How will you EXIT this year?

I'd always considered New Year's Day, January 1, as a really bad Monday.  This is because I had always looked at the new beginning as a glass-half-empty approach.  The entrance into something I might not be able to handle.  Too many unknowns. 

But I had it all wrong because I was unprepared by being over-prepared with expectations.

So a few years ago I figured I'd try a new way to think about it.

This year it's a new EXIT, which brings me back to my very first ever blog post from this past January.

A new leap from where I needed to be before I enter into the next year, reminding me of a quote I still smile about, by Bill Withers, the musician:

"You can't get to wonderful without passing through alright."

You've got to have faith that you'll be alright, by being okay with where you've already been, and by letting go of the fear of what's to come.  You have to trust the flow of life, the spontenaity of being free.  That's the ultimate liberty, freedom from the self restraint, the fear, the walls that have all led to the blockages that hold you back.

My 'resolution' is a new hope - the hope that the fear I have inside of me as a result from the Newtown, CT tragedies, as well as the massive amount of pain and suffering in this world, is overshadowed by the love inside of me.  I can't wish problems and tragedies away completely, as I know I need to experience all these dualities.

I cannot escape pain and suffering. I can only escape from being overwhelmed by it, by facing it and challenging it every day, and by continuing to focus on the love and joy that is always life itself.

Happy Exit, friends :)
I'll see you on the other side.

Much love,
~ L ~

bowl of cherries

If you read my posts, you know I believe that there are no such thing as coincidences.

Like my recent addiction to bing cherries. 

I crave them during the day. I eat all of them in the bowl within 24 hours.

I laugh because of the irony of this. "Life is like a bowl of cherries." I can't help but think about how you eat one.....you bite it away from it's stem, picking it from it's once-upon-a-lifeline.  It's juicy and silky and sweet.  Then you spit out the jagged little pitt. 

So how is this symbolic of life I thought?

Well, first of all, it's a line from a song written in the 1930's, check out these lyrics:

Life is just a bowl of cherries;

Don't make it serious; 
Life's too mysterious.
You work, you save, you worry so,
But you can't take your dough when you go, go, go.
So keep repeating it's the berries; 
The strongest oak must fall.
The sweet things in life
To you were just loaned,
So how can you lose what you've never owned?
Life is just a bowl of cherries,
So live and laugh at it all. 

Ahhhhh.....don't be too serious. Even the strongest must fall. 

These cherries were screaming to me for a very good reason. I've been struggling with worry and fear since late last week and searching desperately to grip onto something. 

So I'll keep grabbing cherries.... ...I'll loan you one........

..........The sweet things in life 

To you were just loaned,

So how can you lose what you've never owned?

((( shaken up )))

I wrote several paragraphs about my feelings towards the recent tragedy in Connecticut.  

I backspaced the entire thing.

There are just no words.

I am grieving along with this nation.

And that is an understatement.

~ L ~

lightning struck me

I don't like surprises.

So when that no-name flash-flood-of-a-storm sprung upon us last night, I was a little upset with it for sneaking up on me.  That's not to say that I didn't admire its light display, or welcome the chance to snuggle with the kids in the dark.

But why, Self, do you feel the need to always be prepared - ready for - something in advance? 

What if you just let life happen upon you, ready or not?

Why not let go of fear? Fear is the cause of every problem.

Michael A. Singer, author of my new favorite book, The Untethered Soul ((given to me by my mother-in-law)), brings up a very important point on this issue:

"Ultimately, if you protect yourself perfectly, you will never grow......you will never be free.....If you learn to remain centered with the smaller things, you will see that you can also remain centered with the bigger things.  Over time, you will find that you can even remain centered with the really big things.  The types of events that would have destroyed you in the past can come and go, leaving you centered and peaceful.....and then, ultimately, even if terrible things happen, you should be able to live without emotional scars and impressions."

(excerpt from Ch. 7, Transcending the tendency to close)

I don't want to bear especially the smallest of burdens and, essentially, I want to live every day like it's a new surprise.

~ L ~

It's Saturday.

It's the first night of Hanukkah.

The second weekend in December.

Lights are everywhere, presents are on your mind,

maybe some reflection of where you were this time last year...

And so I ask you this:

What is your wish this season?

Think about it. Maybe it will change each day.

Maybe it hasn't changed in years.

~ L ~

peace from awareness

Reading this book that I've mentioned here before,

"The Untethered Soul,"

I came across a multitude of life lessons, 

in fact about 10 per page.

But funny how things stick out to you at different times for one reason or another.

This stuck out to me today:

"You must learn to be comfortable with psychological disturbance. If your mind becomes hyperactive, just watch it.  If your heart starts to heat up, let it go through what it must.  Try to find the part of you that is capable of noticing that your mind is hyperactive and that your heart is heating up.  That part is your way out.....The only way to inner freedom is through the one who watches: the Self.....In time, you will come to realize that the center from which you watch disturbance cannot get disturbed."

Quite liberating, huh?

Figured we could all use a dose of personal liberation right about now.  

Not one of us reading this is without disturbance of some sort in our lives.

Here's to a small dose of inner freedom.

~ L ~