desired. 

Fortunately, we can decide that we are not a victim of time demands, we are creators and acceptors of them.  We can take responsibility of our life.  And so, we are as busy as we choose to be.  Embrace simplicity of a life that focuses on your values and not your possessions.  That concept in itself, will slow things down.

Remembering that rest is not a sign of weakness, but a vital choice to only further enhance your overall growth.  Living is when we starting enjoying rather than just producing ... resting included.

www.walkstrong.ca

" Signs ... "

“ ... Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs

Messin' up the scenery, breakin' my mind

Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign

And the sign says "Everybody welcome, come in, 

kneel down and pray"

But then they passed around a plate at the end of it all

And I didn't have a penny to pay

So I got me a pen and a paper and I made up my own sign

I said, "Thank you Lord for thinking 'bout me, 

I'm alive and doing fine", oh ... “

~ Tesla ~ Signs ~ 

***

Food addiction was never my problem ... it was only a symptom.  It gave me a way out that I could never find on my own.  I always wanted to be comfortable with me but I didn’t know how to get there.  My deep-seated fears and insecurities seemed to always take over.  

Once I got cancer-ed, I realized I had no real idea of how to deal with life on life’s terms.  Everything got stripped away in all areas of my life.  And today, nothing looks remotely the same as it did 5 years ago.  And looking back, it feels like a past life.  

Currently, still living with a dis-ease, I’ve had to explore new ways, healthier ways.  The more I started to change the way I felt inside, the simpler life is getting.  I realized the problem was never food, it was me.  I only used food so that I could escape my fears and me.  Once I was unable to hide behind food, I was faced with the reality of my situation.  At my core, I feared that I wasn’t good enough, wouldn’t be loved and that something was wrong with me.  

Yet as I started to shift into a peaceful path, a path of least resistance, life started to become easier.  Suffering comes from not accepting what is.  Life is always right, we just don’t have to like it that much.  Shifting into a place of acceptance and understanding that all that I am looking for, is already within me.  No need to prove, no need to show, no need to explain, no need to do.  Just be.  Simply be and accept who I am in this moment ... and discovering the things I don't like, as hard as it is to face, is what my spiritual growth needs.

And so the shift into a more serving, productive and peaceful path gives some meaning to being here.  Sharing what we know and realizing our connection to each other, Gaia, and all it’s sentient beings.  Some may few it as a fluffy view.  Yet with a softer gaze things seem a little less contrast, a little more balanced.  

Slowing things down ... a moment for gratitude because If cancer has given me anything, it's been time to do the things I would never have done otherwise.

www.walkstrong.ca

" Hope ... "

“ .. I hope that the world stops raining

Stops turning it’s back on the young

See nobody here is blameless

I hope that we can fix all that we’ve done ... 

I hope we start seeing forever

Instead of what we can gain in a day ... 

I hope we stop taking for granted

All of the land and all of the sea

I’m taking a chance on loving

I hope that you take it with me

I just hope I’m not the only one

I just hope I’m not the only one

I just hope I’m not the only one ... “

~ Emeli Sande ~ Hope ~ 

***

Some days, it is hard to navigate hope.  Some days, it is hard to look forward to the future and believe that the best is waiting for you ... some days.

... keeping the belief 

that your higher power 

has your best interest at heart ... 

asking you 

to trust in your divine source 

for guidance ... 

Being hopeful and believing that the future can be brighter is a positive step, but the unwillingness to accept the past or present as it is and using it as an escape, isn’t.  Once you learn to accept the realities of your experiences without denying them, you can have real hope.  It’s just getting there which is the tough part ... some days.

It is a process ... relying on your faith to keep hope alive and accepting what is.  It is possible to find inner strength to support your struggle ... and intend for a encompassing recovery.  But it is just that ... an intention knowing that attachment to a certain outcome is suffering.

And when it comes to hope, it doesn’t need to be defended, it just needs to be supported.  Perhaps others call it blind faith.  Whatever it may be, it comes from within.  And some days, it is all you got ... and it is just so hard to find it.  So you do the next best thing ... express gratitude.  

Gratitude for all that is and available to you in this moment.  It may not be what you wished for, it may not be what you wanted ... but you still have a choice.  A choice to move forward and serve.  Turning life's challenges into opportunities for transformation.  But you have to dig deep, real deep.  So deep that you never thought you could.  Every single part of you has to want it.  

And it is hard ... some days.

But I am realizing that the navigating hope is really a coping mechanism ... some days are stronger, others not so much.  And those days, I appreciate the impermanence of the moment.  Precious moments of life can be lost to discouragement.  It is about re framing your thoughts and reworking your perspective.  It is about setting your intentions and putting your attention to it ... It is about staying focused, staying thankful and staying hopeful ... some days.

www.walkstrong.ca

" Centre Of The Universe ... "

“ ... I come before you with my heart in my hand

Hoping you can see me through this veil of tears

Somehow I've got to make you understand

Ah, don't you know me after all these years?

This is not the center of the universe

That's alright with me

This is not the center of the universe

But it's where I wanna be ... “

~ Eagles ~ Center Of The Universe ~

***

When we move the center of influence in our lives to events outside us, we interpret life as physical.  We give so much importance to external circumstances that we lose all touch with an inner self.  Everything that we think matters lies in the world outside us, and the desperate cry of our inner needs ... to love, give and belong ... go unheard.  When everything that matters lies in the world outside us, we are at the mercy of manipulating events and people to gain control.  

When we move the center of influence inward we feel the tendency to question everything that comes to us.  We want to know why.  The practice of Shravana is one of stilling your internal and external questions and learning to listen.  From this point of view, we can learn to absorb and become more of the witness to life without trying to interpret meaning.  The practice of Shravana relinquishes the desire to find the answers to all your questions and from this surrendering, you may find the answers come to you.

Cultivating the habit of mindfulness allows us to ask those questions, in stillness.  As we delve inward, the exaggerated sensitivity to the physical level of life diminishes.  The triggers to overreact to our surroundings in ways that bring on emotional and physical distress fade.  

And as we practice the art of listening, Shravana, we build a powerful concentration to hear ourselves.  Listening to self requires you to be more alert and attentive in the present moment.  Mindful of self.  Being able to live in the present moment is the ultimate goal of meditation.  As you become aware of every single emerging moment, you have attained a mindful state, no longer bound to the oscillations of others ... and As we move this center of influence inward, the veil is lifted and the true nature of our minds, in all its luminosity, shines.

www.walkstrong.ca

" Attached ... "

“ ... I've tried and tried again to let you go

Even though you're the only have I have in this world

If you leave, what do I do?

Now what do I do? ... 

Heaven, will you let it rain?

I want to hid my tears in the rain

Because I was attached, I was foolishly attached

And even to this day, I love you ... “

*** Brown Eyed Girl ~ Attached ~ 

***

Practicing non-attachment can be liberating but it is yet another practice.  A practice when you learn to relate to your emotions differently ... understanding their impermanence.

Practicing non-attachment allows you to have the ability detangle from emotional states of aversion for the negative or wanting to extend the positive.  The emotions rise and dissolve.  There is perspective.

When you understand the true meaning of non-attachment expectations no longer rule your life ... and the emotions that arise, you have space for.  You relate to the world as it is rather than to your concepts about it.  And you are able to allow life to unfold without needing to control everything.  The sense of spaciousness and freedom felt brings a genuine contentment that starves in temporary experiences.  

And it is good to remember that non-attachment differs from detachment.  Detachment is unresponsive and removed from emotions.  Non-attachment allows us to feel the emotions but not become trapped by them.  Hence when we are non-attached, we still care but we no longer discriminate, feeling love for this person and aversion for another.  

“ ... Neither do we "detach from the body." 

We wisely realize it is not permanent 

and that it is not our true self. 

It is a temporary dwelling for this lifetime. 

But we still need to take care of it 

and treat it with respect as we try to find the balance 

between hedonism and asceticism ... “

So it really isn’t about just “letting go”, the usual cliche used in meditation and yoga classes.  Because detachment and non-attachment differ ... and when we think of letting go, we are programmed to believe that it is something to get rid of or throw out.  Rather than get rid of attachment, we can experience the non- attachment ... simply not holding on, not grasping ... ultimately, we experience PEACE.

www.walkstrong.ca