We Carry our Burden on and on until Suddenly We Laugh and Put it Down

 

"We carry our burden on and on, until one day, suddenly we laugh and set it down upon the ground." Muriel Strode

The Healing Tree

It was 3 years ago, June 2020, when my husband had an aneurysm in his popliteal artery burst, throwing him into an emergency amputation, a two month stay in the hospital and a year recovery.

Despite covid lockdown at the time I was able to be with him every day in the hospital to help him through a most grueling experience.

Every day I passed this ficus tree with 'the man in the trunk' in the hospital lobby. I began to see it as 'the healing tree with the man in the trunk holding all the healing spirits up'.

Planting the seeds of love, strength and resiliency. Life is good. My future is bright, joyous and secure. All is well. I am dog-gone good.

I am Dog-Gone Good

In revisiting this image three years later, I can see that the healing man in the tree holding all the healing spirits up is in fact my husband, Mark. His determination, persistence and drive toward health, mobility, self sufficiency and independence is unmatched.

My husband is the strongest person I know. He is my hero. He's had more than his fair share of physical challenges that would flatten us mere mortals. Yet he persists.

He has had many more challenges to overcome in the three years since his above the knee amputation. But each time I watch him collect himself to stop and start over on his healing journey.

Today he keeps himself fit strength training, swimming, biking, and walking with his prosthesis. He has mastered the use of a wheelchair and an ever-changing prosthesis and he keeps on keeping on.

You are never alone in your healing journey. Good spirits surround you caring for you. Rest. Be calm. Let the unseen healing forces work for you while you sleep. You are safe.

Keep on Keeping ON

With each new challenge we face the key for overcoming it is 'to keep on keeping on until suddenly, one day we laugh and set it down on the ground'.

No one is immune from life's challenges. And each challenge we face has the strength to stop us in our tracks. No matter.

When it's your time to deal, sit in whatever you're dealing with until you're ready to move on. Then take a step, and then another one until one day you laugh and set your burden down on the ground.

Always keep on keeping on.

You are strong.

You are healthy.

You are resilient.

You are healing.

You are loved.

You are safe.

Lightarted Living: The Hummingbird Song

Lightarted Living: The Hummingbird Song

THE FAIRIES LINGER IN THE LEAVES

Wherever the Hummingbird flutters,

happy spirits gather round;

Enjoying the industrious hum

of the sweet, sweet Hummer's song.

The fairies linger in the leaves,

calling the tiny bird;

Encouraging her to gather nectar

and sing her happy song.

The Hummingbird Song

 

THE HUMMINGBIRD SONG

THE FAIRIES LINGER IN THE LEAVES

Wherever the Hummingbird flutters,

happy spirits gather round;

Enjoying the industrious hum

of the sweet, sweet Hummer's song.

The fairies linger in the leaves,

calling the tiny bird;

Encouraging her to gather nectar

and sing her happy song.

SWEET NECTAR IS THE DAY

The fairies gather and twitter-pate;

The garden starts to hum;

The Hummingbird starts to sing;

The Hummingbird starts to hum.

The Hummer strums her voicebox,

And out her humming comes.

Sweet nectar is the day;

A day that tastes so sweet--

Another honeyed day,

good enough to eat.

LET'S MAKE IT A GOOD DAY

The garden fairies are all abuzz

As the Hummingbird starts her day.

Hurrah! Hurray!

What a glorious day to play!

Bring on the sun,

Let's have us some fun;

Let's make it another good day to play!

    THE SUN SHINES BRIGHT

We gather round the hummingbird,

To bless the start of day;

The sun shines bright,

as we alight,

and the Hummingbird hums away.

So join us in the fun,

and make this your very best day.

Today the sun shines bright;

Today's your day to play.

Dedicated to my two 'hummingbird' grandbabies--

Always wishing them bright sunshiney days and good days to play.

Lightarted Living: Face to Face with the Second Step? Step Up. Step I...

Lightarted Living: Face to Face with the Second Step? Step Up. Step I...:   'Don't chase your dreams, catch them .' Unknown     

What have YOU been working on

that has you suddenly face to face with the second step?

What dream or vision have you been working on

that suddenly feels stalled?

How long have you felt that churning and simmering

in your head, pulling you towards taking the next step? 

What's stopping YOU?

If you were to turn that ending into a beginning,

what would you do next?

Face to Face with the Second Step? Step Up. Step In. Move Forward.

 

'Don't chase your dreams, catch them.' Unknown

 

Face to Face with the Second Step

I was first introduced to Richard Stine's simple black and white line drawings at a Westwood art faire while attending graduate school at UCLA. 

His series, 'Smile in a Mad Dog's i’ brought a smile to my own and made me laugh.

While I lingered at his booth, lusting after his drawings, I was a poor graduate student and I just couldn't pay $30 for a simple line drawing.  I walked away without buying anything.

Over the next year, every time I found myself stalled and frustrated after starting a school or work project one of his images, 'Dog face to face with the second step',  kept popping into my head.

I could clearly see that silly, flat-faced, wire-haired black dog with his eyes glued to, and staring at, the second step of the stairs. I was that dog. And it was exactly how I felt--face to face, not with the first step, but the second.  When I looked closely, I could clearly see the second step was in fact larger than the first.

I began to see how life was going to progress. Just as I was congratulating myself for finally getting the latest project off to a good start, I had to look out for that big second step stopping me in my tracks.

 

The Second Step--An Opportunity for a Fresh Start

But the light began to dawn and I came to see the second step in a positive light.

 Rather than the second step being a time for getting stuck and giving up, I began to see it as an opportunity to pause and assess my progress, re-commit to my vision, and regain the energy and motivation to move on. 

Instead of being pushed off-track by the unexpected obstacles, I learned to expect the unexpected and turn a potential ending into a fresh start.

WOOF!  Be the Dog ~ Paws and Assess

What have YOU been working on that has you suddenly face to face with the second step? What dream or vision have you been working on that suddenly feels stalled? How long have you felt that churning and simmering in your head, pulling you towards taking the next step? What's stopping YOU? If you were to turn that ending into a beginning, what would you do next?

What's Got You Stalled?

• Fear of the unknown.
• Fear of failure.
• Fear of public failure.
• Too busy with school.
•  Don't know where to start.
•  No money.
• Work exhausts me and uses up my creative energy.
•  I focus on helping other people, and then am too tired to help myself.
• I don't believe I deserve to achieve my dream.

 

You can always feel the second step staring you in the face. You may not always be able to articulate what it is blocking you from moving forward but you can feel the invisible barrier just the same. Recognizing it's there is the first step to moving past it.

Now is the perfect time to clear your path to making forward progress.  Why not  make today the day you choose to move past YOUR second step?

Three Steps to Get Past the Second Step--Again and Again

                 Make yourself #1. Always give yourself the first part of the day.

Get up 1 hour earlier to devote yourself to your current dream. 

Don't let yourself be distracted.

 

Choose.  Choose the one thing to focus on NOW.

Act today. Put your thoughts on paper, and convert those thoughts to do-able actions.  Choose to act on one step today.  

"The man who moved a mountain 

is the one who started taking away the small stones."

Old Chinese Proverb

Face to face with the second step?

Step Up.

Step In.

Move Forward.

Repeat.

You got this!

Lightarted Living: Why Fuss, Human? Let Tranquility be Your Guide, sa...

Lightarted Living: Why Fuss, Human? Let Tranquility be Your Guide, sa...:   WILEY THE CAT I calmly wait and watch, Unperturbed and trusting. Why fuss, Human? Chill Let tranquility be your guide Be Calm All is Well ...

Why Fuss, Human? Let Tranquility be Your Guide, says the Cat

 

WILEY THE CAT

I calmly wait and watch,

Unperturbed and trusting.

Why fuss, Human?

Chill

Let tranquility be your guide

Be Calm

All is Well

Be Well

Be Present

Calmly wait and watch,

Unperturbed and trusting.

Lightarted Living: I'm So Angry I Could Just Spit! How to Regain Your...

Lightarted Living: I'm So Angry I Could Just Spit! How to Regain Your...:   "Calmness is the cradle of power." Josiah Gilbert Holland      

What Sets You Off? 

We all have that person or situation that can set us off--and in a flash--our emotional state shifts into high alert mode and we're left with a throbbing  headache  and stomach tied in knots. Before you know it, you're so angry you could just spit...and all you can do is watch as a perfectly good day nosedives in a downward spiral. 

I'm So Angry I Could Just Spit! How to Regain Your Personal Power After Losing It

 

"Calmness is the cradle of power."

Josiah Gilbert Holland 

 

What Sets You Off? 

We all have that person or situation that can set us off--and in a flash--our emotional state shifts into high alert mode and we're left with a throbbing  headache  and stomach tied in knots. Before you know it, you're so angry you could just spit...and all you can do is watch as a perfectly good day nosedives in a downward spiral. 

 

What is it for you? 

 

• What or who is it that sets you off? 
• How do you feel--and what do you want to do when you get set off? 
• Who or what set you off in the last 3 days? How did you respond? Were you so mad you could spit?

 

I'm so Mad I could Spit Nails 

I love the visual of being so mad I could spit nails. Although I am basically a gentle person by nature, the instant I'm set off I imagine doing things like spitting nails at the target of my ire Popeye-style.  And as I prefer to be viewed as a nice, reasonable person, when someone sets me off and forces my evil-twin to emerge I am doubly angry.   

'I'm so angry I could just spit' is an old expression used to express the extreme anger you feel when someone sets you off. There are several explanations about where the phrase originated. 'I'm so mad I could spit nails' supposedly originated in times past from carpenters who carried nails in their mouth as they worked.

 As the carpenter story goes, if you were 'so mad you could spit nails', you'd have to deal with the problem, but you couldn't talk with a mouth full of nails, so you had to spit them out to yell at someone... then climb down the ladder and get more nails...further irritating you and wasting your time. 

When I'm so angry I could spit nails, I have a difficult time spitting out a proper response--as if my mouth was full of nails. And it takes a while for me to climb down the ladder of my hyped-up emotions before I can get back to the work at hand and being productive. 

We all get set off by something that makes us spitting mad, and we all have strong emotional reactions to it. The question isn't if something is going to set us off, it's how do we move through it with the least angst and best outcome. 

How do you regain your personal power after getting set off and losing it?

Why It Doesn't Pay to React 

The instant you lose your calm, your emotions get the better of you--and you lose the ability to act from a place of personal power. The emotional fog created by the anger quickly robs you of your ability to see and think clearly and drains you of your strength to act reasonably. 

 And here's the thing: situations that set us off reduce us--even momentarily--to feeling like a child without power in an adult world.  This is the basis of our getting set off-- people that put us in a position of feeling powerless and out of control.

When we angrily react to the situation we come out swinging with a crude childlike anger that merely demonstrates our feeling out-of-control to others rather than making us appear powerful and strong.

Whatever it is that sets you off and makes you feel reactive and hot-headed, calm is the salve to regain a cool head and confident manner. 

To regain a sense of calm, you must give yourself time and distance from whatever set you off. 

 

'Let time work for you'

My mother used to say, you have to 'let time work for you'. You will save a lot of angst by letting time do the calming work for you. It's okay if you're unable to spit out a response when you get set off. Give yourself time to say and do nothing. 

 

A wise man once said nothing

To act out of calmness, not react out of hyped up emotions:

 

• Step away from the situation
• Postpone your response--say nothing in the moment or in writing
• Do nothing
• Give yourself time to settle

When you are calm and clear thinking, consider your actions. When you are calm you can come from the place of a resilient and strong adult able to see 'all things seemingly good or bad work in your favor'--and take charge of your response.

As Eleanor Roosevelt said, 'No one can take your power away unless you give it to them'. Don't let people rob you of your personal power. Learn to choose your responses calmly after you lose it. 

'Whatever the present moment contains, embrace it as if you had chosen it yourself.' Eckhart Tolle

 

Lightarted Living: Inside our Flowering Spirits the Sun Shines

Lightarted Living: Inside our Flowering Spirits the Sun Shines:   

INSIDE THE SUN SHINES

Inside our flowering spirits

The sun shines,

Burning bright,

And powering us on.

Outside the spirits of Hope and Goodwill

Call us to engage in the world to do good.

You have a light that shines.

Share it.

You have an inner fire to ignite

Good energy.

Use it.

Set the world on fire

With positive deeds.

Bring your best, sunniest self.