The recording today isn’t as clear as always, though I hope you can still get something from it, and from the summary below.
For various reasons, maybe I should say excuses. I haven’t been out for my walk for the best part of a week. And, some of those reasons have been legitimate with other things to crack on with, and at least a few days I could have come, and I did not come.
And here I am. And isn’t it gorgeous again? Well, you can’t see it. I can. It’s a beautiful wood coming to life along with spring now. Everything’s beginning to come to life. It’s the light of spring.
So, why have I been avoiding it? Well, I’m going to be open and honest with you and myself. I’ve been quite worried and quite anxious about this whole war thing that’s going on now, and the impact it’s having, and not only on those poor people caught up right in the middle of it all. It’s also having its impact now on me, you, us, everyone. The world economy, the way we do things. And it creates a really big threat to our way of being.
And there’s a part of me that is kind of expecting that one day, that something will happen and it’ll be there, that big threat. But I don’t really want it to be today! So, I’m conscious of that sense of threat, and danger, and fear, and anxiety.
I’m not going to come up with some grand offer of how I and you can deal with that. I am though owning it! Naming it. And I really do believe that that’s a key part in anything we do to work with the challenges of our life. We need to name it. We need to own it.
And then we have something in front of us. We’re not then necessarily going to try to fix it. Nor will we try to move it around, or push it around, or run away from it. Instead, naming it and acknowledging its effect on us and then bringing in as ever some kindness for ourselves.
I’m human, and I’m not surprised I’m feeling anxiety. If that’s the case for you as well, please acknowledge it and be grateful that you’re able to acknowledge it. And then bring in that compassion as often as you need to. And that, well, helps me to be a little bit more present with the very difficult stuff.
And in turn, it helps me to get on with things I can do something about, can be involved in still, which is an increasingly… I want to use the word spiritual though I’m not quite sure that’s the word anymore for me. I’ll come back to that another day. But this allows me to get on with the spiritual path and provide whatever support and care I can give to those around me in various ways.
So, if something’s going on for you along those lines, whether it’s the war and/or other things I urge you to take it out and name it and know it’s there. Maybe say Hello to it, because I think, I hope, I believe, that mindful noticing along with compassion and caring will help a lot. Have a great day!
