I am Enough

Several years ago I wrote a book entitled, “I am Enough,” a small group of essays that developed the idea that we are endowed with whatever we need to create vital, joyous personal lives. In fact, I coined a quaint little phrase that sits in the back of my mind to remind me of our personal inheritances: “Enoughness now!”

Makes perfect sense...

As I think through the impact of this natural inheritance, it makes perfect sense to me. How could we expect to live a full, active, authoritative life if we did not already possess what we need to function as a healthy, well-endowed person? Yet there are many people who see themselves as “less than.” They either naturally mistrust themselves, or they were taught by others they valued that they somehow lacked the tools to create a good life for themselves.

A sense of self...

Nothing could be farther from the truth. We really know that others cannot give to us a sense of self. They may encourage and enhance what we have come to know about ourselves, but they do not hold our senses of self awareness in their hands. We are taught rightly that we must consider the wants and needs of others if we are to live generous, thoughtful lives, but in these considerations there also must be a place for our own self value if we are to live as fully and lovingly as possible!

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Keeping On

Several years ago I knew of a wonderful spiritual leader who loved to utter a statement very special to him. He would often say that we need to “keep on keeping on” whenever he wanted to encourage his listeners. Made sense to me, for I always took it to mean that our job in life was to continue doing the things that were ours to do. We were to be faithful to our commitments; we were to be the people we set ourselves up to be. In this way, not only would people count on us, but we could count on ourselves as well, and what could ultimately be more important than being true to ourselves!

Let things go...

I can understand the desire to throw up our hands at times and just let things go… and, to be sure, there probably are some unnecessary segments we simply need to jettison… but the senses of who we are and what is ours to do need to remain inviolate. We know who we are by our loves, our agreements, for they help to define our lives. Making mistakes is one thing; these usually can be corrected. Giving up on ourselves, our decisions are quite another, and cannot always be set right.

Keep on keeping on...

Do we need rests and vacations? Of course, and we should take them as needed and desired, but our sense of well being is amplified and nurtured when we keep on keeping on.

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Possibilities

 Possibilities

These days I think that many of us are more willing to live in the world of possibilities rather than hard, accomplished facts and outcomes.  Of course we need to experience the results of what we put in motion, but I think that we are also more willing to live in the slippery world of what may always be taking form; in other words, in the world of “becoming” possibilities.  Yes, some things may be distinct and recognizable only in certain ways, but there are now even more effects that are changing form even as we are experiencing them.  This tells us that we need to be ready for regular unsettlings.  We need to be ready for multitudes of activities that change regularly rather than one distinct and changeless outcome.

Fraught with possibilities...            

This can be unsteadying to say the least.  What are we to do when something we have set in motion becomes fraught with possibilities we had never imagined?  To be sure, we need to keep a flexibility open in us that allows us to bob and weave when necessary.  More, though, we will need to entertain a mindset that welcomes the unexpected.  In a fast-moving, ever-shifting world of actions and forms that are ever subject to ideas that overwhelm what lies before us, we will need to expand our notions of what is possible so that we can work with what is ever developing!

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Does It Matter?

Does what we think and say matter?  Do our little, individual lives make a difference?  Such questions!! Of course they do, both individually and in the composite.  We may individually possess some important and life-changing ideas which will impact our lives and sometimes others in our world; and we should also know that, wisely or unwisely, we are impacting the life of thought that encircles us.

Grow up quickly...          

 If we do not understand the effects of thoughts and ideas upon our lives in particular and the world in general, we had better grow up quickly and discover that we are contributing to the mental world in which we live every time we form a thought.  Certainly each thought is not necessarily monumental, but some are and can make great, world-wide changes.  Other thoughts may have lesser impacts but all affect general thought patterns.

Thinking beings...          

 Perhaps we should learn that, as thinking beings, we possess more power than we think we do, which implies a greater responsibility on our parts to “mind our minds.”  We are responsible to ourselves to make the effort to think clearly and lovingly so that our lives will be healthy, but we should also remember that we are part of a great body of shared thinking.  We owe it to all of us to make sure our minds are wisely tuned and bring continuous gifts to life.

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Honor Thyself

During our “growing up” periods, part of what we should be doing is learning to honor ourselves, to realize that we, like the others in our lives, deserve to be loved and respected in order to live a healthy life.  Unfortunately, many of us were not raised to believe in our own self worth; some of us were, in fact, rejected by the adults in our lives and came to believe in our own uselessness.

Self corrections...          

 If we experienced this, one of the biggest, fastest self corrections we could ever make would be to heal this mistaken piece of learning.  As we partake of the Divine Nature of the Infinite, we must come to know that our entire being is fully Divine, fully loved and maintained by God.  To ignore this is to blunt the Universal Force which energizes and secures our every thought and act.

Change our thinking...          

 What would such a monumental self correction take?  We can, to begin with, change our thinking patterns entirely, day by day, and come to know ourselves as the true Divine creations that we are.  Certainly some inspirational classwork would be a great help, as well as being in the company of truly self-aware people, and engaging in genuine self forgiveness for such mistaken thinking would be a definite order of every day!  We can unleash our wonderful energies for good… our own and the new gifts we can bring to life!

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Be ye kind

There is a Biblical quotation in Eph. 4:32 that holds within it the simple words, Be ye kind.  And how wonderful and matchless kindness is when we experience it in our lives!  In a way, it provides a softness and a comfort that nothing else can give… if only we will stop long enough to experience this most magnificent quality of living.

Depth and patience...          

 We are often such vigorous participants in our own lives that we may be a bit dismissive of some of the quieter qualities that make life dear and sweet around us, but there is a fullness and solidity that kindness can give to us, and we would not want to miss this.  It gives us a depth and patience that few life turns do.

Thought and attention...            

One of the interesting qualities that being kind involves is a slowing down of our daily movements because kindness takes thought and attention, which also takes time.  Kindness needs time to play itself out during days which can be jammed with demands, for it cannot be demanded; it can only be given freely over whatever necessary minutes or hours it may take to unfold.

I think we know by now that a good life means one that includes many incredible qualities, such as love, peace, joy, harmony and order.  I count kindness among this esteemed group as well.

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Home

These days the idea and the experience of home hold more multiple meanings than ever. Home can, of course, refer to a physical location that holds background, comfort and safety among relatives; but it also presents many psychological meanings, such as gathering places where like minds can settle in and also convivial ideas that are shared by many, ideas that are supportive and bolstering in times of discomfort and unrest.

Senses of home...

I am trusting that we are all securing for ourselves and others the senses of home that we can obtain and also offer. Home may sometimes be considered in a provincial sense, which is a narrowed space offered to small groups that “belong together,” but at these times the expansion of home contains an enlarged invitation to be with others, be congenial, be welcoming, be loving, be… at home.

Goodwill and mutual support...

These are not the times to be laying back and hanging out by oneself. They are the times to stoke family groups or congenial communities and be a part of what accepts and offers goodwill and mutual support. For stability and for health’s safe, let us, then, recognize and participate in what is so readily needed… a place of refuge and regeneration. We may also find that we will, ourselves, sometimes play a part in that place called home by the very gifts of centered selves that we bring.


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