Breathe Through It...(A Response in Dialogue)

Sometimes the actions of people around me confuse me. It can be perplexing to try and understand their motive and actions.

Sometimes I want to react in a manner that would harm that person. I want to react in both word and deed. Other times I’ve told myself “that’s it”; I’m done with that person.

Have you ever been so mad at someone that you’ve had fleeting thoughts of revenge? Have you ever wanted to make them pay!

It’s strange that we think that way, but sometimes it’s very satisfying – even if it’s only momentary.

Are you familiar with the song “It’s a thin line between love and hate”? He cheats, comes home in the early hour of the morning and she asks him if he’s hungry. Next thing you know, he is lying in a hospital bandaged from head to toe!

I get it! I guess for some, there is a limit, and once it’s reached, look out!

I don’t think if I could physically harm someone like that, but I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t admit to having harbored very unloving thoughts!

[When we have such a strong response to someone, their action, an event etc. it is an indication that there is powerful energy that is being generated that is touching/influencing our energy. Our perceptive interpretation of the occurrence will categorize it as 'good' or 'bad'. When an alternate energy influences the current state/balance of our energy, we must respond on a physical, mental and/or psychic level. Our primary methods of response is physical and mental, hence the 'mental harming of others' or the 'physical payback'. Rare still is the psychic response: the allowance of the alternate energies to approach us, touch us, enter us, pass through us and in some cases partially stay with us to form a permanent part of our energy pattern.]

These days, I’m learning to breathe through it. That means not openly reacting. Instead, I’m learning to pay attention to my emotions in the situation. Our emotions can teach us a lot. I’ve realized that any sort of reaction feeds the flame. It’s also occurred to me that the stronger the reaction or thought of revenge, the more important the need for self- reflection.

Why do we react at all? Why do we want others to act in a manner that suits us? I guess that all depends on how deeply entrenched our values are. We each have a certain ethical code that causes us to react when it’s been breached. Sometimes we aren’t even aware that we held such strong feelings of “right and wrong”.

That’s the beauty of our emotions. Emotion is our spiritual self trying to speak to us. It’s trying to teach us or at least make us aware of something that has caused us to be unhappy, or angry or ready to strike out physically.

I’m learning to breathe through it. Negative energy held within is harmful to us. It causes physical reactions in our body. And, the cycle that caused the reaction in the first place continues. It can continue throughout our lifetime if we ignore our emotions.

If someone gets you that mad, imagine what would happen over time if you stopped reacting. The situation would change - it would have to. If you are no longer providing the fuel, the flame will die.

If you learn to stand still and just breathe, you might also learn that the reaction had nothing to do with the actions of another person. It’s our egos, and our sense of self-worth that we are usually trying to protect. You might even find that you actually believe the hurtful words spoken by someone else. And how harmful is that!

[Our balance of energy is the result of the state of our belief system, our physical system, our mental system, our psychic system and our ongoing interpretation and perceptive systems. When any or all of these systems are touch by another energy pattern, our balance is disturbed and a new balance must now be developed through our response. Generally, we react in a manner that will allow us to return to the original state of balance, as opposed to seeking a new form of balance that adds the new energy to our current evolving systems. When we react 'negatively' it is to defend the state of our systems from the new energy. When we react positively' or 'neutrally' it is to accept the new energy and its changes, into our current systems and to become more or 'better'.]

I’m awed by the perfection of our construction. We have everything we could possibly need within us, to live the most incredible lives. And every person we come into contact with is both teacher and student. Imagine if everyone recognized that. What a world this would be.

Instead, we react, and we ignore ourselves. And we perpetuate the negative energy. We cause grief instead of understanding.

So, I’m learning to breathe through it in order to learn and grow spiritually stronger. I’m using the god-given tools that are contained within me.

["Breathe through it" is the experiencing of a new energy's impact on us without the reflex response of self-protection and/or denial. This energy impact, whether perceived as 'positive' or 'negative', is allowed to influence us and with sufficient time we come to realize that it only enhances the evolution and overall balance of our energy system. We in essence become a more realized/enlightened being. We grow as a soul.]

I’m never going to understand others, and I don’t think I should even be trying to. All I need to focus on is how their actions make me feel. And once I’ve made that recognition, I can release that negative energy for good. And that makes me greater in spirit. That increases my ability to teach from a different perspective.

[Alternate energies (in the form of our experience of others) confirm our existence as part of a greater pulsating whole. They allow us to broaden our perspectives and ability to perceive all that exists. All the things that influence us do so at the level of energy and regardless of our perception, will continue to impact us, consciously and unconsciously, for the remainder of our existence. To breathe is to accept your part in the whole and to allow the whole to caress you, through our experience with others, in its eternally changing patterns of being as seen through energy. The story of energy is the story of our lives and mythologies.]

I’m learning to breathe through it.

Collaborators:
Original Post by: SLP
Response in Italics by: Pollard

I am: A Healing Poem

I am.
(Posted on December 9, 2008 by SLP)

In an authentic and genuine search for the self, this poetic journey takes us from the most primitive understanding of the self: your name(s), to the most profound understanding of the self: "I am everything and I am nothing."

Within the process of this poetic journey, all of the human potentialities that meet and fail to meet our personal and societal expectations and aspirations are tagged for contemplation:
"I am a mother without a child, yet I nurture."
"I am an artist without a canvas, yet I paint a picture."
"I am a doctor without a degree, yet I can heal with words and touch."

I am, is an exploration into the paradox of possibilities that make us and define us as 'the best' and 'the worst' of species:
"I am divine in nature and evil in intent."
"I am here because of you. I am here in spite of you."

I am, reinforces the need for ubuntu, the African circular philosophy of oneness:
"I am responsible for you and you are responsible for me.
We are nothing without each other."

I am, manages to plant the contradictory self firmly into the frailty of our daily lives ("I am...happy and sad, silly and serious.") and into our cosmic universal possibility ("It matters not where you are in time and space or whether we've ever met. We still have an influence on one another.").

This potent meditation on the self is not only healing but also cleansing and inspiring.
I am, affirms our spectacular and frail individuality, while reaffirming our divine and sacred potency.

It is our call to remember and observe who we think we are, who we are so far and who we are capable of being.

lloyd

Moving Forward: A Response...

ORIGINAL POST:
Date: Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Title: Moving Forward
Author: SLP


Moving Forward is a brilliant piece of observation and knowing, articulated in a way that moves the spirit with precise and graceful wisdom. I wanted to say the writing was brilliant but it is not the writing as such, it is the understanding and ability to see and know. There is nothing to highlight in this post because the whole peace is pure energy, awakening and insight.

You are a sage awakening to the ways in which your wisdom reveals itself. You are a "say-er". What you have to say flows freely in written form. I suspect that there are and will be other forms from which your wisdom will also bleed. I bow before your authentic spirit that you are permitting to be seen without the filter of persona, aspiration and title (e.g. 'writer').

You are not a writer. You are a needed and essential force in the Universe who says and does what it must, in response to the "All". One outlet for your voice is writing but that alone will not hold you long. What the other ways are will be fun to see.

SLP, I sense that you are touching your essential. The more you feel the uncomfortable and you walk through it with awareness, the more you will never be the same again. As an Angel, your wings can never again, in this lifetime, be smaller than they are now. Soar as you are and having been doing. Return to land - then soar again. Always remember we must always soar again and again despite the temporary context of whatever weather we are in.

I am excited and blessed by what comes from you. Is the wind not potent up here?

lloyd

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ORIGINAL POST:
Date: Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Title: Moving Forward
Author: SLP

Whether we are aware or not, whether we feel like we are going in circles, taking a step back, or even standing still, we are always moving forward.

For those that are completely unaware, life is leading them into situations, which are meant to ignite their awareness.

For those with any level of awareness, every step, in any directions, is still moving them forward. It doesn’t matter if that step feels like a misstep or a repeat. It doesn’t matter if we end up back at square one, we still moved forward.

It’s never obvious in the moment, it’s only in retrospection, that forward movement becomes apparent.

That’s where words like faith and trust come into play.

Sometimes it’s really hard to believe that we are making progress of any kind. It can be really frustrating and that’s when many of us “give up”. But, that frustration is an opportunity, which if taken, moves us forward.

The universe needs our participation in order to do what it does. It requires faith and trust in the unknown, the unseen, the blankness. We just need to know and trust that we are always moving towards something bigger and better than what we are leaving behind. There is always activity going on behind the invisible curtain, and it’s meant to propel us forward. To help us attain whatever it is we wish to attain.

There isn’t a need for us to figure it all out, to control it all. In fact, the act of trying to control it all, contributes to those missteps. Worrying about it generates delays. And, if we want it to look exactly how we want it to look, we limit the universe.

There is much we may never understand, but there are always guides put on our path to keep us moving.

When we are faced with a situation that isn’t what we wanted, that’s when we need to remember that although it isn’t what “we” wanted, it’s what the universe requires of us in order to put us in a place or situation that will bring what we were hoping for. It’s still a move in the “right” direction.

There are many twists, turns and bends in the road of life. So if we end up in a place that we’ve already been, there’s a reason, and we’ve still moved forward. With awareness, we have reached the next plateau.

Faith and trust will get us there. Knowing that, we can enjoy all the steps along the way. We can enjoy what has been given to us knowing that it’s as it should be.

We are always moving forward. How far and how fast depends on our knowing and acceptance of this.