dailydatewithgod

It is frustrating on one level that it is through trials and tribulations that we learn so much about ourselves and who we truly are.  I wish it was a smoother transition and I can’t even begin to explain why difficulty seems to be the launchpad to get to know the truth of ourselves.  It is part of the surrender process.  When I am brought to my knees on any level I have learned that resistance is futile.  It is in these kinds of cataclysmic moments that I can make one of two choices.  I can surrender from a place of defeat or surrender from a place of trust that God knows more than I do.  Given the evidence from my daily relationship with God, I can hold on to the hope that will be the thing needed to launch me into a deeper knowing of love.  That while it is unknown and I cannot steer the trajectory of the process, I can place my hand on my heart now and be grounded in God, in love, in truth, and in light. Our hearts encompass the power and the courage to stand at the launch pad and keep us grounded as we grow.  We do not know the power of our capacity and potential for growth in love until we find ourselves on our knees looking at things from a different angle.

It a time when all our energy seems focused outward, we need a way to continue to regenerate before we lose all our energetic fuel.  We seem to grasp this when it comes to our physical experience but do not have the same application in an emotional, mental or spiritual context.  Perhaps because it is easier to recognize when it is happening physically.  Yet we have all had experiences where we notice that we are easier to anger, frustration or irritation.  Is it possible this is because we have let our emotional fuel run low?  Is it possible that our spiritual perspective is bleak and we are seeing everyone as other and separate from us?  Thankfully God provided us with easy access to the fuel that regenerates our whole selves.  Again, we recognize the power of our hearts when it comes to operating physically, but our heart is more than a fuel pump for the body.  Using our breath to connect to the energetic fuel within our hearts gives us access to compassion and clarity to start.  The simple act of taking a breath, a deep breath, to open our heart’s energetic field can jump-start our brain and reopen our eyes.  Think of how refreshing a really good yawn can be. More deep breaths can open us to access the fuel of compassion and refresh our eyes to see how we are connected.  It seems too simple, but the fact that God made it an intertwined operation allowing the fuel we need for our whole selves is a God thing to do.  If it were up to us, we would make our fuel access more complicated.  God invites us to engage the fuel of our hearts to replenish and awaken us to the truth of who we are and who we know we can be especially in the moments we feel depleted by the world.

We often do not know what we need until we receive it.  We think we know exactly how things are supposed to or should be in order for us to be at peace or feel safe.  We get stuck in the form instead of focusing on the need we are trying to meet.  When we lose something we are used to having we also understand what a support it has been to us.  On a fundamental level, we understand this when it comes to people or things but we do not often connect it when it comes to ideas and beliefs which serve as aids for us.  Our sense of self and motivation to action is based on our beliefs.  Those beliefs aid us in living in the world in a way that makes sense to us.  People come to know us by our behaviors and draw conclusions on what aids that behavior. When it comes to others, sometimes we are right and sometimes we are not.  We might believe certain beliefs aid someone’s behavior but until we engage with them and get to know them we do not know.  We individually interpret what aids someone based on what we believe about their behavior.  Connecting to what aids us in our behavior keys us into the lens through which we view the behavior of others.  God encourages us to accept how others choose to behave as their decision based on what is aiding their belief about themselves, not us.  Our minds tell us that our interpretation of what aids them is what is driving their behavior and our heart makes room for making space to get to know their aids before deciding what they are.

Configuring the navigation of our lives is often viewed from the perspective of needing to have all the answers.  What if the best tool for navigation is not knowing?  What if getting to where we are supposed to go is about dealing with whatever speck is right in front of us?  Whether we plan well or not, all we have control over is the speck in front of us. We do not get to see the whole picture or all the tendrils attached to the specks. We are given exactly what we need to focus on and address the speck.  It has been said that we are like a wave on the ocean or a speck of sand on the beach.  We are one part of the whole.  If we are so busy trying to get somewhere that we do not do well with what is right in front of us, what makes us think we have the tools necessary to navigate that bigger thing.  In recovery, there is a catchphrase, “First things first.”  In other words, do what needs to be done first without worrying about what will happen next. Our hearts have the lens to notice the specks in and around us.  Sometimes our minds are racing so fast to get to the next thing, we cannot see what is right in front of us.  Our heart’s energy notices and pulls at our emotions moment to moment to alert us to the speck we may not be seeing. When we slow the breath and make room for the heart to speak to us, we begin to open our eyes to all the beautiful, messy, wacky, fun, icky, frustrating, and seemingly insignificant specks. In this time when we are being asked to slow down and be aware of what is around us, our hearts are readily attuned to the specks we will begin to witness.  Our hearts are daring enough to face and embrace the specks with compassion and curiosity.

Have you ever thought about how your heart sits inside your chest and how it is surrounded by lungs?  Most of us, unless we are doctors or nurses do not spend time contemplating the interplay between the heart and the lungs yet it is integral to our livelihood.  It is fascinating to me the proximity of the heart and lungs as compared to the heart and the brain.  Clearly, all three are needed but why bother to have the heart and lungs in such close proximity?  It is also interesting to me that this virus which is holding us all captive seems to thrive in the lungs.  Perhaps in some metaphysical way, it is calling upon us to lean more on our hearts which are closest in proximity and support our lungs.  With all the uncertainty and fear which is as much of a pandemic as the actual physical health situation, we need the energy of our hearts to keep our minds from going off the deep end.  To fuel our minds we need clean and clear oxygen pumping through our lungs.  All of this energy runs in and out of our hearts.  It might seem more obvious that this is a call to our hearts if the threat was to our hearts directly, but maybe this is a gentle call upon us to use the energy of our hearts as our first defense because of its proximity to our lungs.  Maybe we are being invited to strengthen the focus on our hearts and engage the courage which may have become dormant to impact first what is in closest proximity and then reach out further.

Our access to so much media gives us an insight into the figment of the minds of others.  Considering how powerful the visual medium is and how much power we give to what we see, it is easy to be influenced by the figments of other minds. Our imagination is very powerful and some believe it to be more important than knowledge.  Like all things, a figment is only powerful depending on how we use it.  So many mind creations stay in our heads.  Yet we give them high value because they are ours.  God invites us to learn to detect how our figments will change if we make room for the figments of our hearts. Working together our mind and heart can create figments that empower and energize us.  Infusing figment from our hearts takes our imagination beyond the limitations of the mind.  Our creations expressed outside of ourselves become something more powerful and captivating to others because we not only grab their mind’s attention but their hearts.  Allowing the figment of our hearts to play a role also gives us the needed courage to face our fears.  Our mind’s figment would happily stay in the fear and frightening realm of limitation.  Our heart’s figment would provide additional options and expand our possibilities.  In a time when we are feeling closed in and guarded, we can simply engage the figment of our hearts by taking a deep breath.  Our breath expands the moment and reconnects us to the courageous energy that reminds us of who we truly are.

We pride ourselves on our intelligence and we value it when it allows us to think clearly, concisely, and enables us to move into action.   Sometimes there is a barrier to moving from smarts into action.  There are plenty of examples of those who were brilliant but never acted on it.  There is a gap that can occur around intelligence.  It is known as analysis paralysis.  I have certainly experienced this.  I am certain if I just have more information I can then make a decision.  The only difficulty is we live in the information age. There is no end to the intelligence we can garner or the smartest people to consult.  The movement into action seems like a head task but it is really the realm of the heart.  When there is a gap and when we want to act from the truth of who we are, we need the acumen of the heart.   It is what is needed to motivate us from the intelligence space to the experience space.  The acumen of the heart is composed of awareness, intuition, vision, and wisdom. The courage of our hearts is the energy boost we need to move from the mental acumen to the action acumen.  God invites us to initiate this acumen by engaging our breath which awakens the heart.  The value and the boost I get from taking a deep breath when my thoughts are circling is priceless.  The moments when one more piece of information feels like it will not only not move me into action but cause the hard drive of my brain to short circuit, the breath awakens my heart to remind me of my heart’s acumen. In the space of my heart, I am connected to awareness, insight, sensitivity, wisdom, wit, discernment, and understanding.

My world of work has experienced a significant uptick in intensity lately.  Healthcare IT is doing its best to support the front line workers facing the sick and injured amidst this new normal of how to live and operate around others and in our world. Supporting those who are in the face of this pandemic by giving them the tools they need at the speed and ease with which they need them is paramount. The last thing a doctor needs is a piece of technology to interfere with getting the most up to date information like test results on his or her patient or a delay in a prescription orders sent to the pharmacy. Every role along the way is vital.  If any one piece interferes because of a bad connection or set up the delay could be disastrous.  It creates a clash in the flow of the system. The more technology we use in our lives the more we realize how dependent we become upon it.  Along with that we cannot lose sight that there is an internal technology that can guide us as we deal with the clashes that pop up.  The technology of our hearts provides a way for us to carry and convey the information from our minds.  We do not realize how much we interfere in our own well being by ignoring or downplaying the power of our heart’s energy.  Scientific studies have shown the energetic field of our heart extends six feet outside our body. It walks in a room before we do. If we are clashing with ourselves, we send mixed messages to people.  This creates a clash in communication and an ability to take action.  It is not about avoiding clashes.  It is about noticing when they are happening and working towards a remedy.  Compassion and self-compassion are about inviting the heart’s energy into the experience when we are clashing about in our heads.

As things are rapidly shifting and changing in our world in response to the virus being experienced all over there is a sense of loss on many levels.  Loss of familiarity, loss of people, loss of connection, loss of what is okay and what is not, loss of jobs, loss of normalcy, loss of privacy, and so on.  We process the loss as best we can at the moment but when so much of it is happening at once it can seem overwhelming.  For those who resist loss or do not want to face it, there is an added challenge because it cannot be avoided.  Everywhere we turn we see it and feel it.  Sounds terrible, doesn’t it?  On one level it is but on another level, it is something we are built for.  On a physical level, we experience all kinds of losses on a given day we just aren’t aware of them.  We lose cells, we lose hair, and we lose breath. On a practical level, we lose minutes, we lose keys, we lose opportunities, we lose words, we lose ideas, we lose hope, and we lose connection with ourselves and others. We are simply experiencing loss with greater impact and it is happening for everyone simultaneously.  Nature goes through similar kinds of loss grandly but it does not appear to have a thinking mind to make a story about it.  It is simply what is.  I do not say this to devalue in any way the experience of loss.  It is a phenomenon of living that is real and can be a challenge even for those whom I would perceive as being most mindful and enlightened. Loss reminds us of the parts of this human experience that can just suck!  Not to mention that it can cause us to feel lost. God encourages us to find some relief by turning to the eyes of our hearts.  In the space deep within each of us where the knowing of all that is and all that will ever be is the courage to hold space for all of our loss and all of our hope.  It may seem ridiculous in trying to navigate through loss to pause and take a deep breath but I have learned that contrary action is often the most helpful.  Each day in my daily prayer and meditation as I meet myself and God to connect within on our date, I am reminded of who I am as so much more than what I am experiencing.  God holds the truth of each of us as more than we can imagine.  God knows whatever loss we are experiencing it does not define us.  Bringing the impact of loss in my life to my time with God as imperfectly (i.e.–my mind won’t stop racing or I can’t concentrate but I show up) as I do, opens the door to other options than just my mind comes up with. God reminds us not to confuse the impact of loss with a definition of us as lost.

When our lives shift in such a way that it alters the way we see ourselves the world around us irrevocably we find ourselves needing to reassess our sense of accomplishment and achievement.   We can see it when it comes to outside circumstances.  We go from being a kid at home to an adult on our own.  We shift from being single to married or vice versa.  We go from having a job to being unemployed or the reverse. Any situation where our reality is changed requires us to adjust our expectations of ourselves and others.  Our sense of what qualifies as a feat for a kid would be different than a parent.  Getting to a second date is a feat when dating in LA but probably not if living somewhere else. Landing an interview at an unknown company is a feat if we are looking for work.  Being able to breathe is a feat for someone on life support and is barely noticed by those of us who take it for granted.  As we go and change from circumstances and alter our relationship with ourselves we find we do not have the same feats we did before. Each day with each new breath we have the opportunity to be driven by the feats of our mind or the feats of our hearts.  Depending on how we define ourselves, we lay the foundation for which is considered a greater feat.  The world will always tell us that our feat is not real if it cannot be seen by others.  Yet our hearts have feats that mean nothing to the outside world.  I remember early on in recovery when after years of being emotionally shut off, my heart had softened enough that I found myself crying more easily. To this day I never apologize for crying because it is the most beautiful expression of release from my heart.  To the outside world, it may consider me to be weak or certainly nothing to celebrate, but in my heart I know it is an accomplishment.  Our hearts’ feats have a way of breaking things down into simple elements of gratitude. My heart can zero in on a feat that seems inconsequential to my mind. It is not about one being more valuable than the other but rather about the importance of connecting with the feats of our hearts as well as the feats of our minds.