Dented

It seems to me that we often relate to our emotional selves in the same way we do our cars–we see ourselves as getting bashed up and dented in our interactions.  Then, unlike the way we treat our cars after a collision, we let the damage remain. 

Can you imagine having a bashed in fender and weeping over the loss day after day instead of getting the insurance company on the job to fix it?  That is exactly what we do when we admire the wounds relationships inevitably cause and impress ourselves with what a terrible loss we have suffered. 

"I'll never get over this" successfully stops our inborn ability to heal.  And the wonderful thing about our inborn ability to heal is that we do not have to understand how it works.  We just have to let it. 

The activation process for healing, regardless of how deep and complicated we see ourselves to be, is mindlessly simple.  Make two statements:

• I know how to heal.
• I let myself heal.

Then, let it go.  Do this every time your thoughts head back to feelings of woundedness.  Say them with love and conviction.  

You absolutely, in your core, know how to heal.

Things I Learned From My Father

Here's a few things I learned from my father:

• When crossing a stream, don't look down at the rocks, look straight ahead to the opposite bank.  Same goes with driving.
• If you take the coin the tooth fairy left to be a nickel and it's a quarter, it will still spend like a quarter.
• When whittling, always face the blade away from the body.  
• Do not sing while fishing.  Neither the fish nor the other people fishing will appreciate you. I believe this may apply to public transportation as well.
• It doesn't matter if you don't sing in tune as long as you put your heart into it.
• If you love your garden, it will love you back.  He never came right out and said it, but it was hard to miss.

When I sift out the gist of all of this, it comes out something like this:

Keep your vision uppermost, embrace your gifts, you are responsible for your own well-being, give respect to every being, lead with your heart, don't be afraid to love.
Amen.