Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words -

Too much going on, and I honestly have trouble just staying focused on what is right in front of me. And yet without having learned how to stay in the moment, look for the good, and seek to understand, I'm afraid I'd be a nervous wreck right now. 

My salvation - knowing "this too shall pass," and "what the mind expects tends to be realized," and "what goes around comes around," "worrying robs us of our todays and tomorrows," and "that which we persist in doing becomes easier to do, not because the nature of the thing has changed, but because our ability to do has increased." 

See - all those times I've taught patients to stay in the moment, pull the mind in to the present, focus on what you can do, not what you can't; and that we can control our minds, not letting our minds control us, and seeking respite in the storm, have had their impact on me. Those phrases above? They are no longer just sounds, but actual content, and for me, beliefs that truly ground me when the storm is swirling around. 

And I'll say, there's been a shit-storm swirling for about 18 months, and although CoVid has played a mighty roll in this storm, there's a lot of other elements that have also impacted the weather in my life. 

I can picture my Grandmother Jensen singing the LDS Hymn, "Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words to Each Other," whenever there was contention in the air. And I can hear my Grandfather Jensen laughingly singing "In a world where sorrow often can be found . . . scatter sunshine everywhere you go," as he shoveled shit from one part of the cattle yard to the other. They found joy in the storm! And this year, I'm understanding the profound lessons they, and others, continue to teach me. 

I cannot calm the storm, but I can calm my racing heart, my anxiety (typically displayed as raw lips from picking at them), my furrowed brows, my fears (IBS), my shoulders that carry all that and more. And, although I often write about beliefs, I seldom proclaim my own theological ones. Yet today, I must give credit to the One who I reach out to more often than others. There is truly something empowering about being able to "Let go and let God," and believe, and practice, and then witness. 

The storm is far from clearing. However, I'm learning, more and more, that I can "sleep when the wind blows." And, how to do it. 

Speak kind words to yourself, my friends; it begins with you, then radiates out - "Kind words are sweet tones, of, the heart."