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Welcome to March!
March is one of my favorite months of the year for several reasons. First, where I live, it is the month where spring arrives to gently nudge away the dark, cold days of winter. The season of deep slumber releases its grip on the landscape as it bursts into a glorious symphony of green. We are greeted with new buds, new growth and new life all around us. It is a welcome renewal that inspires and uplifts weary hearts and souls. Winter can be challenging with the storms and harsh temperatures it often brings. The coming of spring reminds us that dark, cold seasons eventually pass and a new day always dawns. Another reason that March is special to me has to do with one of my spiritual teachers. Rev. Jack Boland was the founder of the Church of Today (now Renaissance Unity) in Warren Michigan. I was fortunate to attend his church when I lived in the Detroit area in 1986 -1987. Jack was one of the most inspirational and powerful spiritual teachers I've ever encountered. I credit him with being one of two people who literally saved my life. I honestly don't believe I would still be on this planet without the lessons he taught me. Jack taught by drawing from and combining the wisdom of several spiritual traditions as well as from the disciplines of philosophy and psychology. The messages he delivered were transformational! One of the main principles at the base of his teaching was that our primary purpose in this life is to grow and evolve spiritually. All our life experiences are opportunities to expand and deepen our spiritual knowledge and become the people we were born to be. Jack taught that whatever is going on in your life is not nearly as important as how you choose to engage with it and who you are being and becoming as you move through it. He encouraged us to look for the gift in whatever circumstances we found ourselves in, no matter how horrible those situations might appear. Jack showed us that we have far more power inside us than we realize. Our goal, he said, was to harness the power of our minds to participate consciously in the creation of our individual lives and our collective world! Jack, always the dedicated teacher, even passed away on a day that had a message embedded in it. He made his transition on March 4, 1992. Even as he took leave of this earth, he left us with a directive to march forth into our lives to face our challenges with bold courage and determination. He was, and is, an inspiration to many people! His message and legacy live on. Every March 4th, I remember Jack, and give thanks for the valuable lessons that he taught me about being alive and growing into my fullest potential!
I have a quote by Jack on the wall of my office that says, "You are responsible for your own optimism." It reminds me that I can't wait for anyone else to get me fired up about living my life! I must take responsibility for living as fully and as consciously as I can. I am responsible for my own attitude and so are you!
Thank you Jack for the gift that you brought to us all through your life and work.
And that's the way it really is...
 
1924 - 1992
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~ Inspiration for the Path ~
"The most important of life's battles is the one we fight daily in the silent chambers of the soul."
~ David O. McKay
"Sow a thought, and you reap an act;
Sow an act, and you reap a habit;
Sow a habit, and you reap a character;
Sow a character, and you reap a destiny."
~ Charles Reade
"One cannot think crooked and walk straight."
~ Anonymous
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Fix What's Broken!
Cleaning up the Corners of Your Life
For the months of January and February I have been on a simple and straight forward campaign to "Fix What's Broken" in my surroundings.
It's amazing to me how many things lurk around in our lives that no longer work at all, or that are somehow not functioning as they should. This is true at the physical level of reality as well as in our own thinking and relationships. I love tackling real world issues as a way of demonstrating my willingness to address the less tangible internal and interpersonal issues that are of a similar nature.
At the beginning of the year, I made a list of everything I could think of around my house that was broken in any way. The list was long. Some of the items on the list included: a broken toilet seat (you may have read about this on my blog), clothes that needed alterations, a broken license plate frame on my car, loose toilet paper holders, an improperly wired generator switch panel, broken drawers, sticky doors, etc. I've been working around, or suffering with, a number of these things for years! I realized that the existence of all these nuisances was using little bits of energy each and every time I encountered one of the 'broken' items. Either it didn't work as I needed it to, and I had to find another option for what I was trying to accomplish in that moment, or it just took extra effort to deal with the impaired object. I started to see how much of a drain this was on me and decided that all this stuff either needed to be fixed, replaced or let go.
None of these issues were big. None of them were really causing huge inconvenience to me. Yet, when you added them together, they took quite a lot of precious time and resources to 'work around' them. Over the years, that adds up to a significant amount of wasted energy spent on unnecessary tasks.
It has been so liberating to blaze through this list of fix it projects. Many of them I've done myself. Some I've had to hire expert help to address. All in all, I've probably fixed around 35 things in my physical life that were not working properly. WOW! What a difference this has made to my experience of my environment.
For example, I used to cringe every time I opened my shower door. It made a terrible popping sound because the corner of the door was grinding against it's frame. Being that it is made of glass I thought for sure, one day, that the door would break and I would have a real mess on my hands. I didn't know how to fix it myself. I wasn't sure who to call. Finally, a handy man that I hired (who took care of about 20 things on my list) worked his magic on my door. Now, each morning when I open that door, it is blissfully quiet, and the danger is no more. How cool!
Things that don't work, or kind of work, whether they are material objects, patterns of thinking, misguided attitudes, erroneous beliefs, or relationships drain our energy. They waste precious resources that could be better directed elsewhere.
By cleaning up some of these very material objects in my life, it has also fueled my interest in taking a look at what's going on in my own thinking that might not be serving me well. I've started to weed out destructive self criticism and negative attitudes that bring me down and sap my energy. In my relationships, I've focused on clearing up ineffective ways of communicating to improve the clarity of my messages and listen more carefully to what is being said to me. This has greatly improved some of my most important relationships!
It has been a powerful two months! I am committed to continuing this process, and to be vigilant about not allowing too many things to get broken (and stay broken) around me. It's easy to let things slide and not address what is bothering us. It is, however, within our power to change course at any moment and clean up our act!
Got any broken things around your home or office? Are there any items that just don't do the job they need to do for you?
What about the way you are looking at your life and your challenges - are your attitudes and beliefs serving you well, or are they dragging you down and defeating you?
Are any of your relationships suffering from poor communication or problematic dynamics?
Maybe it's time for you to take on your own "Fix What's Broken" campaign! Make a list and get started today. The rewards will far surpass your expectations!
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Inspired Path Living Blog
Each week day, I use my blog to share my thoughts and spiritual perspective on the events going on in the world - both close by and around the globe.
Through my blog I seek to inspire, uplift and stimulate ever widening and deepening perspectives on life and how to best live it. I invite you to check it out!
www.inspiredpath.blogspot.com | |
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Inspirational Song
Every Moment - Joy Williams
Music is a huge part of my personal and spiritual growth process. I use music every single day for motivation, inspiration, and as a tonic when I need comfort and encouragement.
This is a song that always picks me up when I'm feeling down. It encourages us to live every moment of every day and to cherish the time that we've been given in this life, even when things are difficult.
Here is an excerpt from the song:
We laughed out loud til we cried
and the tears were sweet
Midnight melted to morning
A moment faded to memory
All these days
They just slip away through our fingers
So
Don't let go
Hold onto every moment
Always know
Hold onto every moment that you can
Running through yesterday into tomorrow
Don't let it just drift away
Forget about tying the hands of time
Give every minute to the One who gave us today
This recording on Youtube is by Joy Williams, the original artist, but the video is excerpts of Jack and Rose from Titanic. It seems like a bit of an odd pairing to me, but it was the best link I could find to share the song with you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtOSIuuQ6Pg
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Nola's Movie Pick
Men of Honor
Movies are one of my favorite ways to relax and inspire myself! Many movies have profound messages for us, embedded within the stories they tell.
Men of Honor is one of my all time favorite movies. It tells the true story of Carl Brashear, the first African American to ever ascend to the rank of Master Diver in the US Navy (in 1970). The movie presents the story of Brashear's life and his difficult journey to overcome seemingly impossible obstacles in pursuit of his dreams and aspirations.
Brashear was born to sharecropper parents in Kentucky. His early life was difficult and survival oriented. He joined the Navy, hoping to better himself and find a positive course for his life. The US Navy had been recently desegregated, but racisim and discrimination against African Americans was commonplace.
Brashear would simply not be deterred in his pursuit of his goals to build a career in the Navy. No matter what obstacle appeared in his path, he worked until he overcame it. Many of the circumstances he encountered were completely unfair. He persevered anyway. He never let anything stop him. Even if he had to work 5 times as hard as anyone else to achieve the goal, he did it.
He was the first African American to attend and graduate from the Navy's Diver and Salvage School. Later he lost his leg in a work related accident and became the first amputee in the history of the Navy to be recertified and restored to active diving duty. He went on to achieve the rank of Master Diver.
Brashear's achievements came at a substantial cost in energy, effort and his personal life. He simply would not accept defeat or barriers. No matter what came at him, he simply worked until he achieved his objective.
This movie is an awesome, inspiring story of the power of determination, courage and persistence. Many of us expect our dreams to come to us easily. We give up when we don't succeed quickly. This movie will remind us all that anything can be achieved with the right attitude and an unrelenting effort.
"It is not a sin to get knocked down.
It's a sin to stay down."
~ Carl Brashear
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Spring is just around the corner! It starts this very month. The seasons always change and with each transition we get to bear witness to the continuity of life. Embrace the passage from darkness to light. Welcome the shift from deep sleep to new energy and invigoration.
I wish you an inspiring March. Remember to MARCH FORTH... every day of your life! |
Nola Drazdoff
Inspired Path, Inc. |
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March 2009
