#38 – Forgiveness….Heal the Ouch

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#38 – HEAL THE “OUCH”

“FORGIVENESS IS THE HEALER OF THE SOUL.”

UPRIGHT

This is a time for great soothing of the heart, body, soul, and mind, as this card indicates that healing will be prevalent in your life now. If you feel drawn to study the healing arts, you’ll be successful in developing your natural capacity to restore others to wellness. However, the message may be that you’re being called to change your behaviors in order to heal the earth. Perhaps you’ll switch to a cruelty-free diet, eating less meat; or perhaps you’ll pay more attention to how much water or electricity you use. You’re asked to be conscious of your footprint on the sacred earth and all of life and to commit to the healing path. The Heal the “Ouch” card may also be an indicator of old wounds and broken bonds being mended. Reconciliations are possible now. Let bygones be bygones.

Communication – Shared reading from “Language of Letting Go”

Communication

Part of owning our power is learning to communicate clearly, directly, and assertively. We don’t have to beat around the bush in our conversations to control the reactions of others. Guilt-producing comments only produce guilt. We don’t have to fix or take care of people with our words; we can’t expect others to take care of us with words either. We can settle for being heard and accepted. And we can respectfully listen to what others have to say.

Hinting at what we need doesn’t work. Others can’t read our mind, and they’re likely to resent our indirectness. The best way to take responsibility for what we want is to ask for it directly. And, we can insist on directness from others. If we need to say no to a particular request, we can. If someone is trying to control us through a conversation, we can refuse to participate.

Acknowledging feelings such as disappointment or anger directly, instead of making others guess at our feelings or having our feelings come out in other ways, is part of responsible communication. If we don’t know what we want to say, we can say that too.

We can ask for information and use words to forge a closer connection, but we don’t have to take people around the block with our conversations. We don’t have to listen to, or participate in, nonsense. We can say what we want and stop when we’re done.

Today, I will communicate clearly and directly in my conversations with others. I will strive to avoid manipulative, indirect, or guilt producing statements. I can be tactful and gentle whenever possible. And I can be assertive if necessary.

From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie

Meditation and Prayer for the Day…April 15

Meditation for the Day

I must keep calm and unmoved in the vicissitudes of life. I must go back into the silence of communion with God to recover this calm when it is lost even for one moment. I will accomplish more by this calmness than by all the activities of a long day. At all cost I will keep calm. I can solve nothing when I am agitated. I should keep away from things that are up setting emotionally. I should run on an even keel and not get tipped over by emotional upsets. I should seek for things that are calm and good and true and stick to those things.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may not argue nor contend, but merely state calmly what I believe to be true. I pray that I may keep myself in that state of calmness that comes from faith in God’s purpose for the world.

From Twenty-Four Hours a Day

#17 – Fate, Karma, Acceptance….

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#17 – THE FATES

FATE; KARMA; ACCEPTANCE THAT THERE ARE THINGS YOU CANNOT CHANGE AND KNOWING WHAT THOSE THINGS ARE.

GUIDANCE

The Oracle’s message: The Serenity Prayer sums up the meaning of this card: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” There are things in life you will never have control over. The conditions brought on by the evolution of the collective, by nature, and by your past experiences may be fated, preordained by Spirit for a greater purpose you cannot understand in this lifetime. It may not be in your cards to understand why certain events occurred, but you can accept the mystery and work with what those events and your current circumstances have to teach you. This is the wisdom contained in the Serenity Prayer. Relationship message: Other people are who they are. You can’t change them. The challenge is to accept them as they are and not try to make them otherwise to suit you. This is a time to look at how you attempt to mold people to fit your view of how they should be so you can remain in the relationship and avoid discomfort. What if who they are, and whatever is happening between you and them in this situation, is perfect from the perspective of Spirit? Now is the time to accept what you cannot change, even if it means that you honor yourself, Spirit, and the other person by moving on. Love unconditionally—for each of us is on our own journey, and we cannot direct that of another. Be aware that this relationship is indeed fated, and you are meant to evolve into a better version of yourself as a result of it. Prosperity message: Your experiences concerning prosperity and abundance are beyond your personal control right now. You are being invited to accept “what is” unreservedly. This could be a temporary situation, seemingly thrust upon you by outside forces, but there is an underlying purpose you can’t see that has been determined by the Fates. It could be a situation you are unprepared for, and you may not understand how it will benefit you in the moment. Do not fight the situation. Ride it out and see where it leads. Surrender to it, and the serenity you need to make good choices from here on out will be given to you. You will indeed flourish.

The End is Near….

I’m nearing the end of my time away from the world of Facebook…Sunday will be the first day that I consider myself “eligible” to log on to the website again.   There was a point that I considered not returning, but I’m thinking along the lines of changing the way I look at the site that seemed to take up so much of my time.

I wish I could say that I’ve had some great epiphany during the time away, but it doesn’t appear that’s going to be the case.  Of course, it could be only after my return that I learn what the true lessons were for the time I spent away.

And yes, there’s a part of me that feels somewhat ridiculous for even speaking about a social media website in such a way.  I think we can tend to make it out to be a lot more than it really is.  But there are some distinct advantages it offers that make my return imminent.

Facebook pluses…..

  • It gives me a chance to share the two daily readings I share each day:  “Twenty-Four Hours a Day” and “Language of Letting Go.”  I have had people share that they got a lot of insights from those readings and I consider it to be a service to continue to share those on a daily basis.
  • It gives me a chance to share the many photographs that I take.  I was looking back over the pictures that I’ve taken since I’ve been away, trying to decide which ones to share when I return.  I’ve shared on Instagram and my WordPress blog, but I think a lot more people get to view them while on FB.
  • I can keep up to date with what’s going on in the community a lot easier.  There are many events that I would learn about only through FB.  And it also afforded an opportunity to both share what events I attended and see what others saw when they went to events I didn’t attend.
  • The FB messenger is one of the fastest, easiest ways to stay in communication with friends….I’ve lost contact with several friends while I’ve been away.  I tried alternate ways to communicate, but the FB messenger was always the fastest and easiest way to stay in touch.
  • I also can share bits and pieces of what’s going on in my life with others….since I’ve been off FB, I’ve acquired two part-time jobs that I would like for others to know about….FB was always a convenient way to let others know what I’m up to….my #workflow pictures were always one of my favorites.

Facebook Minuses…..

  • First and foremost, and I accept responsibility in this area, I spend WAY too much time on FB.  It seemed that it had become an hourly ritual to check to see what others were posting or whether or not I had notifications and messages.  Since I’ve been away, I’ve noticed moreso when others are doing that.  When I do return, I plan on limiting the amount of time I spend on the website.
  • There does tend to be quite a bit of negativity associated with many people’s posts…whether it’s politics or religion or trash-talking someone else’s favorite team, it’s been nice not to have to see that on a daily basis.  Of course, I did learn that I could “unfollow” certain people, so there is an easy remedy to that issue.
  • I think I probably could stand to get out and about more and actually have face-to-face contact with others and not use FB as a substitute for that…having said that, it does give me a feeling of connection with others and especially in the evening hours, makes me feel less alone

And so that’s my condensed take on the all of it…I haven’t decided whether to return on Sunday or Monday of next week.  I’m planning on attending church services and spending time with the family, so perhaps Sunday evening would be the most opportune time to log back on and see what’s transpired.

**** I will have to confess that I accidently did log into FB one time over the period of Lent.  There was an article in the local paper that several people had made comments about.  When I clicked on one persons comment, it did redirect to FB world…I realized what it had done and immediately shut down the page.

David Lee

Big Wave Dave’s “Spin of the Day” for Friday, April 14, 2017

“Cruising For Bruising”

Cry
Come to me and cry
I know, I know, I know it’s not easy
Your heart is aching
But so is mine,
But so is mine…

How
Can I tell you why
For so long, so long, so long
I’ve been thinking
Now I know
I can’t live a lie,
Can’t live a lie…

They say true love lasts forever
If we want it
There will be waiting
A second chance
Baby but now we need time,
Time to learn,
Time to understand
Where we went wrong
‘Cause I feel so strong
We’re cruising for bruising, my baby
Second chance
Baby but now we need time,
Time to learn,
Time to understand
Where we went wrong
‘Cause I feel so strong
We’re cruising for bruising…

Go
I must let you go
Don’t stop, don’t stop
‘Cause it’s better now,
When I still love you
Don’t say goodbye,
Don’t say goodbye…

They say true love lasts forever
If we want it,
There will be waiting
A second chance
Baby but now we need time,
Time to learn,
Time to understand
Where we went wrong
‘Cause I feel so strong
We’re cruising for bruising my baby,
Second chance
Baby but now we need time,
Time to learn,
Time to understand
Where we went wrong
‘Cause I feel so strong
We’re cruising for bruising…

…for so long, so long, so long…

So bye for now,
Don’t let it die
‘Cause we can try
Some other time

So bye for now
Don’t let it die
‘Cause we can try
Some other time

 

Some Things Just Don’t Change…

Twenty-five years ago, when Hickory’s minor league team came to town, I was hoping to become the public address announcer.  I had done so for the local recreation department since I was sixteen years old and figured I was right for the job.  Turns out I didn’t get that job, but was hired as a back-up for the regular announcer.

Tonight I feel like I have a role in the movie “Groundhog Day” as I return to the Crawdads’ stadium to shadow the first stringer, as once again I am a back-up announcer. I didn’t actually approach them about the job – they contacted me.  Turns out they need some one that can do the day games for the summer.

I also found out that the available PA announcers are all out of town on Saturday night and I’ll be working a double header that night.  I guess you could say I’m a bit on the nervous side, as I was when I started taking pictures for the local paper.  But I feel assured that things will work out exactly as they are supposed to in the bigger picture.

So for now, it’s off to the ball park….

David Lee