Unsure

I'm unsure what to write about as there is a soup of feeling bubbling in me. Christmas season is over. Back to work, sure, but I love my work, so that's no hardship. I work in an amazing treehouse. What I'm unsure of is how to process the loss that comes my way as I get older. I've lost friends, dear family, loves, hopes and some dreams. Even some traditions, those things that can comfort us so by being repeated and looked forward to, are lost.

Breathing helps. Remembering what IS rather than what ISN'T helps. Clinging to those I love. Being grateful for what I am and have. But there is always the whisper of what has gone in every prayer for what is.

The girl group, the Dala, is coming to Banff Centre next week to play the Club. I'm intent on getting tickets. I hope that they play their song Hockey Sweater, which I send out into the ether for Brooks,   my nephews' uncle and brother to Keven. Brooks died suddenly just before Christmas. His absence is a reminder, that as sad as I might be at my losses, I'm still here.

Thoughts on Thoughts

How to manage your thoughts?

1. Notice them: see if they are constructive or destructive
2. If destructive, call that thought back, rework it, and send a constructive version back out

Dr. Badri Rickhi MB, BS, FRCP out of Calgary researched the effects of meditation on controlling emotional states. Dr. Rickhi proposed that monitoring thought was crucial to healthy emotions. In his 8-week programme teaching spiritual principles and practices to counter unipolar depression, he talks about "calling back" the energy of a negative thought. He says we awaken each day with only so much energy, so we must reclaim and recycle that which was squandered in destructive thought.

Dr. Rickhi & Dr. Hal receiving Dr. Rogers $250,000 award

Simple as that. Notice the thought. Call back the destructive ones. Upcycle the negative and send it out.
You don't cancel the thought so much as flip it around. Be purposeful with your thinking. Not purposempty.



The abstract from Rickhi's study may be found here. Worth a read--especially if you find yourself in a rut of negativity. Good for athletes and children. Good practice.