Every Day Do Something That Scares You
Eleanor Roosevelt is noted, among many things, for her many pithy little bits of wisdom. This morning I was leafing through one of my girlfriend’s Somerset Studio magazines when I ran across this apropos little pearl, “Every day do something that scares you.”
Fear and courage are the twin themes that have been surfacing lately in my daily practice. Those of you who had the misfortune to run across several posts of mine last night regarding my ATM mishap, which may seem inconsequential until you understand my issues regarding money, homelessness etc, you understand what I am talking about. Then there is work related challenges that I have blogged about. Good changes….just scary ones.
The good news is that I have no shortage of scary things to choose from each day. Last night I had to choose to accept that regardless of how I worried I am about money issues there was nothing that I could do about it at that moment. It was Sunday, the bank was closed. It will be closed today because of Columbus Day. I did everything that could be done. I talked with a customer service rep who noted my account. Now I have to wait until tomorrow to follow-up.
Meanwhile, I need to decide whether I am going to allow my thoughts to trouble me. I am a pretty cerebral guy. I live a lot of my life inside my head. My thoughts rage like a cresting river dangerously close to breaching the dykes of my sanity. For some mindfulness meditation helps. Others find solace in a hot bath or exercising. At times of each of these things help
Just for today - as we say in Al-Anon - I can chose to sit with my feelings and not allow my tumultuous thoughts to disrupt my serenity. Tomorrow will come soon enough and then I can take reasonable action. The other choice is to let my thoughts control me and disrupt my serenity…tomorrow won’t come any sooner.
Sometimes the action we have to take is non-action. We can’t always be “doing.” Sometimes, as a sponsor once said, “Don’t just do something, sit there.”
Fear and courage are the twin themes that have been surfacing lately in my daily practice. Those of you who had the misfortune to run across several posts of mine last night regarding my ATM mishap, which may seem inconsequential until you understand my issues regarding money, homelessness etc, you understand what I am talking about. Then there is work related challenges that I have blogged about. Good changes….just scary ones.
The good news is that I have no shortage of scary things to choose from each day. Last night I had to choose to accept that regardless of how I worried I am about money issues there was nothing that I could do about it at that moment. It was Sunday, the bank was closed. It will be closed today because of Columbus Day. I did everything that could be done. I talked with a customer service rep who noted my account. Now I have to wait until tomorrow to follow-up.
Meanwhile, I need to decide whether I am going to allow my thoughts to trouble me. I am a pretty cerebral guy. I live a lot of my life inside my head. My thoughts rage like a cresting river dangerously close to breaching the dykes of my sanity. For some mindfulness meditation helps. Others find solace in a hot bath or exercising. At times of each of these things help
Just for today - as we say in Al-Anon - I can chose to sit with my feelings and not allow my tumultuous thoughts to disrupt my serenity. Tomorrow will come soon enough and then I can take reasonable action. The other choice is to let my thoughts control me and disrupt my serenity…tomorrow won’t come any sooner.
Sometimes the action we have to take is non-action. We can’t always be “doing.” Sometimes, as a sponsor once said, “Don’t just do something, sit there.”