"When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
What a lucid image. Haven't we all at one point or another felt this way? That we had nothing left, that our inner reserves had been completely depleted? That an ant could push us over. What a blessing it is that we are all in this together, that we share in the similar struggles and experiences, that none of us are truly alone. It is at these moments, these edifices of our lives that we have the opportunity to experience the greatest internal growth. If we choose to stand firm in the opportunity of these moments and the resource for growth they grant us, we may benefit greatly. By navigating these struggles properly we will gain a richness in character and spirit that lead to an abundant life.
Throughout my personal history it seems I have either grown better or grown bitter from each life experience. The remarkable truth about this is it is completely and utterly my choice! Why do we forget this, why do we live in confusion about this law? We unbeknownst make crucial life altering choices daily by the way we react to our circumstance. Either we shrink or grow under the weight that life has placed on our shoulders. Our mental "muscles" either increase in stamina and strength as we ascertain new ways to overcome, or we allow the new and unexpected afflictions to atrophy our resolve.
Take a moment and visualize the greatest struggle you are currently facing. The giant you must overcome, identify it. Now envision lifting it from your shoulders and throwing it off. Put all your strength into it, dig your feet deep into the soil and thrust it off. In the act of "throwing off" the hardship that fear has placed in our hearts, we are able to then face our challenges clear headed. How do we do this? How do we throw off the weights? We live in hope and abandon fear. We let go of the question "why" and we embrace the question "how." How can I gain from this experience, how may I grow stronger for it? How will I live in hope, and have a grip on the reality of what it must take to prevail? These are the questions worthy of your invaluable time and energy. What afflicts you does not hold a candle to who you are, the stuff you are made of.
If you feel there is no strength left in you, it's alright. If you find it to difficult to hope, it is ok. Come see us at The Wellness Kitchen we have real answers, applicable tools that can assist you and guide you towards wellness. Find beauty and hope around you and let it permeate to your soul. Meditate, pray, be silent. And as always this is Sarah encouraging you to hope often and eat peacefully....
Monday, June 27, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet......"
"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition aspired, and success achieved." Helen Keller
Most of us would glance at this quote and concur that is a true statement. I would venture to say most of us would consider this quote to be common sense. Now whether or not we have the wherewithal to grasp this concept while in the throws of our most challenging trials, is a matter of a completely different sort. While undergoing these growing pains of life, it is at times of great difficulty to have the insight to see the future benefits our current situation may grant us. But there is always truth in pain; a hidden lesson, an advantageous character trait we have the opportunity to develop, if we so choose. In every situation we possess the option to benefit from it in the form of personal growth.
A Mexican Proverb that I cherish states, "It is not enough for a person to know how to ride; they must know how to fall." While in the "thick-of-it" it's an expected response for us to feel victimized or perhaps hopeless. But I am convinced the only way we truly fail is if we stay in that mental state. The particular thoughts associated with the previous stated emotion very often lead to resentment, bitterness and the stunting of personal growth. This path leads to the altercation of our true being in leiu of how we have allowed our challenge to mold us. I say allowed because whether we feel like it or not we always have a choice. We may have no control of what happens to us but we do have a choice of how we will let it effect us. There is another path. One that is less traveled yet yields great rewards. This is the path to wellness, self-restoration and healing. The path that leads to the building up of our character, the path that leads to peace and freedom. The first path may appear to be in the spirit of self-preservation, when in truth it is only in the act of letting go that we preserve ourselves. By releasing our pain we also inadvertently release ourselves from the bondage that was never ours in the first place.
My blog as of late has reflected much about this need to "release our pain." It has been a vital truth to my own personal storm... What good can you take from your current situation? What life lesson can you acquire that will strengthen you and build your character? How can you walk away from this situation better for having experienced it? The element that will carry us sucessfully through our struggles, is found in the act of renewing our souls. We must be certain that in this growth we are moving towards happiness, peace and prosperity. This takes a conscious effort and is well worth it to our well-being.
Come visit us at The Wellness Kitchen and let us aid you on your path to wellness. Let go often of all that burdens you and seize the opportunity for growth through the right mental attitude toward your current condition. And as always this is sarah encouraging you to eat peacefully....
Most of us would glance at this quote and concur that is a true statement. I would venture to say most of us would consider this quote to be common sense. Now whether or not we have the wherewithal to grasp this concept while in the throws of our most challenging trials, is a matter of a completely different sort. While undergoing these growing pains of life, it is at times of great difficulty to have the insight to see the future benefits our current situation may grant us. But there is always truth in pain; a hidden lesson, an advantageous character trait we have the opportunity to develop, if we so choose. In every situation we possess the option to benefit from it in the form of personal growth.
A Mexican Proverb that I cherish states, "It is not enough for a person to know how to ride; they must know how to fall." While in the "thick-of-it" it's an expected response for us to feel victimized or perhaps hopeless. But I am convinced the only way we truly fail is if we stay in that mental state. The particular thoughts associated with the previous stated emotion very often lead to resentment, bitterness and the stunting of personal growth. This path leads to the altercation of our true being in leiu of how we have allowed our challenge to mold us. I say allowed because whether we feel like it or not we always have a choice. We may have no control of what happens to us but we do have a choice of how we will let it effect us. There is another path. One that is less traveled yet yields great rewards. This is the path to wellness, self-restoration and healing. The path that leads to the building up of our character, the path that leads to peace and freedom. The first path may appear to be in the spirit of self-preservation, when in truth it is only in the act of letting go that we preserve ourselves. By releasing our pain we also inadvertently release ourselves from the bondage that was never ours in the first place.
My blog as of late has reflected much about this need to "release our pain." It has been a vital truth to my own personal storm... What good can you take from your current situation? What life lesson can you acquire that will strengthen you and build your character? How can you walk away from this situation better for having experienced it? The element that will carry us sucessfully through our struggles, is found in the act of renewing our souls. We must be certain that in this growth we are moving towards happiness, peace and prosperity. This takes a conscious effort and is well worth it to our well-being.
Come visit us at The Wellness Kitchen and let us aid you on your path to wellness. Let go often of all that burdens you and seize the opportunity for growth through the right mental attitude toward your current condition. And as always this is sarah encouraging you to eat peacefully....
Monday, June 6, 2011
"It isn't the mountains ahead that wear you out......"
"It isn't the mountains ahead that wear you out, it's the grain of sand in your shoe." Unknown
In the pursuit of happiness we all face certain challenges that threaten the very existence of our joy. It is important to realize it is not the mountain that will oppose us nearly as much as the grain of sand in our shoe. What is your grain of sand? Is it a feeling of unworthiness? Is it fear that you will never make it over your mountain? Is it sadness or despair of the acutest kind? Our perspective of our struggles has a great deal more to do with our ability to handle the situation, than the actual severity of the task at hand.
These past recent months have brought many new challenges my way, some unexpected some foreseen. In retrospect, I have ascertained that my emotional stress had little if anything to do with the actual "mountain" I was facing. My ability to overcome was in direct correlation to my mental perspective of the circumstance at hand. Samuel Grafton stated, " A penny will hide the biggest star in the Universe if you hold it close enough to your eye." What "penny" are you allowing to blind you from the grand possibilities of your existence here? No matter what the piece of "sand" is, it is not greater than the power you hold within you to overcome.
Now I want to be clear, it isn't that your emotions are invalid. There is no freedom in the denial of how we feel. Im not suggesting that you don't have a right to be scared about the mountain or the pebble. What I am advocating is that it is in our best interest to frequently practice acts that will lead to the release of disadvantageous thoughts and emotions. So in turn we will be prepared to face our challenges with the stamina and resources we need. How do we do this? Recently, with my heart in my hand I spent some time writing. I did not labor over words, I simply and freely wrote. When I was finished I read the words that had found there way from my soul to the page and was blown away by what had been revealed. I found myself, I found my sorrow, I found my truth. If you really want to have a finger on the pulse of your soul I would suggest journaling. With that release came a new sense of bravery and inner resolve.
To my esteemed readers who's mountain is cancer, my message to you is have compassion for yourself....Whatever you feel without self-judgement write it down. This is vital to your personal journey of growth. Give yourself the opportunity to take off your shoes and shake out the sand, so that you can step with confidence toward your future. Sometimes you'll need to take off your shoes a couple times a day, whatever you need to do to move forward do it. And if you want to be a part of a group of folks that are facing that same mountain, and who take frequent stops to take off their shoes, come see us at The Wellness Kitchen. We have journaling support groups here at your service and people you can talk to. We can provide the food you need to face the mountain and the support you need to reach your goals. And as always this is Sarah encouraging you to face your mountains with preparedness and eat peacefully...
In the pursuit of happiness we all face certain challenges that threaten the very existence of our joy. It is important to realize it is not the mountain that will oppose us nearly as much as the grain of sand in our shoe. What is your grain of sand? Is it a feeling of unworthiness? Is it fear that you will never make it over your mountain? Is it sadness or despair of the acutest kind? Our perspective of our struggles has a great deal more to do with our ability to handle the situation, than the actual severity of the task at hand.
These past recent months have brought many new challenges my way, some unexpected some foreseen. In retrospect, I have ascertained that my emotional stress had little if anything to do with the actual "mountain" I was facing. My ability to overcome was in direct correlation to my mental perspective of the circumstance at hand. Samuel Grafton stated, " A penny will hide the biggest star in the Universe if you hold it close enough to your eye." What "penny" are you allowing to blind you from the grand possibilities of your existence here? No matter what the piece of "sand" is, it is not greater than the power you hold within you to overcome.
Now I want to be clear, it isn't that your emotions are invalid. There is no freedom in the denial of how we feel. Im not suggesting that you don't have a right to be scared about the mountain or the pebble. What I am advocating is that it is in our best interest to frequently practice acts that will lead to the release of disadvantageous thoughts and emotions. So in turn we will be prepared to face our challenges with the stamina and resources we need. How do we do this? Recently, with my heart in my hand I spent some time writing. I did not labor over words, I simply and freely wrote. When I was finished I read the words that had found there way from my soul to the page and was blown away by what had been revealed. I found myself, I found my sorrow, I found my truth. If you really want to have a finger on the pulse of your soul I would suggest journaling. With that release came a new sense of bravery and inner resolve.
To my esteemed readers who's mountain is cancer, my message to you is have compassion for yourself....Whatever you feel without self-judgement write it down. This is vital to your personal journey of growth. Give yourself the opportunity to take off your shoes and shake out the sand, so that you can step with confidence toward your future. Sometimes you'll need to take off your shoes a couple times a day, whatever you need to do to move forward do it. And if you want to be a part of a group of folks that are facing that same mountain, and who take frequent stops to take off their shoes, come see us at The Wellness Kitchen. We have journaling support groups here at your service and people you can talk to. We can provide the food you need to face the mountain and the support you need to reach your goals. And as always this is Sarah encouraging you to face your mountains with preparedness and eat peacefully...
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