I wish you enough . . .
A few thoughts as we come to close of 2021:
“You’ve always had the power … you just had to learn it for yourself.”
- Glinda the Good Witch of the North from “The Wizard of Oz”
“Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open.”
- John Barrymore
“Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.”
- Dalai Lama
“Sometimes the greatest proof of your capacity for resilience is that you simply carry on.”
- Bruce McIntyre.
“Rest and be thankful.”
- William Wordsworth
SAFE
- Eileen Adler
I have been a care giver for almost two decades. As the needs increased, my stress levels increased. I wondered what caused me so much angst.
Like the poet and author Jane Hirshfield, I often think of my “emotions as being information. They are needed information. They are our internal weather, but they are also our weathervane. What is my responsibility? What must be suffered? What can be changed? What can I know? How can I meet this in a way which both lets me open my eyes the next day and also, perhaps, if I’m lucky, can be of service to a changed future?”
(To listen to the interview with Jane Hirshfield, press On Being Interview)Three emotions rose to my awareness: Sadness, Anger, Fear or Frustration so I labeled my approach SAFE – the E stands for empowerment. Once I understood my emotions, what was happening to me, I was able to react in a more compassionate way. The momentary SAFE is akin to mindfulness, being in the moment, my weathervane or my whether-vane. May we all be SAFE in the coming year, finding our empowerment.
