Took some time out for myself yesterday morning just to relax and I don’t know like get in touch with my spiritual self. The initial plan was to go to the botanical gardens and enjoy some fresh air while I read a few verses and some psychological self-help stuff but, I got caught in the rain! Fortunately i managed to find a nice cafe to sit at and read, that worked. I realised I need to do this sort of thing more often to keep myself in check, after all the Bible talks of how we are to renew our minds.
One of the books I had was the Black Swan, which is a self help book which was written by Susan Anderson to help provide emotional healing for those suffering from the loss of a love. The twelve lessons of abandonment recovery. It uses an allegory of a little girl, Amanda abandoned on a rock in the middle of a forest by her dad. With the help of a black swan she meets, Amanda learns how to accept her aloneness and strengthen her sense of self.
I just had to quote a few bits that I found quite helpful for future reference:
” You must go all the way inside, Amanda, to the place where you exist all by yourself. Your parents are not here with you now. In this moment you are alone, as we are all alone. for the moment, accept your aloneness. It is your surviving self….In the very center lives an aloneness that isn’t awful anymore. It is an aloneness we all share.”
“Fear is of the future, Amanda, and we cannot do anything about the future. We have no control over it because it doesn’t exist yet. There is only now. The past and futre may seem very big, but the biggest part is always now. Now is where reality lives, and all of your fears, Amanda, are about the future-an imagined place.”
“Go…where nature’s most welcoming elements can be felt most intensely and imagine experiencing them alone, all for yourself. Know that you are whole – all by yourself”
“It’s not about being special, Amanda. It’s about being important to yourself.”
“Pronounce your name boldly and know that this is you. There is only one you, nobody like you, a separate person, you.”
“It will feel empty inside until you fill it with things in life that have importance to you..Now you must think about what things in life you like. That’s what your name will mean.”
“It may not be the reality you want, but it is the reality you have, at least for the moment. If aloneness is the reality facing you, you must face it back.”
“That’s right, Amanda. Breathe in the present an breathe out the past.”
“I found my place among the others, even when they did not welcome me, when I found my capacity to love. Love has become my beacon, guiding my way through the giant ocean, ever since”
“Practise the golden rule, Amanda, and find things that bring you good feelings. It will help you be with others.”
“Some things you will get, some you may not. Some involve a lot of work, patience, others, luck. Whether or not you get all you imagine, the important thing is that it is possible. Live your life now, realizing all is possible.”
Verse of the day – For I know well the plans I have in mind for you… plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope. When you call me, when you go to pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, you will find me with you… Jeremiah 29:11-14
WOW!! this could not have come at a more appropriate time for me. Reading the whole script i kept feeling like it was all written for me. Just shows how much it applies to my life at this moment in time. Thanks for sharing. Look forward to reading more of your blog.
oh wow that’s great, glad it meant something to you!