Monthly Archives: July 2013

Power Words for July the 17th: Keeping it Positive

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One weekday morning, I was drinking alcohol in a public park. It was Spring, and the sun was shining as a comfortable breeze rolled over me. The more I consumed from my paper bag, the more optimistic and at peace I felt.

Spiritual Power Words

Bird always looks so great

  Unexpectedly, a woman approached me. This had never happened before. She was of middle age, and had two children in tow. “You can’t be drinking here.” she said, with no pleasantries. “What?” I asked. “You can’t do that here. It’s illegal. You need to leave or I’m calling the police.” she reiterated.

  I looked her kids over. I did it slowly, and she noticed. She seemed uncomfortable. One of the children was very obese, and the other appeared to have some kind of breathing problem that was loud and constant. Since she had ruined my peace of mind, I decided to give her a piece of my mind. “Look, lady. Giving me the business won’t make these defective kids live any longer.” I said. Her face dropped. A moment later, she let out a string of profanities, then left the park. I did the same, taking seriously her mention of the police.

  Though I was inarguably in the right, I spent the rest of the day feeling bad. I thought of how many more clever retorts I’d have for her, if there had been enough time to think of them. I replayed the situation again and again in my head. It was her who had so clearly been the villain in this situation, so why was I now feeling so negative about it? Where had I gone wrong?

  My mistake had been letting her get to me. I only realized this after some years of spiritual development, but it’s one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned. The world is full of women in unflattering jeans, well past their physical prime, who would love an opportunity to visit their misery on a person like me, who was just enjoying all that life has to offer. Women, men, children, the elderly, crossing guards, and so many more groups contain such individuals. We can’t control them. All we can control is our reaction, and when we control it, nobody can ruin our day.

Power Words:

Today, I will live my life with confidence, noticing the judgments and opinions of others, but disregarding their worth, and focusing on my own.

Power Words for July the 13th: The Value of Patience, and its Limits

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“Patience, young one.” said the wise master to his student, when the boy complained that, despite all his training and practice, the old man said he was not yet ready to go forth into the world.

  Life is full of frustration. Think of the pot of water whose boiling we await, the lines of customers ahead of us in the supermarket, or the wheeled obstacle-mobiles piloted by others sitting in rows before us on the highway. Whatever our situation is, patience can keep our mind in the present, where it must be for clear thinking.

power words

Michael needs the spiritual power words.

  Although, is this always true? The answer is no. Events in our day may require quick responses, or a gentle push to move things along. Sometimes, a substantial shove is necessary. If we don’t beep our horn, that hundred year-old corpse stopped in front of us may sit on the brakes of her car all day. A customer service operator from our favorite public utility might as well place us on holds for infinity, if we don’t sharply badger them and steamroll their weak will. We are told, in the event of a fire, to remain calm and walk slowly to the nearest exit. However, fire moves very quickly. What will this advice get us? On fire. That’s what. Then we’ll be burned.

  Thus, patience, albeit a virtue, cannot solve all our problems. Sometimes we must take action, and run as fast as we can to that exit, without second-guessing who we might step on.

Power Words:

Today I will know when to exercise calmness and caution, but also when to bend and force situations into being what I want, now!

Power Words for July the 12th: Who am I?

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Power Words for Spiritual Growth and Recovery from Pain

“Who am I?” once asked a man who, after decades as the town’s best known and trusted haberdasher, had put away his buttons, glove leathers, and small trinkets, and taken his retirement in the countryside. After so long making a living of strings and zips and other notions, the man felt that if not the proprietor of the haberdashery, he was surely nobody at all.

  One day, happening upon a stream, and pausing to take a rest, the man had a new thought. In the light of the sun, hearing the trickle of the water, he suddenly felt a peace fall over him as he gazed into the stream at his own reflection. Surely he had been a haberdasher, and before that apprentice to a masterdasher, and previous to then a student at one of the finest habercademies, and so on. However, these things could be said of many men. Haberdashers, mostly.

  The man reflected in the stream was only himself, and while he might be like many others, there was only one him. The true person he was lived not in the haberdashery, but in his heart.

Power Words:

The person I am is not my job, my place, a hat I wear, or a band I like. These are all parts of me, but they come and go. Today I will look at my truest self, by pointing my eyes into my soul. Backward and down.

 

Power Words for July the 11th: Birth, and Rebirth: New Beginnings, and Beginnings Agains

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Sometimes we make a mess. We spill milk, break a heel, or burn every bridge in our personal life, while simultaneously wrecking our career.

hellobird

These things can have us feeling pretty run-down. We replay the choices we’ve made over and over, wondering what we could’ve done differently, and circle the shame-drain in a whirlpool of self-kicks, kicking ourselves.

Nobody’s walking to Australia today. We’re only human. If a mistake were all it took to stop our journey, we’d have given up a long time ago.
Whatever situation we find ourselves in, we can always pause, take a deep breath, and give ourselves a fresh start; a blank page that brightly smiles back at us. Sometimes this is as simple deciding to change our attitude, and making a commitment to take positive action throughout our day. In other cases, we may need to attain a new identity, leave whatever place we call home, and never speak to the people there again, shutting our time with them away and keeping our former life a secret we take to the grave.
But these specifics aren’t important. No matter our situation, we can choose a fresh start knowing that we are worthy of being loved, and giving love. We deserve it!

Power Words:

Today is a new day. I will put on a clean shirt, smile at an animal or baby, and choose to feel brand-new!