Credit: Photo by Cristina Anne Costello
“Making the so-called bad guys in your life wrong and collecting evidence for the wrongness in my mind, only distracts us from creating the heaven we think we will get when we excavate all the bad. What if we just activated and were vigilant for the beauty?”
– Jennifer Hough
The other morning, as I was pulling out an old plant that took up a lot of room and was on its way out, I heard the bell from the Baptist church down the road, at the same time as I caught a glimpse of the peonies I was planting to replace the old bush.
I love peonies. They remind me of Canada and my front yard. They take me to an emotional home place. That’s why I’m planting them. I keep imagining seeing the peonies while I’m sitting on my front porch.
At the gathering place down the road, the minister is impassioned and talks very loudly. Sometimes, he’s incredibly inspiring and I just stand outside on the road and listen, while at others when he talks about the challenging aspects of humanity, there’s fear within the church. I speak at many churches, so this isn’t about making church wrong, but rather the idea that most of humanity spends time finger-pointing.
I was thinking I felt no anger towards this bush, nor did I make the bush wrong. Actually, I was thanking it for the oxygen it gave off and for how beautiful it must have looked in its heyday. I’d been told it was going to be very, very hard to get the bush out but it came out effortlessly.
All I’m thinking about is the beauty that’ll be there as I sit on my front porch. I’ll plant some perennial summer bloomers around it to highlight the view.
Making the so-called bad guys in your life wrong and collecting evidence for the ‘wrongness’ simply distracts from creating the heaven we think we’ll have if we excavate all the bad. What if we just activated and were vigilant for the beauty?
When we do that, we activate a higher frequency, or a higher mood, and all we fear is seen from a wider and wiser perspective. We remain in our power, knowing nothing can take our power away from that greater view.
A lot of the people in the Baptist church are my neighbors, and we treat each other so well. They’re generous, we exchange veggies from our gardens and always say ‘hi’ when we’re going on our walks.
I’m not trying to be Pollyanna, or to spiritually bypass anything. However, the internal work is the internal work …
I was sitting here dictating this into Siri, as an incredible bird was singing a song on the wire.
Heaven is all around. It’s all around if that’s what we’re vigilant for. Excavating what we don’t like is an arduous task when, instead, we could make ourselves bigger than anything we perceive as wrong, making our hearts and our actions bigger than all of it.
No, pointing of fingers required.
What if the opposite of heaven isn’t what we think but is complaining, gossiping, being disingenuous, and wasting our energy on finger-pointing instead of creating what we desire?
Just some thoughts for you as you’re going about your day. We can make our lives whatever we choose. We are free to focus on what blesses us, or not.
I’m grateful for the ringing bell, the old plant, and for the beauty of next year’s peonies.
Ps. My heart overflows with gratitude as I reflect upon the profound impact UNSTUCK has had on readers’ lives. If you’ve had the pleasure of immersing yourself in the pages of my book, I would be honored if you could take a moment to share your thoughts through an Amazon review. Your words hold immense significance, not just for me and the dedicated team behind this labor of love, but also for the countless individuals whose lives we aspire to touch. By leaving a review, you’re not only supporting us, but also helping us extend our reach and touch the hearts of even more people. Your voice truly matters, and we can’t wait to hear your unique perspective!
