Saturday, February 19, 2011
Wk 3 Entry 1 Reading Ch's 5-8
The seventh practice, "The Way Things Are" was a great reminder this week for me to view things in a different light. I am the world's worst at getting frustrated when things don't go the way I had planned or hoped they would be. I have come a long way in this area of my thinking, but it often becomes a conscious effort to look past my frustration and make the best of the moment. The author gave reference to the movie "Babe" and the reactions of the cow and duck when Roseanna had become the evening meal. He stated that they were hopeless and resigned in their reactions. I think it is safe to say that is the reaction of the majority of people. We view our situations as hopeless like the cow and walk toward our presumed destination, or we resist like the duck and fight our way to the presumed end. The author stated that, "being present in they way things are is not the same as accepting things as they are". When you are being present and not resistant you can then see possibility before you to make choices on how you want to move on. The key to me here is that you are moving on and not spiraling downward in your thought process to get stuck where you are.
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Diane, your post hit home with me pertaining to a philosophy I've developed, or more correctly how I've developed. I spent years trying to force certain events to happen, one being to have a specific teaching position in a certain school, and to avoid other events from happening, one being teaching special education and teaching in the middle school grades. While I held that thought pattern and was focused on my calculating self, I never was able to accomplish the goal. Try as I might, it never worked out. And believe me, I tried HARD! I purposely did not have a full minor in my bachelors program of Elementary Education (Not Special Ed) so that I couldn't teach beyond grade 6. I ended up not being able to find a teaching position and went on to do other, unsatisfying, things. When a teacher convinced me to reactivate my teaching license, it turned out to be through taking special education classes and adding that to my license. Now, I am a special education teacher IN a middle school! When I finally let my central self guide me, I found myself where I feel I am suppose to be. Calculating couldn't avoid it. I let my central self keep me open to the flow of finding my path to where I needed to be.
ReplyDeleteIt's very much about what we do with what we have. Being in the moment means that each moment has to stand on it's own and not only exist for some future goal. Sometimes that's a very narrow definition but the idea is that we cannot allow what little time we have all pile up under some larger meaning, hoping that that eventual victory will make it all make sense. We only have right now. At the same time, this doesn't mean that we don't make sacrifices for others, particularly those who are dependent on us. But even in giving, in setting their priority higher than ours, we can value that moment all by itself without it having to be more than it is. It is a difficult practice to live by.
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