Some poems do not rhyme . . .

[Guest guest]

At 09:46 30/04/01 -0400, you wrote:

>So - now we xould look into this notion of "attachment" and

>"non-attachment", and what we accept and reject. One just simply notes

>without value judgement. Hmm, yes, liking for this arising, hum, disliking

>of that arising, bird singing, pain arising disappearing, craving arising

>disappearing, sadness arising, disappearing, happiness and joy arising and

>disappearing - thoughts occuring, all just flowing along - nothing to be

>done, nowhere to go. If one is trying to go beyond the senses, or body, or

>pain, this comes out of mind of hate and aversion, if one covets the

>"enlightened state" this is greed practice - both delusional, and both

>grounded in desire. Most interesting!

>

>Metta,

>

>Joyce

 

I was not going to post this here

but your post was excellent (in my arising

opinion)

- sorry do not know the author of the first piece :-)

 

Enjoy:

 

THE AWAKENING

A time comes in your life when you finally get

it. When in the midst of all your fears and

insanity you stop dead in your tracks and

somewhere the voice inside your head cries out -

ENOUGH!

Enough fighting and crying or struggling to hold

on. And, like a child quieting down after a blind

tantrum, your sobs begin to subside, you shudder

once or twice,you blink back your tears and

through a mantle of wet lashes you begin to look

at the World through new eyes.

This is your awakening. You realize that it's

time to stop hoping and waiting for something to

change or for happiness, safety and security to

come galloping over the next horizon. You come to

terms with the fact that He is not Prince

Charming and You are not Cinderella and that in

the real world there aren't always fairy tale

endings (or beginnings for that matter) and that

any guarantee of "happily ever after" must begin

with you and in the process a sense of serenity

is born of acceptance. You awaken to the fact

that you are not perfect and that not everyone

will Always love, appreciate or approve of who or

what you are... and that's OK. They are entitled

to their own views and opinions. And you learn

the importance of loving and championing

yourself, and in the process, a sense of new

found confidence is born of self-approval. You

stop bitching and blaming other people for the

things they did to you (or didn't do for you) and

you learn that the only thing you can really

count on is the unexpected. You learn that people

don't always say What they mean or mean what they

say and that not everyone will always be there

for you and that it's not always about you. So,

you learn to stand on your own and to take care

of yourself and in the process a sense of safety

and security is born of Self-reliance.

You stop judging and pointing fingers and you

begin to accept people as they are and to

overlook their shortcomings and human frailties

and in the process sense of peace and contentment

is born of forgiveness. You realize that much of

the way you view yourself, and the world around

you, is as a result of all the messages and

Opinions that have been ingrained into your

psyche. And you begin to sift through all the

crap you've been fed about how you should behave,

how you should look and how much you should weigh

and what you should wear and where you should

shop and what you should drive, how And where you

should live and what you should do for a living,

who you should sleep with and who you should

marry and what you should expect of marriage, the

importance of having and raising children or

what you owe your parents. You learn to open up to

new worlds and different points of view. And you

begin reassessing and redefining who you are and

what you really stand for. You learn the

difference between wanting and needing and you

begin to discard the doctrines and values you've

outgrown, or should never have bought into to

begin with, and in the process you learn to go

with your instincts. You learn that it is truly

in giving that we receive. And that there is

power and glory in creating and contributing and

you stop maneuvering through life merely as a

"consumer" looking for your next fix. You Learn

that principles such as honesty and integrity are

not the outdated ideals of a bygone era but the

mortar that holds together the foundation upon

which you must build a life. You learn that you

don't know everything, it's not your job to save

the world and that you can't teach a pig to sing.

You learn to distinguish between guilt and

responsibility and the Importance of setting

boundaries and learning to say NO. You learn that

the only cross to bear is the one you choose to

carry and that martyrs get burned at the stake.

Then you learn about love. Romantic love and

familial love. How to love, how much to give in

love, when to stop giving and when to walk away.

You learn not to project your needs or your

feelings onto a relationship. You learn that you

will not be more beautiful, more intelligent,

more lovable or Important because of the man on

your arm or the child that bears your name. You

learn to look at relationships as they really are

and not as you would have them be. You stop

trying to control people, situations and

outcomes. You learn that just as people grow and

change so it is with love.... And you learn that

you don't have the right to demand love on your

terms just to make you happy.

And, you learn that alone does not mean

lonely...You look in the mirror and come to terms

with the fact that you will never be a size 4 or

a perfect 10 and you stop trying to compete with

the image inside your head and agonizing over how

you "stack up." You also stop working so hard at

putting your feelings aside, smoothing Things

over and ignoring your needs. You learn that

feelings of entitlement are perfectly OK....that

it is your right to want things and to ask for

the things that you want...that sometimes it is

necessary to make demands. You Come to the

realization that you deserve to be treated with

love, kindness, sensitivity and respect and you

won't settle for less. And, you allow only the

hands of a lover who cherishes you to glorify you

with his touch...and in the process you

internalize the meaning of self-respect. And you

learn that your body really is your temple. And

you begin to care for it and treat it with

respect. You begin eating a balanced diet,

Drinking more water and taking more time to

exercise. You learn that fatigue diminishes the

spirit and can create doubt and fear. So you take

more time to rest. And, just as food fuels the

body, laughter fuels our soul. So you take more

time to laugh and to play. You learn, that for

the most part, in life you get what you believe

you deserve... and that much of life truly is a

self-fulfilling prophecy.

You learn that anything worth achieving is worth

working for and that wishing for something to

happen is different than working toward making it

happen. More importantly, you learn that in order

to achieve success you need direction, discipline

and perseverance. You also learn that no one can

do it all alone and That it's OK to risk asking

for help. You learn that the only thing you must

truly fear is the great robber baron of all time,

FEAR itself. You learn to step right into and

through your fear because you know that whatever

happens you can handle it and to give in to fear

is to give away the right to live life on your

terms. And you learn to fight for your life and

not to squander it living under a cloud of doom.

You learn that life isn't always fair, you don't

always get what you think you deserve and that

sometimes bad things happen to unsuspecting, good

people.

On these occasions you learn not to personalize

things. You learn that God isn't punishing you or

failing to answer your prayers. It's just life

happening. And you learn to deal with evil in its

most primal state the ego. You Learn that

negative feelings such as anger, envy and

resentment must be understood and redirected or

they will suffocate the life out of you and

poison the universe that surrounds you. You learn

to admit when you are wrong and start building

bridges instead of walls. You learn to be

thankful and to take comfort in many of the

simple things we take for granted, things that

millions of people upon the earth can only dream

about; a full refrigerator, clean running water,

a soft warm bed, a long hot shower. Slowly, you

begin to take responsibility for yourself by

yourself, and you make yourself a promise to

never betray yourself and to never ever settle

for less than Your heart's desire. You hang a

wind chime outside your window so you can listen

to the wind. You make it a point to keep smiling,

to keep trusting, and to stay open to every

wonderful possibility. Finally, with courage in

your heart and with God by your side you take a

stand, you take a deep breath and you begin to

design the life you want to live as best as you

can.

 

 

"I wanted a perfect ending...

Now, I've learned the hard way that some poems

don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear

beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing,

having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it,

without knowing what's going to happen next.

Delicious ambiguity."

 

Gilda Radner, 1946-1989

[Guest guest]

Lobster <lobster

> - sorry do not know the author of the first piece :-)

 

Virginia Marie Swift

 

 

THE AWAKENING

A time comes in your life when you finally get

it. When in the midst of all your fears and

insanity you stop dead in your tracks and

somewhere the voice inside your head cries out -

ENOUGH!

 

....