Insight

Without personal insight, we do not evolve into better versions of ourselves. Recognizing an asset or a problem is the first step in utilizing the asset or mitigating the problem. Personal awareness is what leads to insights that lead to revelations that show us the way to improvement. That’s what I’m working on.

I read somewhere that stress is change we haven’t adapted to yet, so now when I get stressed, I try to identify the change I haven’t adapted to yet. In my case, the recent source is the dietary change from my doctor. The doctor is right. When I follow the new diet, I’m fine. I feel better. The problem is that I don’t know what’s in so much of what I eat even though I read the labels diligently. When I order a meal in a restaurant, I’m guessing at what might actually be in the food. When I find a food that provides protein and helps me feel better, but the grocery store stops carrying it, I feel stressed. But meditation helps.

I’m not pushing a religion here. I just find I get my best insights from mindfulness meditation and dreams. Sometimes, just walking away from a problem allows me to see the obvious. I feel isolated by my diet. I see how full the grocery store is and how much of it is off limits to me. I see all the wonderful entrees on a restaurant menu and how few are available to me. Because I feel isolated, the smallest thing will add to the feeling of isolation. As the Dalai Lama has said, afflictive emotions (in my case, feeling isolated) allow me to hone in on anything else that echoes the sentiment, and the feeling becomes exaggerated. Afflictive emotions, by the way, are caused by not realizing everything and every event are interdependent, e.g. feeling isolated. I realized that, and began to think of the foods I can eat, and then I felt better.

Then I meditated on self-acceptance, which leads to self-compassion. Isn’t that a wonderful idea? (Obviously not mine originally.) I believe that all beings are basically good, because I believe the concept of good has to exist before the concept of bad can exist. That’s idealistic, which I am, and a bit theoretical. The point is everyone deserves to feel good about and toward themselves. We all suffer enough as it is.

So now I feel better about myself. I hope to find easier choices of food that help my body feel better. I also feel better about the music I play on guitar and my little harp, the art I do with my pastel chalk, the blankets I knit, and the poetry I write, because I meditated on accepting myself. And I did. And I do. And the moral to this story is if you’re stressed, figure out what change you haven’t adapted to yet, and find options to help you make that transition, because life changes way too fast for most of us these days.

May we all be relaxed, free from suffering, kind, and happy.

2016

A new year has half gone by, so I decided to post on my blog. It seems fauna is adapting well to climate change. Spring started in April. Since then almost everything in our garden has either bloom…

Source: 2016

2016

A new year has half gone by, so I decided to post on my blog. It seems fauna is adapting well to climate change. Spring started in April. Since then almost everything in our garden has either bloomed or has buds. It’s beautiful, but I understand what the flowers have been saying: Here comes the heat we hope to survive, so we’ll bloom early, go dormant, and hope for the best.

That strategy works for some people too. Bloom early, go dormant, and hope for the best. I wouldn’t say I was an early bloomer, but now that I’m retired, I can go dormant whenever the need arises. I’m writing this in the middle of the night, because daytime is just too hot. I guess it’s up to each of us to either adapt to change or just bitch a lot and make everybody else miserable. This is a good time to be adaptable.

Elsewhere others are getting all worked up about candidates for President of the US they don’t like, don’t agree with, or are just scared of. Is it worth getting all worked up about it? Some call it passion. Others call it civil disobedience. Fear is clearly driving the emotions. A lot of people are living on the edge and see how easily they could lose their jobs, homes, dreams, hope. I think that’s a good time to calm down and take stock of options for adaptability. Of course, I’m retired. I know it’s always possible for me to lose everything, except my peace of mind. And my adaptability. I choose to keep those.

As the saying goes, Be Calm and … I pluck on (guitar and harp). Be Calm and Listen works if you’re not in the middle of a war zone or riot. Whatever works for you, please Be Calm. And when all else fails, try to adapt. Best wishes to all.