Tag: repair

Share the duties

by energywriter, posted in Thoughts to Ponder

Thoughts to Ponder – September 30, 2016

“You take care of the inches, I’ll take care of the miles.

You just have to go first.”

The Universe*

What an encouraging statement! All we have to do is start our project and the Universe will take care of the rest. That doesn’t mean that we can start a task, then sit down and watch television while the project is completed.

Drat! That’s the way I like to work. I must admit right up front that I’m a world class procrastinator. Don Marquis said,

“Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.”**

How right he was. I’m usually working on yesterday’s task. I much prefer doing something fun than work. But, I know that if I want to accomplish certain things like paying my bills, cleaning my house or writing a New York Times best seller I have to do some work, probably a lot of work.

The Universe isn’t telling us that we don’t have to work. It is telling us that if our deep desire is to accomplish a goal, we should start it even if we don’t see how all the details are going to work out. The Universe will be sure that all that’s needed will be available.

An excellent example is right here in our area. Several years ago a young boy was killed in a traffic accident. Wanting to honor the child’s memory his parents began a program called A Gift from Ben. They went to a local grocery store and asked for a donation of food that was near its expiration date. Since the store management would have to destroy the food anyway, they gave it to the program. The parents then delivered the food to a few people in need and repeated the action each week. As word spread about their charitable project, other stores offered food. Then people who had plenty began offering cash donations. Now the project feeds several low-income neighborhoods and shelters. Some neighborhoods have now set up organized distribution centers. Resident volunteers separate and bag the food so that the other residents can just pick up a bag and return their homes. The parents took the steps of contacting a grocery store and buying an old pick-up truck to deliver the food. The Universe provided the rest.

I know this concept is real. I’ve seen it happen several time in my life. A few examples are: attending college in my 40s and paying the loan debt; buying my first house in my 50s through a low-income program; making repairs/remodeling the house and more recently being given a lovely sweater than wasn’t in my budget. All of us can think of several situations that worked out better than we thought they would.

Most of us have dreams that we don’t expect to come true. That’s our biggest problem. We see the impediments as much larger than the available resources. That feeds our procrastination tendencies. So how do we take care of the “inches”? We go to work, pick up the Windex and rag and sit “butt in chair” and type. Once we do that, we look for the next step and take it. Because we “go first” and “take care of the inches” the Universe will smooth the path to the next step, that is, “take care of the miles.”

Spirit,

Thank you for reminding us that you will always meet our needs and that we need to take the first step. If we do that you will provide the rest.

And, so it is.

* TUT – A note from the Universe, Mike Dooley, September 30, 2016

** Don Marquis, ‘certain maxims of archy’ in “archy and mehitabel”, 1927

© by Sharon D. Dillon, September 30, 2016

Sharon D. Dillon, energywriter@cox.net, http://energywriter.me “Laugh your way to peace, love and joy” Author of Echoes of your Choices, 2016, available as a paperback or e-book at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other online sites.

Chesapeake Bay Writers, Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop, Southern Humorists, National Society of Newspaper Columnists, Voices of Williamsburg Toastmasters Club.

Let go and take a risk

by energywriter, posted in Thoughts to Ponder

Thoughts to Ponder

 “Processing our failures only keeps us in the past … forgive, let go and get back up … for if we remain in that negative space, we allow the shadow to win.’”

Window of Wisdom*

Hashing over old mistakes is a habit many of us learned from our families and teachers. We continue to reinforce that habit as we mature. But is it good for us?

When we do something wrong we should review our contribution to the argument, unpleasant situation or disaster. After accepting our part in the situation we apologize and vow to do better in the future. If we’re fortunate the other party will accept our apology and agree to move on. Otherwise, we’ve lost a friend or job.

If the situation is not resolved amicably, we still need to move forward. We can remember the situation as a learning experience and live our lives according to our new awareness. Or, like most of us we learn and change our behavior, yet carry the guilt around for the next 50 years. Nothing weighs more than guilt. It prods us at the most inconvenient times. Perhaps we’re starting a new job and each day we wonder if that is the day our supervisor learns about our colossal error that cost the old employer a valuable contract. Possibly, we meet a new love but are afraid to commit because that person may learn how we caused pain in a former relationship.

When we notice that our old mistake is costing us happiness in our current lives it is past time to heal ourselves. If we were truly contrite about the situation we can tell ourselves that we took all the steps we could to repair the damage and have changed our behavior. If the situation catches up to us, we must be truthful and show our remorse.

In the meantime, to grow into a better person we need to do as Martha Beck recommends:

“Every day, do at least one frightening thing that contributes to the

fulfillment of your desires.”**

Perhaps that frightening thing is merging onto the Interstate to get to work. We don’t like it, but we have to do it to feed our family. For me the most scary thing I need to do is make a phone call. The phone that weighs ounces in my pocket weighs 500 pounds when I have to punch in some numbers and hit send. I fear I may be interrupting something important on the other end. Yet I must do it to schedule appointments and visit with my friends. One event that terrified me was enrolling in college when I was in my early 40s. It turned out to be the best decision I ever made.

Each of us has different things that frighten us, but we’ll get nowhere except our rocking chairs if we give into those fears. We must do something scary each and every day to move forward to reach our goals.

Spirit, Please remind us each day to do something that frightens us, whether it is tasting an unusual food or applying for a new job. Only in that way can we grow into the strong people we are meant to be. And, so it is.

*A Window of Wisdom, July 4, 2016, https://awindowofwisdom.wordpress.com

**July 6, 2016, Menu Item #5, Risk, The Joy Diet, Martha Beck, info@marthabeck.com

© by Sharon D. Dillon, July 17, 2016

Sharon D. Dillon, energywriter@cox.net, http://energywriter.me “Laugh your way to peace, love and joy”

Chesapeake Bay Writers, Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop, Southern Humorists, National Society of Newspaper Columnists

Author of Echoes of your Choices, 2016, available as an e-book or paperback at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other online sites.