It's Autumn

Days are getting shorter, harvest is winding down. Mornings are cooler, a hint that soon snow will return to the northern plains.  Snow has already blanketed the Rocky Mountains.  As I write this a mist is starting here in the northern plains, blow off from the mountain snowstorm.
I have been working on several committees over the last year, of great interest to many is the Nurse Fatigue panel.  I find the concept of being "tired" permeates almost everyone's life. Whether that fatigue is generated from physical labor, mental labor, emotional labor, or spiritual labor, it usually ends in one being "tired" when you don't have enough resources (energy) to deal with the stress.
Managing the labor of life requires attention and care. If you find yourself in over your head and you catch this "condition" before you deplete your resources you can save yourself much heartache.
Caring for yourself includes giving yourself permission to take "me" time.  I hear people say they actually feel "quivery" when they get so "tired".  You also loose your edge and can become dangerous.  I know of many instances where "tired" and "distracted" folks have been involved in accidents, hurting themselves and others.
We could take some cues from nature. 

Shorten our days. Slow down. Hibernate.

Not possible you say. If you practice the art of mindfulness, paying attention and being reflective about what signals and feedback the universe is giving you, you may find a sense of calm. Instead of ignoring that feeling of being quivery, take that as signal you need a break.
Instead of booking your day so full you barely get time to sleep (real sleep (8 hours) not a quick nap) consider a frank discussion with your family and friends about the healthful benefits of sleep. Try a new schedule for everyone.

The importance of restorative sleep cannot be overstated. We need to sleep to repair our body-mind-spirit. Sleep will help you cope with the labors of life.

Happy May Day!

The spring snowstorm brought over 20 inches of snow, much needed moisture to our neck of the prairie. If you look really hard in the trees you may still see a few areas where the snow still lays hidden from the May sunshine.  Spring is a time of new beginnings, cleaning out, making room.  What have you done to clean out the physical, mental, and spiritual clutter in your life?
We tend to accumulate things.. taking up space in our life... and we need to consciously take inventory every once and while to determine if our stuff serves a purpose in our lives.  Why do we hang onto things? If we gave it away would it serve a bigger purpose? If we symbolically threw it away or burned it would it free some space for new growth?  Time to throw away grudges, hurt feelings, and negative thoughts.
Opening [sacred] space is a fine undertaking... clean your closets, clean your thinking, and free your spirit.

Spring Cleaning

As I write this, a spring snow storm is gearing up to dump a foot of snow here.  We welcome the moisture as significant rainfall stopped sometime last summer. What to do when one is stuck indoors?  Find a good book? (Maybe after you sort through your book case and make a pile to share or donate?)
My find is a book by Julia Cameron titled Walking in This World: The practical art of creativity (2002).  It is a great find on my bookshelf..it is a book of discovering! Literally! 
Here are the chapters:
Discovering a sense of origin
Discovering a sense of proportion
Discovering a sense of perspective
Discovering a sense of adventure
Discovering a sense of personal territory
Discovering a sense of boundaries
Discovering a sense of momentum
Discovering a sense of discernment
Discovering a sense of resiliency
Discovering a sense of camaraderie
Discovering a sense of authenticity
Discovering a sense of dignity

I think I will go find myself again this weekend! 

Learning to Care. . . Promoting Kindness

Some time back a dear friend's sister died.  While the story of them would fill a book, it was a book found tucked in a shelf while clearing out the debris of one's life that became a gift. The name of the book is Learning to Care: Elementary Kindness in an Age of Indifference by Robert Wuthnow (1995).
If the "age of indifference" was written about in 1995...then today in 2013 becomes the "way of indifference".   Wuthnow writes "most people regard kindness as a virtue". He goes on to write " the lack of kindness is felt on a wide scale in our society...conflicts....violations... leading to abuse, neglect".  Our solution to many of these social ills has been volunteerism...both by individuals and groups.  The book describes how one goes about learning to care...through the act of volunteerism..community service or as a career, such as in healthcare.

Making a difference in others lives is a wonderful effect of being kind and helpful. Many describe a feeling of contentment and joy when helping others. 

Some readers may wonder as do I what has happened to caring and kindness. An epidemic of incivility and down right nastiness permeates many settings these days. One phenomenon noticed of late is the difficulty many groups have in recruiting and retaining those willing to volunteer their time and expertise.  The fallout has been the slow death of many activities that rely on volunteers...from Girl Scout leaders to professional organizations (nursing comes to mind).  In place of volunteers are now paid "directors" who do what typically was done by a group working together toward a shared goal.  We now pay folks to do what we used to volunteer to do.  Wuthnow describes caring for our elderly as an example.  Older adults used to be taken into the homes of children or relatives...now we pay others to take care of them.  While a simple example, being there are many factors to be considered in taking in either a child or an older adult who needs care, the example describes the trend seen in many volunteer organizations.  Consider the group who needs bookkeeping services, instead of someone in the group taking on the responsibility, an accountant is hired.  Or consider a group wanting to conduct a fundraiser, whereas canvasing for donations was typically a face to face by the group members, now a fundraising service is hired to conduct high tech fundraising. 
What is lost is the opportunity to feel good about making a difference in others lives by being kind and helpful.  

Here is an idea and a place to begin re-vitalizing the virtue of kindness. When standing in line at the grocery store or other store...look behind you.  Is someone right behind you holding just 1 or 2 items and your cart is full to overflowing?  Consider letting them step ahead.  
As you make this choice, reflect on first their surprise and then how you feel. Isn't that feeling much better than the annoyance you may have been feeling about standing in line, fussing about what you have to do yet today?  
Learning to care, promoting kindness can become contagious...and is a far better alternative to the indifference many of us experience and hand out.  
I highly recommend you get your hands on Withnow's book and re-energize your heart. 

April 26, 2011

As the frenzy of spring begins (from students graduating to farmers planting crops), the pace of life sometimes feels overwhelming.
Here's a tip: PBR3
PAUSE, take a moment to slow down...BREATHE, slow deep breaths (count of 4 IN, count of 4 pause, count of 4 OUT) once you RELAX ...your heart rate slows, breathing slows, muscles relax, ability to "see" more clearly, REFLECT on the situation, what is good, what can you be grateful for, what is the rest of the story? Then REWRITE the story you choose to "save" in your mind as the truth... It is this saved story that contributes to our "stress load". Change your story, change your life!

(un) Frozen Growth and Development

As human beings we go through stages of growth and development. Many of these stages are easily recognized when we are young, moving from infancy through childhood, to adulthood. Less easily recognized is our spiritual growth and development. Often our spiritual growth remains unexamined and reflection upon these stages may reveal a path that is typically NOT linear, sometimes very convoluted. There are even times when we are "frozen". While each of us discovers our mature spiritual self through a life time of living, the moments when we experience "growth spurts" can be both joyful and challenging. Many have described times of great spiritual growth as times when they just "escaped" to a new way to thinking and being. It was ecstatic and at the same time extremely life changing. It is the lovely paradox of being able to feel all dimensions from fear to joy that marks a period of growth. The hallmark of maturation is to not be driven to label the experience, but to instead to just be in it, and feel it. Pretty hard for most of us to resist the temptation to label the experience as good or bad.
A phenomenon that has become evident is when those of different spiritual maturation are mixed together (say in the workplace) some confusion (stimulation for an evolutionary leap) is bound to occur.
One of the underlying tenets to all spiritual development theories is the more maturity one has attained, the more able one is to "see" the bigger picture. Those less developed are unaware of the higher dimensions. Adds to the saying "you don't know what you don't know, til you know it".
Not knowing, risks being judgmental, quick to label.
It is a worthwhile endeavor to release being a judge, rather examine your values, your beliefs, learn to wake up to other ways of knowing and being.
Just as sometimes you can be frozen, there is always the chance of waking up!

Life Circles

Fall brings reminders of life cycles and growth and death. Nature does dying so elegantly for some and so wicked in others. A perfect metaphor for us to learn from and embrace. When the purpose for being is done, leaves just float off. Flowers turn to seeds, acorns settle in the dirt. A wonderful little concept called spiritual intelligence is emerging ...we first learned of IQ, then EQ (emotional intelligence), and now SQ is popping into our world in increasing awareness. While sometimes it may feel as if we are spinning out of control, we have the SQ to wake up... take the opportunity this fall to slow down, notice the life cycles...all there for us to learn from and prepare to be reborn. .. find our real self, find some fulfillment.
Just like the leaves that have served their purpose, we too will go through cycles where our purpose is complete, we need to shed that old self, be open to the new...be grateful, feel the love and extend a blessing to your next great adventure.