This morning I was making my bed, like I do most mornings. I guess I was in a rush to get on with my day, because I smacked one of my fingers against the brass and iron bed footboard. Something about intense, acute, physical pain snapped my attention, my body, my focus to the here and now. My hand hurt in the present.
Think about your life. What actions bring you to embodying the head, the heart, your full body, and presence? Are they pleasurable or painful experiences? Now, here's a deeper question... Is your head, heart, or physical body feeling the pain of the past, or the longing for the future?
As I stood there with my throbbing finger, I pondered that very thought.
Just for a short time, tune in to your body. Right here, right now. The fastest way to get present is to consciously notice your breath, and bring your awareness on how you breathe in and breathe out. Are you slowing down, with your thoughts and feelings? Can you feel your weight in the chair, or your back as it leans against the backrest? Are you feeling calm? Are you thinking “what’s the point”? Every experience could be your attachment to the past, or to the present moment and a pattern you've chose to accept in your life.
Listen to this excerpt from life coach Cheryl Richardson’s weekly call-in internet radio show, Coach on Call, taken from Hayhouse Radio.com. You can sign up to receive podcasts of each week’s show for free for seven days, or better yet, became a part of the Hayhouse Wisdom Community, and you'll have access to over 3,000 hours worth of archived shows, and I know something will pique your interest. And when you are a part of the Wisdom Community, those podcasts are commercial-free. Click on the Hayhouse link to get started. Hayhouse will even give you a free gift while supplies last. (You can check out your free gift with the blog post directly following this one.) You’ll also receive discounts on events and publications from the Hayhouse family of products.
My hand no longer throbs in pain, yet the memory of pain or painful experiences can bring me right back to that place of unwanted sensation in my mind and body. I have daily practices to bring me back home to my body, mind, and spirit. I still wonder; how often through years of habitual ways of being or thinking have we humans felt pain from our past? I know I don’t like smacking myself, yet I know I have had that thought pattern of beating myself up in the past. This morning, smacking my hand brought me to radical consciousness, but what patterns of internal “smacking” do I engage in on a daily basis?
Living my life from situations I grew up with, experienced as the years progressed, and with those opportunities from long ago and recent, I have schooled myself in unconditional love and acceptance. Those lessons weren't taught by my mother or my father. In fact, their offerings were of their own experiences; judgments and conditions they chose to adopt. I chose to believe more empowering ways of being, and living my life. It’s a recent practice for me to give that much love and respect to myself. I know you are loved and accepted by someone or something in your life, too. When you provide that gift of unconditional love to yourself, and you stop smacking yourself with your thoughts or actions of self-sabotage, you have the amazing ability to manage whatever life hands you, with grace and gratitude.
Water Crystal energized by the words
and thoughts Thank You (in Japanese) We always have choice and we can repattern our lives to feel better than we ever could have imagined. Sometimes we need some assistance in feeling better about ourselves, and a certified coach can lend that helping hand to bring you back to the present. Then, the future becomes unlimited with potential.
