Bravery

Carl Jung was having a conversation with a Native American chief, “The chief pointed out that, in his perception, white people have tense faces, staring eyes and a cruel demeanor. He continued, ‘They are always uneasy and restless. We don’t know what they want. We think they are mad.'” 

Our freedom, peace and joy in the present moment, is the most important thing we have.

Peace is found only in the present moment.  Thich Nhat Hanh

Enlightenment does not bring love: Love is what brings enlightenment. Buddha

What is your reason to not love? Because you do not think you are deserving of your own love and respect? You are wrong. You are deserving, perhaps just afraid to care about and trust yourself. It takes a full measure of awareness, of paying attention, to when you   demean or distrust yourself. That is the time to simply acknowledge your negativity or fear, and take a small step into an open acceptance and to move through that fear. Fear occurs because we tell ourselves we need to protect ourselves. That distrust comes from old behavior and a mental process of the many reasons we are not good enough. We cannot mentally battle our egos and win. But we can accept a feeling or a fear, and instead of reacting as usual, choose to open up to a sense of fearlessness that is not the product of conscious choice, it simply is there, available. It is kindness, and we touch into it. It is like a cool shower on a sweltering hot day.

 You can make yourself smile whenever you choose kindness and openness. Ah yes, that feels right and good.

We have been given permission to be kind to ourselves. When we are, we then are kind to others.

The world needs people who are wholeheartedly engaged with life. That takes bravery.

These days I am struck by the speed of life. As we get speedier, we do things in half steps. Therefore, the practice of wholehearted engagement is important. How can we be steady and complete, and what kind of wisdom does that bring? We practice being on the spot: we do things precisely and thoroughly. In meditation, our mind and body are joined and we access and protect our wisdom mind by being present. We then, extend our training into all other aspects of our life. Pay attention, be aware, not robotic.

Being brave enough to fully embrace our humanity, all that we see as good and bad, is how we will accomplish good things.                                                              

We may be engaged in immediate gratification, getting what we want when we want it. Manipulating others to do what we want them to, even subtly, or with deception. If things don’t happen the way we want we are unhappy and we may try to force our control on others. This shows no respect for ourselves or for others, arrogance, madness.

In my addiction I had no respect for anyone else, nor for myself. I was trying to destroy myself because I was unhappy and did not know what to do.                                               I have been learning slowly that I can never hide from myself, but that I must see myself clearly, with no regrets, and I can then move forward. I will then be able to see others more clearly and will not be afraid of myself or others. What a blessing to begin to step into my fears, accept them and move beyond, and not have them control me.

When you are fully gentle without arrogance and without aggression, you see the brilliance of the universe, life is fuller and richer, life is worth experiencing.
Chogyam Trungpa 

My meditation teachers taught me that with aggression you may accomplish some things, but with gentleness you can accomplish all things.                                

Gentleness allows us to have more skill and more options in how we can overcome negative habits and ingrain positive ones. Gentleness allows us to utilize all the aspects of what is happening in the environment … the distinction between being wise and being foolish is not so much who you are, but how you utilize what you have. SMR

The challenge of being brave points to one specific instruction—that we stop cowering from our basic goodness, the sunlight that illuminates everything equally, not just our restrictive, personal spotlight…

To be brave is to look closely at who we are, what drives us. What are our fears and what do we avoid or grasp after that is a habitual behavior, and seems to be a necessary defense in this world we see as threatening?

We need to start being brave by not saying yes when we really mean no, and no when we should say yes. We can begin to expand our awareness of ourselves and others through meditation, through a discipline of awareness in our everyday life, and engaging in healthy dialogue with others, not just gossip or mindless chatter. 

We learn to pay attention to what we do and why, and slowly open our hearts and minds to include others, but not to be abused by anyone, even when we have to brave a bit of a storm. We learn and grow from adversity well met.

We begin to recognize that all of our actions have an effect on others. At first this can be scary, or we deny it. As we grow, we begin to embrace the connection we have with others, and gladly take the responsibility of our actions and motives, because we know the vital importance of living honestly and fully. Always keep going; always believe in your deepest self, that is worthy of living life fully and capable of much kindness.

How do you fill your bucket? One drop at a time
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step
The great arises out of small things that are honored and cared for
May you be well. May you be happy. May you find peace.

Heart Of Recovery web site  — fcheartofrecovery.com