This is From The Balance Beam
[TheBalanceBeam] - Hanging With It
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THE BALANCE BEAM
Ideas and Inspiration for Creating a Life that Works
Vol. 3 No. 4, March 25, 2002
Published by Success Builders, Inc.
http://www.SuccessBuildersInc.com
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"He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened."
Lao-tzu
In this issue: HANGING WITH IT
====================================================================== Dear Friends:
There's an old 60's tune that goes, "Mama said there'd be days like this, there'd be days like this my mama said..." In this issue of The Balance Beam, I invite you to consider how you handle "days like this," those days when for no apparent reason, you find yourself off-kilter and out of balance. Despite the beauty of the burgeoning season, we all go there. The key is finding ways to move through "days like this" with grace and acceptance.If you are interested in reading earlier editions of The Balance Beam, you can easily retrieve them by clicking on http://www.successbuildersinc.com/newsletter.html and going to the Archives section. If you are not yet a regular subscriber to The Balance Beam, you can also enter your subscription information at this location.
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Today's Topic: HANGING WITH ITI woke up yesterday morning with a bad case of the "yuck's." You know this sensation. It's like the psychic equivalent of a stomach ache and a low-grade fever. It's nothing that will kill you, but it's a generally rotten feeling that emanates from someplace in the soul and follows you around all day like a shadow.
So anyway, there I was with the yuck's. Even though it was a beautiful day and the birds were singing outside my window, it was clear from the moment I opened my eyes that this was going to be one of those days. I crawled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom, frowning at my reflection in the mirror. Although I couldn't put my finger on it, I just knew I felt like......well, you know. It was one of those moments where it was clear to me that I was somehow less evolved and lower on the food chain than everyone else I know. Yuck.
I turned on the shower, hoping that somehow I could wash this stuff off of me, knowing that was highly unlikely. As I dried off, I examined myself in the mirror with a critical eye. Hmmm, a few more lines around my eyes since the last time I checked, slumped shoulders and what looked like an extra pound or two around my waist despite my salad for dinner the night before. It probably wouldn't surprise you to know that it also turned out to be a bad hair day.
When I went into my office, I set about trying to shift things. I put on a CD of my favorite music, put some peppermint oil on my lamp ring, and opened the blinds to get maximum sunlight into the room. That didn't help. It just revealed the dust bunnies that I hadn't gotten to on my last pass at cleaning the place. And the oil was so strong it made my head start pounding.
Yuck.
Finally, after an hour or so of struggling with this feeling, I happened to glance at the lyrics from a song you'll probably recognize that I keep taped to my computer monitor:
"When I find myself in times of trouble,
Mother Mary comes to me,
Speaking words of wisdom,
Let it be."And I stopped. Dead in my tracks, I stopped. I got up from my desk and went to find a comfortable chair. I sat down, closed my eyes, and breathed. I let my mind and heart and soul wash over with all that was there....the good, the bad and the ugly. No struggle, no fight, no intention to dispel the yuck's. I simply let it be. I must have sat there in that place of quiet meditation for close to an hour, noticing what showed up and gently exploring what it meant for me. Some of it was mundane, some troublesome, and some just plain boring. And sprinkled in the midst of it all, were a few fairly profound and comforting ah-hah's.
When I finally opened my eyes and did the re-entry thing, I noticed I felt lighter, and a little less blue. Now mind you, I wasn't ready for tap-dancing, but I was in a different place, and certainly one that I preferred.
So what was my lesson? I had been pouring so much energy into trying to change the way that I was feeling, that I was missing the insights and the learning that were there for me. When I stopped struggling with the yuck's, and chose instead to pay attention to what was going on for me that had spawned this feeling, I was able to shift to a different perspective. And though I can't tell you that I ended the day feeling on top of the world, I can say that being able to view where I was from a different perspective was immensely calming and less stressful than the struggle.
The moral of the story? Hang with it. There's value in those yucky days, even if it's hiding underneath a case of bad hair. Be where you are. It's acceptance that will allow you to eventually move to another place.
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Words to live by:"We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses."
- Carl Jung"Man is the only creature that refuses to be what he is."
- Albert Camus