HYDRANGEA

WATCHING

I am discovering what a magical time it is to be WATCHING anything good.! I saw a magnificent heron like bird, grayish brown, the size between an Egret and an Ibis. It was so regal, so focused on what it was doing, which was WATCHING for something in the water it could gobble up. It was riveting to WATCH his TENACITY and PATIENCE while WAITING for his lunch. When ‘something’ appeared he would reach down for it at lightning speed. He was doing precisely what he was designed to do . . .as are all wildlife and plants for that matter.

I feel I have been given the gift of slowing down my life so I can actually enjoy WATCHING what is going on around me. I also see a dragonfly flying around at the same place every time I walk by the lake. One of my favorite sites anywhere ( but especially from my window) are the long shadows on the trees and grass early morning and before sundown.

They put me in touch with GRATITUDE for the safety, beauty and well being around me. These feelings have been heightened in light of this weeks weather elsewhere. I have COMPASSION and SYMPATHY for all at the affect of the weather. I even looked up the words EMPATHY and COMPASSION. EMPATHY is the ability to share ones thoughts or emotions. This I cannot do because I have never experienced anything like this. COMPASSION is deep sympathy and pity. . .

What does all this have to do with WATCHING? I have been WATCHING myself very closely to ‘see’ what I am feeling and thinking. I have always thought that I am my thoughts and feelings. After reading a book called ‘The Untethered Soul” by Michael Singer, I’m seeing the value of realizing and incorporating a TRUTH that I have actually two voices, if you will, within me. One is my mind telling me all sorts of stuff that is not really the TRUTH, only the way things appear.  An interesting analogy is the hurricane. Peaceful in the center and wrecking havoc on the periphery.

I am discovering there is this other part of me, voice, that is WATCHING myself go through all sorts of pain and fear, fighting for survival. This is very normal. I feel, and know that this is the way we have been taught and raised. Since becoming AWARE that there is something else within me that wakes me up, I am much more at peace and harmony. Believe me it is an ongoing PROCESS that I’m experiencing, but well worth the struggle.

It is like going down a path in the woods and suddenly realizing there are 2 paths here, one of which will lead me to chaos and ‘unsettledness’ and one that will lead me to experiencing ‘what is the TRUTH. Once I realized there is a new and better way to live my life, I have a new focus and a ‘WATCHING’ and alertness to pursue.

Here are 3 quotes from the book, ‘The Untethered Soul” that help put me back on track. I offer them as a way of communicating a method toward CONSCIOUSNESS AND AWARENESS.

“There is nothing more important to true growth than to realize that you are not the voice of the mind---you are the one who hears it.

The one inside who is aware that you are always talking to yourself about yourself is always silent. It is a doorway to the depths of your being.

You are not your thoughts. You are simply aware of your thoughts.”

BLESSINGS