The Tao of Pain

Chronic pain is the Tao, the Way,

like Fibro or Arthritis.

We live to love for one more day,

with frailties that unite us.

Life is a beautiful mess -- and we're all in it together.

ANNIVERSARY BLESSING

May your life together be blessed with perseverance, resilience and longevity.

Through ebb and flow, may the waves break gently on your shore.

May you endure the inevitable storms; and find strength in one another.

May you recognize and respect the separateness within your togetherness.

May you remember always that Someone who loves you dearly

       is watching over you, guiding you ... and smiling.

"ON FEELINGS" -- a poetical essay

"ON FEELINGS"

           a poetical essay by V. Lucid

Your Feelings belong only to You.

You gave birth to them.

They thrive on Neglect.

Sometimes you nurture them ... and they grow

            when you'd rather they didn't.

Sometimes you call them by a wrong name.

Still, they are Yours alone.

Sometimes you want to keep your Feelings to Yourself;

            especially when you're uncomfortable with them.

You're afraid that people won't understand:

            that they might laugh at You;

            or that You might get hurt.

You're afraid that people will think You are weak.

Listen Up, now!
Sensitivity has about as much to do with Weakness

            as Callousness has to do with Strength.

Nothing!  Absolutely Nothing!

The people who act as if they are stronger than You,
            more important, or superior in any way

            are always the people with the most insecurity

                        about themselves.

They are so afraid that others will find that out.

Other times, You feel compelled to express Your Feelings,

            at least to Someone You Trust.

Even then, it's not easy.

Words won't suffice.                    .

Words are useful to explain our Thoughts.

Feelings easily slip through the spaces between the Words.

Choose you Confidants carefully.

If you want Everyone to understand You ... get Real!

You can't expect people to be in touch with Your Feelings

            when they're not even in touch with their own.

If you want people to accept You Just the Way You are,

You have to accept them just the way they are --

            even when there is Injustice.

But that doesn't mean You have to like them. 
Yes, it is hard not to judge judgmental people .

If you want Someone, Anyone, to understand You,

            where do You start?

Right where You are, of course,  

Which Way do You go?

Toward Self-Understanding ... or better yet, Self-Love.

Listen up, again!

When You truly Love Yourself, Just the Way You Are,

You won't care what others may think of You.
Remember Always that You are a Child of God!

That Alone makes You Worthy,

            Just the Way You Are. 

What is LOVE? Who is GOD? Mysticism for the Shallow Mind

 LOVE is GOD ~
     for GOD is LOVE (1 John 4:8) ~ 
All of it! 
Every warm feeling or thought, 
Every kind word, spoken or written,
Every secret longing, every unselfish action or prayer ~
    ever and everywhere, since the first light of the first dawn.
The unseen, often unfelt, centripetal force that makes us One.
That is what Love is -- and that is who God is.  
Powerful beyond comprehension.  
All the rest is garbage or glitter.
Any more questions?

--  an excerpt from the imaginary anthology, "Mysticism for the Shallow Mind"

Impressed Yet Distressed ~ Counting the Ways: #10 and #11

You bet
I'm impressed,
for you are very kind.
I must confess, as well,
I find you very sweet ... Dear Heart.

But yet
I'm distressed
for in my foolish mind
I just pressed (oh, hell!)
Control, Alt, Delete ... Re-Start.

TOWARD FULFILLMENT

(Reprise from April 11, 2010 - with one word change)

    Where are you going, my Little One ...?

We choose our path and pack our own duffel,
     mostly with stuff that's not worth its weight;
         and we set out on our own private odyssey --
             or perhaps we wait for a ship that never comes.

Though never quite sure where we are going,
     we are guided by Wisdom bought with pain
         and by a gift of Grace, which somehow appears,
             perhaps delivered by a prophet, or just by a friend.

The Cloud of Unknowing hides some distractions
      and we suddenly realize what we've known all along:
          that Being Loved is the place we have been longing for;
              and Loving is the only way that will surely get us there.
       
                    All the rest is colored bubbles.

Shall I Compare Thee ...? Counting the Ways #9

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Well, art thou sticky and hot?
Thank God, the former you're not;
and the latter I consider OK.

A GLOSSARY of EMOTIONS

The Attention Deficit Compan

presents

A GLOSSARY OF EMOTIONS

• Anger is the bottle of warm soda that you dropped on the floor and then left on the table for an unsuspecting person to open.  Sometimes it’s a suit of armor (see Hurt).

• Anxiety is a parasite that feeds on Doubt and defecates more than it consumes.

• Confidence is the jar that contains Anxiety.  Nobody knows what's in there, but you.  

• Contentment happens when you stop bitching long enough to count even a fraction of your blessings.

• Desire and Fear: the two puppeteers who try to move you about.
  They inevitably tangle your strings. 

• They inevitably tangle your strings. 

• Despair is a sea of Sadness on a moonless night in March. Hope is a dolphin.

• Disappointment is a result of focusing on the outcome rather than on the process.

• Discontent is what you get when you can’t see what you already have.

• Embarrassment is the ragged underwear beneath a suit of Dignity.

• Envy is the result of looking in the mirror and seeing somebody else instead of yourself.

• Faith is a conviction made with insufficient evidence.

• Gratitude is Grace going the other way.

• Grief and Sorrow are the wounds left behind when a part of you is ripped away. Sympathy is the bandage and Compassion is a kiss to make it better.  

• Guilt is the hangover your conscience gets when it realizes what Selfishness has done.

• Happiness is the prize you get if you stay on the ride through the ups and downs, remain seated, keep your hands inside the car at all times, and hold on to the few things that really matter.

• Hatred is not the opposite of Love.  That’s Indifference. Hate is the venom of the snake that inevitably bites its own tail.

• Hurt is the little person inside a big suit of Anger, like the Wizard of Oz.

• Jealousy is the jailer who tortures himself when his prisoner tries to escape.

• Loneliness comes to visit when your roommate is a self-image that you don’t really like.

• Love is God, for God is Love.  All of it! Every warm feeling or thought, every kind word, every secret longing, every unselfish action, ever and everywhere: the unseen, often unfelt centripetal force that makes us One.  To learn how to Love and how to Be Loved – that’s why we’re here.  All the rest is colored bubbles.

• Sadness is something  that you need once in a while so you’ll recognize  Happiness when it happens.

• Self-Pity is Sadness with Low Self-Esteem.

• Shame is the noise a secret makes when it rattles the closet door.

• Suffering is the soreness you get for resisting what is.  

• Vengeance is where Pride goeth after the fall.  Humiliation is the driver.

• Zeal is Enthusiasm on Speed.

___________________________________________________
Copyright 2010, 2013 V. J. Lucid
It’s OK to forward it to anyone who might like it.
Lots more at DrSpeedbump.com and TheAttentionDeficitCompan.com

A SPECIAL BLESSING for SOMEONE I'VE KNOWN ALL MY LIFE

FOR ME

May Wisdom find me.
May Enlightenment guide me.
May I be marinated in Serenity, day and night.
May my Confidence and Humility learn to get along.

May my weaknesses become my strengths.
May Anxiety be transformed into Enthusiasm,
Obsessiveness into Endurance, Sadness into Serenity
Restlessness into Motivation, and Distraction into Imagination.

May I love myself as I love my neighbor.
May I be aware and accepting of whatever Love is offered to me.
May my Expectations of others dissolve in Mindfulness that they, too,
      are learning how to give and accept Love; and they may be repeating a grade.

May I notice the absence of physical pain, as well its presence.
May my pain remind me of the agony Christ quietly accepted for me.
May it serve as my offering on behalf of one of the multitude of Innocents
      who are suffering today from Hunger, Disease, Injustice, Oppression and Abuse.*

May I never forget that I am a Child of God.
May I have Faith in Him to match his Faith in Me.
May I realize that I do not have to earn His Guidance, Protection and Love.
May I muster enough Courage, each day, to show up for the Life He has planned for me.

*Even as I write this, the pain in my feet subsides considerably, replaced by warmth and a gentle tingling. I hope this means my offering was accepted -- and I wonder who and where is the beneficiary.

FALLING IN LOVE -- Counting the Ways: #1

Elizabeth Barrett Browning
wrote a perfectly good poem that begins with
"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways."
It was not a long poem, though.
Perhaps she, too, had an attention deficit.
So, to help her out, I've started to compile
one more poetry collection in my open-ended series
of unfinished collections of poetry*.


Suppose you were falling
from a cliff and I was trying to save you
and I've got you by one hand
and I've got the cliff edge by the other
but I can't pull you up
so I have to hold on to your hand forever.
Then suppose I'm human
and I just can't hold on any longer
and I have to make a choice about letting go
with one hand or the other.

That one's a no-brainer.
I'd let go of the cliff,
and we'd fall, in love,
with one another.
What's that?
You say you're not likely
to be hanging from a cliff any time soon?
All the same, if you don't mind,
I'll be right here,
holding on to you as if you were.


*NOTE: This Blog and DrSpeedbump.com
are bit like the great cathedrals of Europe.
Eh? Never finished, but still open to the public.
At least my web pages are not excessively grandiose,
and mostly English is spoken here.

A BIOLOGIST'S VALENTINE SONNET Counting the Ways (2-7)*

I gaze upon the pond scum
and see your lovely face.
The emptiness of space
reminds me of your wisdom.
I caress the sphagnum
and feel you in its place.
The tree stump I embrace
can dance like you, so lissome.

The gentle touches of a leech
and your clinging have a semblance.
I detect your very essence
in all the fish up on the beach.
Such are the dreams of a lovestruck biologist.
Be grateful I'm not a parasitologist.


* See Blog entry for May 26, 2010 -- for an explanation of the
poetry series, "Counting the Ways". Click below on the label: "love".