Tag: resilience

Finding Resilience in the Smaller Things.

There’s an old woman who walks along the street where I work. When we first met, she could barely move having just endured a substantial surgical repair. Yet, day after day, she would greet me near the door. “Good morning,” I’d smile. “More than you know,” she’d return.

Though she experienced what I’m sure was excruciating pain, still she had faith in that ‘step after next’. She moved clumsily, at first – hunched over an aluminum walker, her body barely able to support her weakened state. But, in time, her movements became more fluid – ultimately assured by her progress to date.

In the beginning, she’d walk only a few steps – then another and one more. I asked her once how she accomplished so much. “I’ve had good days and I’ve had bad,” she said. “But, I never let it get me down.”

When we think of resilience, sometimes we consider only in terms of grande, sweeping gestures; the ‘better’ of our moments – the ones in which we have clearly risen above. Though, do we consider the day to day? The clumsier movements leading to that step after next?

“The world is full of pain, uncertainty, and injustice,” Jack Kornfield writes. “But in this vulnerable human life, every loss is an opportunity either to shut out the world or to stand up with dignity and let the heart respond.”

“To let the heart respond” – this is the basis of our practice. To embrace our status with conviction, not judgement; to encourage resilience in those much smaller steps.

“We need a warriors heart,” he continues to share. “(one) that lets us face our lives directly, our pains and limitations, our joys and possibilities.”

For my friend, this tenacious old woman, every single step was a reminder – a reminder of her potential in spite of the pain.

A little something to consider, my friends – particularly, on those not so better days.

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

Loving What Remains.

I believe it was Ram Dass who once said that in order to know true freedom, we must never avert our eyes from our own humanity.

For, in looking to others, we recognize an aspect of self once presumed ‘healed’. We see our failings, and we see our glory; though, mostly we see what’s ‘real’.

We see the struggle of soul against an unrelenting fear.

We see our past transgressions in a growing wake of shame.

And, when our knees buckle under unbearable suffering – do we see our weakness, or our resilience?

Is there any wonder why most will look away? Too timid to face the story time has created.

But, that’s the good stuff – isn’t it? To embrace with equanimity all these aspects within?

For within each fear, our resilience grows. And, these tests of morality? A deepened compassion.

So easily inclined to coax the loss, though – what has been gained? Do we avert our eyes before seeing what remains?

For that which remains is always the ‘much greater still’; an understanding that we must break in order to be revealed.

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

We Live to Become.

I held a rose petal in my hand yesterday evening. In the depths of night its velvet touch yielded a lesson in purpose and resilience. And, how the two are forever intertwined – each growing stronger in this dance of will.

Outside, a branch from a great oak lay still against the ground; a causality of wind and the futility of struggle. In the end, it’s our choice – not the strength of our limbs.

What helps us to survive is this gravity of ‘root’; our center point of calm amidst a seemingly endless storm.

Much like Lord Byron’s cloudless climes – we are ‘all the best of dark and bright.’ Our truth encompassing far more than any moment might reveal.

And, like the rose, we live to become.

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

Like a Cottage in the Woods.

There’s a cottage along a trail in the woods. I stop there often – simply to admire the placement of stone amidst the mortared wall.

She stands beneath a veil of softened moss, her will outlasting a centuries long song…and, weathering of winds.

Though, she’s proud – she’s grateful more so for the capacity to feel these depths of humbled grace.

Knowing ‘the best’ remains for all to see.

In peace, my loves…

Namaste ❤️

Copyright 2016 Tara Lemieux

This Blessing of One.

Let this life happen, my loves.

The good, the bad, the often confusing – the marveled wonderment. It comes to you with noble purpose ~ a deepening of gratitude and a lesson in resilience.

Passing through with no more permanence than shooting star. Though the memory lingers, as delicate imprint onto cusp of morn – and, asking nothing in return.

These memories beat like “second heart” – capturing the essence of who we are.

The good, the bad, the often confusing – the marveled wonderment; welcome them all. Knowing awareness comes through this blessing of one.

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

A Moment of Resilience.

What does it mean to have resilience, my loves?

Is it an energy born only of circumstance? Challenges in life which might surely topple another?

Or, is it manifested through the subtleties of tale in which the downtrodden maiden seeks hope through a kiss?

Neither of which might alter the outcome – that of a Phoenix rising as others lose faith.

We are never the limits of a single moment, my loves. Rather, we are the shifting light from a crystal’s occlusion.

Born of these conditions, yes – but never limited to them.

Ours is a path unfolded to choosing.

And, ours is a destiny modeled through doing.

A little something to consider, my friends – that often a single blessing can justify the journey.

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

Sent from my iPhone

The Space Between Fear and Faith.

I was thinking this morning about the interrelationship between faith and fear. Specifically, delving into the paradigm of their necessity to coexist.

So often, we yield to the energy of fear. We scramble, we dodge, we circumvent – anything, to avoid its all too eager ‘hooks’. Whether by way of past experience, or more simply intuition, there is a deeply ingrained response – a response to the habit of fear.

Though, oddly enough, it’s this very same fear that helps to create our inner balance.

The two must coexist, my loves – with fear, reinforcing faith.. and faith, resolving fear. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh encourages us to look deeply into our fear; to embrace its source with equanimity and kindness. And, with ‘gentle mind’ provides an alternate choice when the habit of fear surges through.

“When we recognize that we have a habit of replaying old events and reacting to new events as if they were the old ones, we can begin to notice when that habit energy comes up. We can then gently remind ourselves that we have another choice. We can look at the moment as it is, a fresh moment, and leave the past for a time when we can look at it compassionately.”

Our lives are such a tangled web of heart and of circumstance. How easily we jump to the end of story that has yet to be written. Taking this pause, offers us the blessing of choice – and the opportunity to look forward with fresher eyes.

What is your fear today, my loves? How is it tied to a previous source, and what’s keeping you from letting it go?

In learning to survive those much stronger emotions, we realize – that it’s not the fear, it’s the willingness that’s holding us here.

In peace…

Namaste <3

In This Moment Here.

My darlings, this morning a passage from one of my favorite poets, Ellen Bass – a reminder to hold faith even in the most uncertain of times.

Based upon the messages received as of late, I felt it worthwhile to share.

To love life, indeed – even in those desperately delicate moments when our way forward seems improbable, at best.

And ours is to find enough to believe.

Namaste ❤️

“to love life, to love it even
when you have no stomach for it
and everything you’ve held dear
crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,
your throat filled with the silt of it.
When grief sits with you, its tropical heat
thickening the air, heavy as water
more fit for gills than lungs;
when grief weights you like your own flesh
only more of it, an obesity of grief,
you think, How can a body withstand this?
Then you hold life like a face
between your palms, a plain face,
no charming smile, no violet eyes,
and you say, yes, I will take you
I will love you, again.”

~ Ellen Bass

Only the Good Remains.

It’s hard to practice gratitude when we’re feeling overwhelmed. Life seems to displace intention, and worry becomes our new ‘mind frame.’

Though, I promise you it is possible.

This past week has been marked by challenge. Though, my son’s injury is physically healing – there is work yet to be done at a much deeper level.

I’m speaking for myself, in this regard. As a mother, I’ve been trained at the ready for skinned knees and broken bones. However, blood transfusions – my goodness, that required a resilience with roots to a ‘higher authority.’

And, now today – I face the loss of a friend. Unexpected, certainly – though, life doesn’t wait for our acceptance of change.

So, we must find our place – in spite of everything else.

This morning, I’ve taken refuge in a back parking lot. Although yesterday was marked with fierce thunderstorms, today – only a single puddle remains.

I was immediately struck by the stillness of the water; as if a finely polished mirror reflecting its truth back into nature.

“Can you not see me,” she pleads. “After all that once was, still I remain.”

Our tender hearts are much like the puddle after the storm. That is to say, no matter what may transpire – only the good remains.

We are the water, my loves – and, we are the reflection within.

And that is the basis for my gratitude.

Only the good remains….

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

Begin Each Day With a Grateful Heart.

I had a bit of a rough start this morning. Truth be told, my body and mind felt just a bit ‘out of sync.’

It happens on even my ‘most mindful’ of days. And, the medication I take certainly doesn’t help matters, a bit – as it seems to cause it’s own smidgen of fumbly-ness.

Nevertheless, I am grateful for my imperfections – because, they always remind me of when I need to slow my pace.

To breathe, and accept with grace, each of these often humbling experiences.

Today, was no exception. I was struggling desperately to keep up with the flow of my first meeting – when, my fingers locked mid-tremor over the computer keys.

“Wow, you sure picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue,” someone called from the back; a harmless jab at my inability to move smoothly through the meeting details.

As everyone laughed, I felt that familiar warmth to my face. The next struggle was to keep all those pesky tears in place.

And though, I know the comment was certainly made in jest – still, I found myself a bit caught off guard by my own vulnerability.

It’s these moments of truth, so to speak – the ones which shine their light brightest – revealing all of those dreadful little blemishes on our soul.

It’s here that we learn the most about ourselves; when we’re asked to respond, without first determining our ‘story.’

People tend to see me in the warmth of their own light. At times, forgetting about the human soul inside.

The one who, at times, sits so completely exposed.

I’ve always believed tears to be the heart’s way of expressing that which can not be put into words. And, in this life, my darlings…

Sometimes we fumble…

Sometimes we falter…and,

Sometimes we cry.

But, rest assured…there is always something magnificent to be learned.

“You just go a little crazy, you know. Sometimes. And why? Well only because your soul is just too big for you.”  ― C. JoyBell C.

My darlings, it’s these moments of stretching beyond our truest limits – that allow our soul to finally break free.

And, for this – just this – I am forever grateful.

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