My Cornerstones
I started this blog as a record of my experiment in personal growth shortly before Christmas. I committed to 2 months and have continued on because of my results. Over time I am noticing certain themes that appear to be central to my success in more fully embracing my life. I am calling these themes my cornerstones.
My founding cornerstone was formulating the question, "Why do I Love My Life So Much?" It has enabled me to enjoy my life more than I did previously and given me a beacon with which to guide my life. I am now thinking that is because it cultivates a sense of wonder. It is a simple way to cultivate the eyes of a child who is seeing things new.
The second cornerstone, and hardest for me to be consistent with, is the practice of "Sitting Still and Doing Nothing". Meditation per se has never been my strong suit. I have an inquiring and often controlling mind. Sitting still and doing nothing, thinking nothing is tough. I started with 3 minutes a day and worked up one minute a day til I got to 20 minutes. I didn't do nothing exactly. I counted my breaths starting at a random number and counting backwards so my mind wouldn't wonder off into planning or worry. When I do this, I get more inspirations that are easy for me to act on.
I figured out I cannot substitute sitting still and listening to a piece of music, hypnotic tape or brain wave altering program. It is not the same. When I get overwhelmed or out of sorts it is most often because I have not been doing this.
Last month I identified my third cornerstone which I called "Gamzu". Gamzu is Hebrew for "this also" the initial words to the phrase, "This also is for the best".
I suppose I could frame it as a question like "How is this also for the best"? but I just now thought of that so I don't know if that works better for me. Gamzu works best when I embrace the idea that whatever is happening is for the best rather than giving it lip service. Gamzu is about acceptance as opposed to resistance. Gamzu is about accepting the unacceptable. Over time, I have seen what I considered to be miracles happen when I took this stance wholeheartedly.
So at the 7 month report I have 3 cornerstones to my personal growth:
Why do I love my life so much?: Wonder
Sit still and do nothing time: Silence for Inspiration
Gamzu, this also is for the best: Acceptance
I am continuing my experiment. I invite you to experiment with these cornerstones and let me know how they work for you.
My founding cornerstone was formulating the question, "Why do I Love My Life So Much?" It has enabled me to enjoy my life more than I did previously and given me a beacon with which to guide my life. I am now thinking that is because it cultivates a sense of wonder. It is a simple way to cultivate the eyes of a child who is seeing things new.
The second cornerstone, and hardest for me to be consistent with, is the practice of "Sitting Still and Doing Nothing". Meditation per se has never been my strong suit. I have an inquiring and often controlling mind. Sitting still and doing nothing, thinking nothing is tough. I started with 3 minutes a day and worked up one minute a day til I got to 20 minutes. I didn't do nothing exactly. I counted my breaths starting at a random number and counting backwards so my mind wouldn't wonder off into planning or worry. When I do this, I get more inspirations that are easy for me to act on.
I figured out I cannot substitute sitting still and listening to a piece of music, hypnotic tape or brain wave altering program. It is not the same. When I get overwhelmed or out of sorts it is most often because I have not been doing this.
Last month I identified my third cornerstone which I called "Gamzu". Gamzu is Hebrew for "this also" the initial words to the phrase, "This also is for the best".
I suppose I could frame it as a question like "How is this also for the best"? but I just now thought of that so I don't know if that works better for me. Gamzu works best when I embrace the idea that whatever is happening is for the best rather than giving it lip service. Gamzu is about acceptance as opposed to resistance. Gamzu is about accepting the unacceptable. Over time, I have seen what I considered to be miracles happen when I took this stance wholeheartedly.
So at the 7 month report I have 3 cornerstones to my personal growth:
Why do I love my life so much?: Wonder
Sit still and do nothing time: Silence for Inspiration
Gamzu, this also is for the best: Acceptance
I am continuing my experiment. I invite you to experiment with these cornerstones and let me know how they work for you.
posted by Patricia @ 7:44 PM
1 Comments:
At 8:21 AM,
Unknown said…
I see a new flower blooming! A flower that is not alone, even though you thought you were...
A flower that is more organized and more focused on the power of Why do I Love my Life...
This post inspires me to understand my own Cornerstones and perhaps that will lead to a renewed focus for me too.
Thanks for helping me understand that!
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