“Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing.” ~Pema Chodron “Every day brings a choice: to practice stress or to practice peace.” Joan Borysenko = = = = = = = I’m going to be honest. Quotes like this have a tendency to piss me off: “Every day brings a choice: to practice stress or to practice peace.” Joan Borysenko said it, she is a smart woman, I trust her judgement but how can she make it sound so easy? If you have a perfect life, nice house, extra money, a housekeeper, a partner who adores you and lots of mutual support in every dimension it would be so easy to choose peace. The thing is when there is little of the sustenance stuff and just a smidge of your patience left, staying in a space of peace and love and no stress feels next to impossible. My eye is twitching wondering how positivity people are going to judge me for saying this, big gasps echoing around the room yet, I also have to ask… “Isn’t choosing peace even when in the midst of chaos what prayer and meditation and retreat are all about?” Immediately I think of the Lovingkindess prayer and how much peace I have had in using it. I think of the “Fall in love with Selling Challenge” I did recently with my friend Vie and how focusing on my purpose and beliefs literally brought me a fearless form of high. Wasn’t that a sort of choosing peace? I think of my conversation last night with Chuck when I shared about my plans to let go of my old self, shed that old self skin and devote myself publicly to my renewed way of thinking and being and no longer buying into my old, worn out my goodness I am so sick of it narrative that drags me down each and every time. I could be simple as simple can be: a tiny book of LovingKindness throughout the day whenever I feel myself sliding into stress and/or whenever a bell rings. I may choose to live the question, “Have I chosen stress or peace more today? What actions may I take to choose peace next?” Today, on retreat, I will devote myself to choosing peace. Your #5for5BrainDump Prompt: Peace feels like…. When I choose peace, I become more…. When I choose stress, I feel like… Make a list of times when I have consciously chosen peace… In the moments today when you stop feeling peaceful, take your list of times when you felt peace and use them to inspire a quick one, three or five minute writing session. May I be the first to say congratulations. Today, you are actively choosing peace. Stay the course and inspire yourself! Let's stay the course and write with #5for5BrainDump -
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Julie Jordan Scottis the founder and creator of 5For5BrainDump. She has been inspiring artistic rebirth since 1999. Archives
December 2021
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