Down a Few
Living gratefully today, I extend appreciation to those who make the Healthy Minds Program available and for the morning calm and quiet that set me up for a good day, regardless of what happens.
I have wasted many wonderful moments of morning calm and quiet being busy-busy in my overthinking head. In the last couple of years, regular mindfulness and meditation practices have helped me improve significantly. The overthinking mind still creeps in, but it isn’t off to the races as soon as I wake up, like it used to be most days.
Dr. Cortland Dahl on the Healthy Minds app had this to say this morning –“Let your mind rest in open awareness. The surface of the mind may be turbulent or calm, but the clear water of awareness is always there, beneath the surface. Just notice this calm.”
Beneath the surface. Down a few levels depending on how much I have gotten in my own way. I tap into that open awareness more readily these days and it is a tremendous help as the minutes and hours of each day unfold.
Down a few. I was thinking about that on Saturday as my husband Darcy and I made a return trip to the trails of Barn Bluff. We were there last May and between us we are down over forty pounds of excess weight since our last visit. We walked further and took the inclines in better shape than on our last visit. A few pounds gone and better eating habits have brought us better energy too.
We went up and down quite a few steps as we walked. Some were created by humans to help the rest of us navigate the terrain. Others were just part of the natural landscape. We watched our steps as we also took in the beautiful fall scenery. There were steep inclines and declines, and also wide and flat stretches. An analogy for life.
As I spoke of in my recent post Falling, Falling, Falling, we saw many leaves that had already made their way down to the ground and others that did so right before our eyes. Down a few leaves, the trees still held plenty of color. But it was a different color than what we enjoyed last May.
Down a few months further into this year of 2022, we appreciated our most recent hike up Barn Bluff in new ways.
One more special mention before I close today’s post. “Happy Birthday!” today to my dear friend Sheila. We have each gone down some dark and difficult roads in the nearly 45 years we have been friends. Each has always been there to walk the other back to the light. Thank you Sheila and have a special day!
