Recently, I had an inspiring, energizing, and engaging reading with Eliyahu Jian – an author, rabbi, and life & spiritual coach. It was a delightful experience, because he saw parts of myself that few others have. I laughed, cried, was a bit surprised, and uplifted.
It’s the magic of Being Seen – when someone connects with your essence and reflects it to you in a way that you feel truly honored, recognized, appreciated.
There’s a way to shift ourselves out of a dour mood. From a pre-pandemic blog I originally wrote for Psych Central (when I actually had a physical counseling office!), here’s how I returned to feeling more alive and happy.
We’ve all had those days where we feel off, or maybe worse. Sometimes, we’re down, overwhelmed, or in a funk. Yesterday was one of those days for me.
The mind likes to do a lot of comparing. Am I doing as well as that person over there? My yoga poses suck. I am the best in the class! Their car is nicer than mine. It would be easy to write pages of this, wouldn’t it? It’s all too familiar.
In my years as a counselor, it’s become apparent to me that comparison is the root of depression. We wish things were different than they are, and we tend to focus on what we don’t have, or what isn’t happening right now. This is a sure-fire way to ruin your mood, and it does nothing for creating what you really want.
photo by Kristie McLean
I’m not feeling all that well today – my stomach is upset, my neck hurts, and I feel kind of sluggish. But I realized that I can still feel happy.
Most of us tend to feel that if we don’t have things that we want, or situations don’t turn out the way we’d like, or if we’re not feeling how we want to feel, that we shouldn’t be happy. We believe that we can only be happy if we get what we want.
I’ve spent a lot of my life seeking, seeking, seeking. Looking for God everywhere, searching for my teacher or my spiritual path.
Today, I was looking for space to store my daughter’s Christmas ornaments, and opened up the hall closet. There’s just enough room to fit the box up high on the shelf above the coats. But wait – what’s that green tassel I see?
Today, January 17th, is the rebirth of my website, AwakeningSelf.com! After a lot of hard work, I have this gem to share with you. Thank you to my wonderful web designer, Mani Sheriar, for being so delightful to work with and for sharing her very special talents to create this place of beauty and inspiration. Also a special thank you to my very gifted photographer, Lisa DeNeffe, who did all my new portraits for the site. She really brings out everyone’s natural essence in her work.
I hope you enjoy all the content I’ve created here to give you a meaningful and uplifting experience as you explore Awakening Self. Share freely with others!
You or I would complain bitterly. Living in barren conditions, seldom any water. Frequently, large vehicles pass right overhead making thunderous noise, and trampling the living space so you can barely stretch up without being hit. Garbage is part of your living landscape.
The funniest thought arose in my meditation today, after I had been contemplating the Eightfold Noble Path – Buddha’s prescription for eradicating suffering and attaining liberation. Apparently, my thoughts weren’t entirely still (big surprise) and thus this image of an ice cream cone being offered to the Buddha somehow sprang to my awareness. Would he eat it? What would the Buddha do?
I can’t claim to know what the Buddha would do, to be quite frank. But, based on his teachings, I can certainly take a stab at it. There’s one thing I do know – the Buddha would be aware that he has choices. He can choose to eat it, he can choose not to eat it. He would know that any desire or aversion that arose regarding the ice cream would be continuing the cycle of suffering in this life. He also knows that judgment would be a slippery slope – it feeds the ego, the idea that we are right if we choose one way, and wrong if we choose another. This would lead to either pride or shame, which again is back on the hamster wheel of suffering.
