You Have The Power

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” Victor Frankl

I lie on the bed, a dog at my head, another dog lies in the door.

Although I have pain, I have company again; there’s also a cat on the floor.

It’s as if they know I don’t feel well; they want to comfort me and make me feel better. I do feel comfort when I am not left alone with my pain. It helps to feel the softness of my dog’s fur and hear his gentle breathing and remember that I am not alone. When alone with the pain it is easy for your suffering to grow. Remember that while others can’t eliminate your pain, they can help mitigate your suffering.

We all experience different types of pain and pain of varying degrees. Our attitude enables us to search for tools that might pull us away from the suffering. Resiliency tools such as knowing your own self worth, letting go, remembering that things aren’t permanent, being mindful and grateful, using our strengths and always remaining hopeful can help mitigate the suffering. It is our power to choose tools that help us respond to suffering. Today I am recognizing that I am not alone.

How Do I Handle Suffering?

“And life taught me before helping others you’ve got to help yourself first.” - Roma Sarkar

I was recently asked by a friend how I handle the suffering I see in the world. The suffering felt by both humans and animals. I have to admit I don’t handle it very well. Sometimes I think the collective scream of the human race will break me. Often I feel I am in a lake surrounded by drowning victims that I desperately want to help. I often find, however, that it is impossible to be of any help, because I am drowning myself. It is not until I remind myself that I have to take care of myself before I can care for others that I am able to be effectual.First I have to swim to shore as best I can and provide some first aid to myself. Only then am I able to throw a rope for others.

Therefore, if you want to help others, if you want to cope with suffering in the world, I suggest that you first,look to yourself; give yourself some TLC, then you’ll be better equipped to handle the suffering.

There Is Courage Even In The Small Things

“All you need is a plan, a road map, and the courage to press on to your destination.” Earl Nightingale

Courage happens anytime you face your fears. Every day we face fears of varying degrees and we have to reach inside of ourselves for courage. I had my yearly checkup at the University of Minnesota. It’s always daunting because it takes the whole day and they take 15 vials of my blood. “Ve Vant to take your blood.”

They built a beautiful new facility but for some reason every time I visit there, I find myself lost in the parking garage. This year was going to be different I checked everything, I remembered E because I love elephants and told myself you won’t forget 6 because that is like 666. I proceeded to the stairs with confidence. As I was descending that there were so many flights of stairs I thought, ‘This is making me dizzy’.

After a long day I returned. I was going to E6. “Wait, wait, wait wait, wait! What floor was I on?” I felt like the words were hanging over my head.

I tried to reason through where I might have been. I descended so far maybe I was on the next to top floor. I went there. My car wasn’t at E6. I went down one more, not at E6. Down one more, not at E6. What do I do? Do I call someone to drive me through this whole parking garage. I wanted to scream. AHHHHHHHHHHH! I really wanted to sit and cry. Then I had an epiphany. I was going back to the floor closest to the roof one more time and look, not just at E6 but the whole area around E6. It was there! At F6.

After the excitement of finding my car wore off I started to berate myself for being so stupid for losing my car. Then I thought of my resiliency skills. I thought I should look at this positively. I was resourceful in knowing that it might be around E6 and it took courage to go through all those floors and process the whole thing out and not just crumble in a heap on the floor in fear and frustration after that half day clinic visit.

We must give ourselves credit for our wins. We must realize there is courage in small things as well as in the big things. We must have the courage to live our lives every day in ways that are best for us. We must have the courage to follow our heart and intuition.