I am grateful for the beautiful day we had in the Bay area today. Instead of my usual power walk around Chavez Park, instead I engaged in a walking meditation–taking slow, mindful steps while focusing on offering loving-kindness to myself and others. My guess is that I covered the same distance as I do during my power walks around the Park, but it took a lot longer and was more focused on the present moment than on how fast I can walk a quarter mile. Truth is, I needed the meditation walk more than the exercise; my mind was in a little turmoil this afternoon. Through the process of bringing my thoughts back to the meditation, walking, feeling the sun and the breeze, offering kindness and compassion, I returned to a much calmer frame of mind.
I am appreciative of the practices I’m learning about that bring greater mindfulness, awareness, and hopefully clarity into my life. I still have much to learn and am thinking about how, when, and where to undertake some more formal learning. I am waiting on some clear signs from the Universe, specific doors need to open for me to follow through on some of the actions I’m pondering. In the meantime, I’ll keep taking actions that move me forward.
I’m still a bit tired from yesterday’s travels, so I am going to sign off earlier than usual. Today was a good day. A day for contemplation and meditation. I remain deep in thought asking myself some pretty deep questions and pondering the answers. I remain grateful for all that I am learning. I am grateful even for things that seem difficult or challenging–these things are teaching me compassion, patience, forgiveness, and how to allow whatever comes up and be with it. The “tough” times have caused me to grow and learn and change in ways that I haven’t experienced in a long time. And while it would be nice for the tough times to be over, or lessened, I’m still going to take each moment, each hour, each day as it comes, sit with whatever comes up, and be grateful for still being able to smile. The psalm says, “weeping endures for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” Sometimes the “night” feels really long, and the morning a long way off. But I have learned through my experiences of the last six months that I can persevere through challenging circumstances and still find things to be grateful for. That’s a really good thing.
While there’s still a lot of uncertainty in my life at the moment, I am growing more comfortable with the uncertainty and the impermanence of things. So even as I ask for clarity to be in my life right now, I will be grateful for whatever shows up in the meantime. Likewise I am grateful for all who read this blog. Sometimes you’re what keeps me going. Thank you for your presence.
