Don't...

This quote showed up on Pinterest earlier and it was one of those that reached out and smacked me, which I was needing. I try very hard not to post things that are depressing but sometimes, I feel like I am playing a game when I pretend that everything is OK when it's not. No matter how much meditation I do or how positive I try to stay, something will happen and it feels like a wave of fear has knocked me to the depths of the ocean of fear. 

                             photo by spbm

So here's a message to myself and to anyone else who might come along and need a little bit of encouragement.

DON'T LOSE YOURSELF IN YOUR FEAR!

Some beautiful music by The Piano Guys:
A Thousand Years

moving water

photo is from: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Animalia/275115872524283?ref=stream

See fear, and you won't see love. See love, and you won't see fear. The vision of one world costs you the vision of the other.

~A Course in Miracles

  photo by spbm

Moving Water

When you do things
from your soul,
you feel a river
moving in you,
a joy.

When actions come
from another section,
the feeling disappears

Don't let others lead you

They may be blind
or, worse, vultures.
Reach for the rope of God

And what is that?

Putting aside self-will.

Because of willfulness
people sit in jail,
the trapped bird's wings are tied,
fish sizzle in the skillet.

The anger of police is willfulness.

You've seen a magistrate
inflict visible punishment

Now see the invisible.

If you could leave your selfishness,
you would see how
you've been torturing your soul

We are born and live inside
black water in a well.

How could we know
what an open field of sunlight is?

Don't insist on going
where you think you want to go

Ask the way to the spring.

Your living pieces
will form a harmony.

There is a moving palace
that floats in the air
with balconies and
clear water flowing through,
infinity everywhere,
yet contained under a single tent.

From The Soul of Rumi. Jelalludin Rumi. Translated by Coleman Barks.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Last night while doing a little reading before going to sleep, I read something that got my attention and I have been giving it some thought...I think I agree with this:

It is not our experiences that mold and shape up, but whatever exerts the most power over us.

I always thought it was more about the experiences that made us into the person we are, but really, it is about what exerts the most power over us. Think about it, and see if you agree.

Freedom

This picture gives my goosebumps, goosebumps. I'm not sure why it makes me feel so deeply, it does. This quote is just a perfect fit, in my opinion.

"Freedom - The Carousel" by Anne Wipf

“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power,

and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”  ~ Jim Morrison

Fighting Dragons

photo by SPBM

“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.”

― Rainer Maria Rilke

Photo and Quote

Photo by SPBM

“I must say a word about fear. It is life's only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary, how well I know. It has no decency, respects no law or convention, shows no mercy. It goes for your weakest spot, which it finds with unnerving ease. It begins in your mind, always ... so you must fight hard to express it. You must fight hard to shine the light of words upon it. Because if you don't, if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you.”

― Yann Martel, Life of Pi

Advice To Live By

Life is short, live it.

Love is rare, give it.

Anger is bad, release it.

Fear is awful, face it.

Silence is golden. Sit quietly every day & breathe ...

from Love or Above

World of Unknown

Today I am exhausted, and my thoughts are running through my mind like a mouse running through a maze looking for a way out.

“We're all of us sentenced to solitary confinement inside our own skins, for life!”

~Tennessee Williams

I came home from the hospital last night, feeling so alone and scared. I had trouble sleeping and controlling my thinking, the night was dark and long. I don’t like imposing on people and do not feel comfortable calling on others, not even family. I tried thinking of something that felt safe and secure, something I had not really ever thought about or given thought to came to mind - Growing up my grandma and grandpa’s house was within hollering distance, only a creek and bridge separated us. I could look out our kitchen window and see my grandma’s kitchen window. She was an early riser; she would always be up at 5 a.m. I can remember getting up and it still dark outside, looking out the kitchen window and seeing grandma’s kitchen light on...such comforting sight. I knew for certain she was making coffee and cooking bacon. On her small kitchen table was a lazy susan, which held salt, pepper, homespun honey, grape jelly, and butter, always. I’m not sure why this memory came to mind last night, but it felt safe and comforting.

I am often amazed at how spot-on my messages from The Universe are. This was my message from the Universe today:

It's true, Debra, sometimes when you've had a difficult day, or met difficult people, been let down, disappointed, or heartbroken, it's easy to completely forget the most important thing of all... you're alive.

Without even trying.

Who loves ya?
The Universe

Faith NOT Fear

I need to go to bed tonight believing in miracles and that tomorrow can and will be a marvelous, extraordinary day. Why is it so easy to believe in miracles for others...but not so much for myself? Forcing myself to think positive, yet, with so much fear swirling about it’s tough. Does fear strangle the little breath of faith breathing inside us? Unlike so many who are certain of what they believe, I am not one.

“Be realistic: Plan for a miracle”

― Osho Rajneesh