Hello all
You know, it is often in the deep dark wee hours of the morning when I wake and cannot get back to sleep, that I hear the most profound interviews on the radio that could potentially change my life forever.
I love having my little pocket radio under my pillow – near at hand – just in case of sleeplessness. I listen to so many different topics depending on the hour, but I must confess I have become familiar with the times of various programs: anywhere from midnight to 5 am.
A plug: my pocket radio
They are actually programs that are aired during the daytime but are repeated overnight, benefiting people like me who cannot sleep or others who work through the night. The radio station I am referring to is our public broadcaster, which we call ABC Radio National. I love this station! It satisfies an information junkie like myself who wants to know ‘stuff’.
For instance, the other night, I woke and heard an American called Richard Moss talking about his book “Inside Out Healing” in which he discussed how to handle emotions and live a healthier life. Of course, it was all about FACING YOUR EMOTIONS not fleeing from them.
This caught my attention because I happen to agree with Richard. He said if you do not deal with your emotions, they will catch up with you and you will get ill. This is no surprise to me as it changes the chemistry of your body and thus makes you ill.
One good way to deal with your emotions, says Richard Moss, is to write about them. Let your pen take you to a place where you will see what is going on within you and it will set you free. Richard also says:
“Emotions are very distinct from feeling. They are, for example, guilt, regret, blame, envy, jealousy, or future fears. These kinds of feelings are what I call emotions; they are created by thinking. If you interrupt thinking, the emotion stops.
You cannot have envy without a thought; you cannot have regret without a thought. But you can have the pure feeling of joy without a thought, gratitude without a thought. They are natural feelings.”
And then another night there was the subject: “Watering the Seeds of Mindfullness” with Zachiah Murray who talked about gardening as being a balm to our spirit. Very interesting ‘stuff’ indeed!
“Gardening encourages mindfulness because it requires our immediate attention and the attention of all our senses. She likens cultivating a garden to spiritual practice, and inspires each person to accept themselves and start where they are, weeds and all.”
This is so true!
Now, do you see what I mean about finding out ‘stuff’ that will change your life? Try gardening as a spiritual practice sometime. But what about this topic: “Warriors for the Human Spirit” with Margaret Wheatley PhD who talks about helping each other in order to cope with life … like soldiers do in warfare.
As the world gets more insane and more difficult and we encounter more disappointment, frustration, exhaustion, and overwhelm, we need each other, like we’ve never needed each other before. How are we going to accomplish that? This isn’t casual relationship or casual friendships.
We have to be as connected to each other as soldiers are in warfare … I’m asking us to be warriors for the human spirit … ”
Margaret speaks about creating places where people feel appreciated, where there’s self-motivation, where we can bring out our good qualities of being generous and forgiving and helpful and caring to each other. Sounds great doesn’t it? And then Margaret ends by saying: “That’s courageous work; that’s warrior work”. I love it!
So dear friends, what am I saying to do here? To buy pocket radios and keep them under your pillow? It’s worth a thought … but no no no … of course not! But you can profit from the reports of this ‘little possum’ who DOES keep a radio under HER pillow. Hopefully you too, have learnt some ‘stuff’ thanks to my listening in the wee hours of the morning. Always a pleasure to share …
For more information visit: www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/newdimensions/
Life with Tess 