Taking it Personally
Apr 23rd, 2009 by Wendy
Don’t you just hate it when it comes down to YOU? Lately it seems like that is the universal message. My friend Tim might find this empowering. (“You mean I can be the change I want to see?!?”) Nah, I want the change to come to me in the form of a do-over perhaps or by osmosis. Ever wonder what that word really means, by the way? Osmosis is the passage of water from a region of high water concentration through a semi-permeable membrane to a region of low water concentration. By this definition, I am the low water concentration wishing for the high water concentration to pass on in…I think. Or to put it another way, I want the painless way, the easy way, to go with the flow (always downhill, I’ve noticed), to become one but without much effort.
A favorite saying of mine is “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride”. I like this saying simply because it is seldom used in this day of automobile travel and because it is so applicable to everyday life…not to mention it sounds goofy when I say it out loud. It isn’t about wishes, now is it? It is about personal choices and responsibility. I CAN be the change to a great extent and that is a stumbling block to say the least. It means effort and willingness and tenacity and fortitude and strength and vision and also…this is the hard part…a commitment to process. If I want to feel better physically I have to change the way I eat and work out and think even. If I want to become a better photographer I have to learn how to use my camera and how to navigate computer programs and how to be brave enough to ask questions of those who are great photographers. If I want to have spiritual and emotional chops I have to take the time to engage spiritually and emotionally. Ouch! This is going to hurt!
For sure it is, and I’m taking it personally…
Step one: Drink alcohol preferably at dusk outside. Thus the hurt subsides for just a moment.
Step two: Stop drinking said alcohol before the hurt extends into the morning hours the next day.
On the day when a good friend wrote a post on making it happen and the pain one must endure, the New York Times published a solid article on the benefits of having a personal trainer… (go to: http://onthewater.wordpress.com to view this entire post)
“It means effort and willingness and tenacity and fortitude and strength and vision and also…this is the hard part…a commitment to process.”
Wendy, maybe we can figure this out together. I have plenty of grist for the mill. I’m intrigued by the term, ‘commitment to process’.
We could do that mountain walk or simply cut to the part at dusk per earlier comments.