Thursday, May 26, 2005

Sounding

My eyes are closed. This is what I hear: traffic, rounding the corner or continuing down the other street; the tram carrying people from town; a dog barking; the click of the key pad; a child hollering in protest; and above it all the glorious song of a black bird inviting me to rise as high and as strong as his song.

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Showing Up

I've made the decision -many, many times, I might add - to do yoga stretches each morning. I know that it's good for my body, soul and mind. But somewhere between good intentions and a great start, my motivation wanes, and my stretching sessions become farther and few between, until all that's left is my guilt at not doing something I know is good for me. Really good for me. I have arthritis and a chronic lung disease, and gentle yoga stretching can make a huge difference in how I feel in my body. I can have a mind that overloads itself with ought-to's, and a never-ending list of things to do or didn't do or should have done. My half hour of stretching in the morning helps to quiet my mind. At the end of a session my spirit is peaceful because there has been a connection between mind, body and soul. You'd think this kind of a pay-off would keep me hooked, right? Wrong. Go figure.

Well, I'm back to stretching, and have been for the past month. Initially I said I would do it "today." The next day I said I would do it "today". Those days were strung into a week, and I felt the improvement everywhere. I was pleased with myself that I "showed up" every day. Then I commited to myself that I was going to continue this every morning. A huge step, considering one day at a time was working so well! But this time feels different, and I've been wondering why. I can't say it's because I really want to do it this time, because I always want to do it at first. This is what I've figured out:

I'm doing it because I know it's a good thing for my body, mind, and spirit - not because I want to. "Wanting" to comes and goes - the benefit for my body is constant. So whether or not I feel like doing it doesn't fit into the equation. It's just what I do in the morning. Every morning. Like brushing my teeth and all the other morning ablutions, I stretch. It's simply what I do. Taking that time isn't dependent on the weather, my mood, my aches and pains, whether we've got company, whether I've had a good night's sleep or what I have on the day's agenda. Somewhere after my morning tea and before breakfast, I stretch.

So far it's working and my legs, my arms, my neck all feel great. My back is sore, but not because of the stretching. I know it would be worse if I didn't stretch. Now that I have this bit of insight I'm going to take a rummage around in the rest of my life and see if I can apply the same principle: I'll do it because it's what I do. Making change is difficult. Changing the way I approached stretching seems to be as important as the physical act itself. Maybe more. I'll let you know. Meantime, I'll keep showing up on the mat.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Purposeful Life Journal

This is a rather momentous occasion for me. I'm jumping into the Blogosphere, head first, heart thumping, and spirit believing that this is the next right step for me.

I'm going to save this page for a very long time. I'll save it to use as a benchmark so that in six months, or 12 months, or two years I can see the distance I've come, the journey I've made. But that's not the most important reason.

I'm going to save it to remind myself that I took a risk, a really big risk, and ventured into another area where the only light I could see was on the step right in front of me. You have no idea of just how little I know about internet technology. The word "technophobe" comes to mind.

So, I'm going to save this post as a monument and celebration to Trying Something New - shaky on confidence, but firm in the belief that this is how confidence continues to grow...one step at a time.

Off I go. I'm glad you're joining me on my journey of creating a purposeful life.