Create your news bubble by choice.

Jan

Featured Letters | careful consideration, Energy, filler content, mind and body

Shelve your disposition to collapse at the end of the day by collapsing in quiet reflection. This is when we are asked to capitulate to the minor details of the heart. If that collapse falls short of intent, life’s details will remain just that – very minor.

If the needs of the heart are abandon we leave ourselves open to nervous impositions. The habitual, feeble grasp of a T.V. remote pulses to skim the news. One station after the next asks for nothing more than to bend our ear with greater frequency. Willfully many test that ear, twist its position in search of a more attentive audience. To what end you ask? To the point where willful banter excludes any time for a personal news cast of peaceful inner reflection. Banter stops at the doorstep of those who seek to create their own news – a “reflection bubble” if you will, where windows are drawn and paths quietly meander. It starts as a hungry whisper, a heart that promises to move beyond the tribulations of the day. Build it up, coax your time even when hands are tossed in the air – especially then.

Many shy away from reflection, with good reason.

Reflection is not a forced stalemate adding yet another item on the day’s agenda, rather it provides breathing room – a small yet undeniable sacrifice to search above and beyond a moody moment. Some call it sacrifice, wisdom calls it a justifiable commitment that draws us inwards. Such a simple word “commitment”, one we rarely make use of. Personal commitments never lurk in the shallow headlines where others often surface. A commitment to reflect vouches to renew our energy, it digs a little deeper. First and foremost, commitment to self asks for a reduction of daily dribble. It releases instead of reliving. This is the first step towards creating the process of “inner news.”

Many despair in trivial and tumultuous news.

How do I proceed with the doom and gloom predictions, the unemployment and chaos that seem to work its way into my every waking moment? The choice is simple. Turn off any media which does not uplift or support. People are media conduits extraordinaire. They sprinkle your day with “filler content”. As the phone rings off the hook while you support larger than life events or daily efforts that tap your energy reserves, come back to that “reflection bubble” . Gather your thoughts and balance your energy. This distinction between a reflection bubble and personal space is clear – time is your property, not the space you occupy. Bring that time forward when you need it most, understanding that balance will eventually come to those who enlist its service. Your own efforts merit that awareness, that ongoing “reflection bubble.”

For life to work itself out, meet life half way.

For anything to move forward we must exert a certain amount of consistency. The driver’s seat does not work on autopilot. Your spirit does not move without intent, physical or otherwise. Align yourself with those who support and uplift and do the same.

Pick one thing and stick to it.

As Jason Mannino says, “there are many simple, effective ways to plan change.” Even if that one item is “I will listen more than I did last year” so be it. Try it out, work on it and see where it takes you. Follow through on what seems plausible in what you hear, but give careful consideration to the voices you follow. Always remember to align your goals with the intent of the soul, the heart, mind and body. If one is out of whack, chances are another area needs tending to.

Balance does not live in a vacuum.

If you fuel your body with soft drinks and fast food you might as well be stopping off at a garbage dump. In many ways you are doing just that. Examine your body’s fuel or input and extend this question: What other areas are not receiving the proper fuel or balance? This is a great way to flex that commitment to self, to understand in a less complex manner what items need to surface. Once that idea springs to mind, reach for a reflection bubble, practice a routine until clarity maps out or helps define the nature of your choice. That form of rest should become a constant companion, a daily ritual that creates news instead of subjugating its energy to less important matters.