I am just THRILLED to Have a Cup

funny

lots of people tell me i am an optimist, i’m optimistic.

That is not my perception of myself - i believe i am a realist.

i don’t focus on the cup half- full OR half-empty 

- nor do I mean to project that into the future.

I don’t believe any of this is useful.

I am just THRILLED to Have a Cup

(and hoping to keep having a cup for a while longer ; )

I have a CUP!

I Get to play this challenging game, 

on this beautiful earth, 

with so many amazing characters, 

and unending scenarios to explore.

I can 

- enjoy it or not,

- seem to be winning or not.

Meanwhile, I can step-off the game board any time I choose.

I don’t HAVE to play.

But I do GET to play.

(I find this choice is very important to me, not just theoretically, 

but in my everyday processing of my life, experience of my challenges.

It is my choice, to play, so I might as well enjoy it!! ; )

I am blessed beyond measure 

- I can receive and drink it from my cup.

I know humans have an endless ability to take stuff for granted.

We can get used to almost anything - wonderful or terrible

So, it helps to remember:

I have a cup

and I get to decide, not just how to SEE it, but what to DO with it.

I chose to 

- play my own game.

- go Onward, Adventuring in the hero’s journey of my Soul.

I may or I may not be tilting at windmills

but I am happy and I live in hope.

So, I like my game, 

even when it isn’t so popular, 

or others don’t get it, 

or think I am losing the game.

My perception is, I am winning my game.

Because I am playing my own game and 

Beyond all reason and rationale and deserving and reasonable expectation 

I have a CUP, and a lot of opportunities to enjoy it.

The who, what, where, why, how

what it all means, what are the stories,

and what do i do about it? how do i live?

I have some working theories. 

Better ones than I used to have!

These days, I have some places to stand and how to operate my life, that seem to work really well.

I used to get all snarled-up.

and miserable about Meaning...

what does it all mean? what are supposed-tis? the stories about?…

But regardless of the meaning

(or gauging my current success or future outcome)

I have rarely heard better coaching than these 2 perspectives, 

which I have learned myself, the hard way, 

and bow to the wisdom of these men as well:

My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, 

but just enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate

— that's my philosophy.

- Thornton Wilder, The Skin of Our Teeth (1942) (I added white-space)

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart

and try to love the questions themselves,

like locked rooms and

like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue.

Do not now seek the answers,

which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them.

And the point is, to live everything.

Live the questions now.

Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it,

live along some distant day into the answer.

- Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet (1934) (I added white-space)

thanks for reading ; )

Wendy

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the independence and interdependence of the major body chakras

I wrote this post to review and explicate some distinctions for recent meditation participants, and I thought I would share:

Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning wheel, which refers to the different energy centers within our body.

There are very many of these, all over our system - big and small.

Several years ago, the metaphor of the tiered tray started coming to me, as a way to see and nurture the relationship between the Major chakras of the body.

I like the image becasue it shows how the major body chakras are both independent and interdependent.

Each chakra is unique, with focused intelligence & genius, specialized abilities & responsibilities.

AND

All the chakras are connected:

the upper chakras build on the lower ones,

the lower ones are watered by the upper ones.

Leading to a cornucopia of blessing thoughout our own system

and fortifying us to BE who we are in the world, DOing what we are here to do, what only we can do!

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It is vital that we gently awaken and nurture all of our energy centers to help us enjoy a powerful, integrated human life.

- If we want a sustainable and safe spiritual journey,

- if we want to enjoy our human embodied lifetime,

- if we want to expereince deep connection with others, and/or the bliss of Divine expereince,

- if we want to actively dive into spiritual evolution...

If we want any of these things, or most anything else in this life:

We cannot skip steps

We cannot run ahead to high spiritual experiences and ignore the base.

And at the same time, If we want a joyful, fulfilled human experience,

it behooves us to go beyond the basics of physical focus and existence, to spiritual depth.

Remembering and investing-in

- the independent fruition of

AND

- the interdependent relationship between

ALL our major chakras

So in very simple terms:

from grounding, being supported from the earth,

supporting our (1) root chakra,

our relationship with this reality - safe, basic needs met, belonging

supporting our (2) sacral chakra,

our relationship with our body experience, communication, expression

supporting our (3) solar plexis chakra,

our relationship with our will, power, the energy we need and how we use it.

supporting our (4) heart chakra,

our relationship with the spiritual Oneness that IS, All our Relations.

supporting our (5) throat chakra,

our relationship with communication, self-expression, the stories we live-in.

supporting our (6) brow chakra,

our relationship with how we see the truth, past the lies; seeing our Way.

supporting our (7) crown chakra,

our relationship with knowing our Way, Light, Love, Truth, Glory, Wisdom, Unique experience of the Divine... spiritually IN our body, engaged in our life.

And at the same time, the blessings of these upper chakras rain down upon the lower ones - enlivening, feeding, filling them with the water of life...

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