“We are the same as plants, as trees, as other people, as the rain falls. We consist of that which is around us, we are the same as everything. If we destroy something around us, we destroy ourselves. If we cheat another, we cheat ourselves.” Buddha
I come from people of round and flat faces, angled to accept spirit as a breath. I come from people who are attached to the earth and the seasonal cycles. Everything happens within its own time. Also, I realized at an early age, everywhere there is natural music, notes and noises keeping time in your spirit and your mind. There are birds singing within the confines of traffic moving in aggression. There are songs still unwritten and wanting to be sung. There are decisions of the heart that will be made before the sunset of this day, just as there will be an ending of this day. I believe there is always more to the open book of life. A mere turning of a page can change the story of life.
Potential…as an adjective is having or showing the capacity to become or develop into something in the future. As a noun, it means to have latent qualities or abilities that may be developed and lead to future success or usefulness.
We all have the potential to be more than we were yesterday. We have the potential to make a difference in our world. We have the potential to change our way of being and start becoming what we may want to become.
To” forgive” defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary states (2) to cease to feel resentment against (an offender).
We had the potential as a team to make an incredible difference in the world. But, that was the story I was trying to write for you. I forgot, it was your story to be told. It is your journey and your song to sing. The music we were making together was a healing experience. Healing was something fearful to you, even though you wanted it. I had to forgive you for your pattern of breaking your word. As a man and a human being in the midst missing the mark, you could not show up for yourself. Our bond was broken. I was unwilling to carry the load.
You have perfected the art of sabotage. You can sink a ship in one drink and a bad attitude. When you were young, you could be thought of as cute. But time has run out on your cuteness and you have graduated to being tired. No one wants to watch the show that seems to have no end. You are talented, and I hope you hold on to that and find a way to express your gift in a full story. Your actions will be forgiven, but I will not forget not to trust you near my heart or soul. You cannot come near my art, without my guarded steps. I will be practicing deep listening and loving speech. Right now it is a conversation with myself and spirit, there is no conversation worth having between me and you, at this moment. It is too bad because we had such a sweet collaboration, but your art of addiction to sabotage raised its holy head. You decided to turn the page backwards. As a result, you are no longer in the book.
I will forgive you because forgiveness is for me. I will forgive you to set myself free. I spent too many years living in that jail. The notes of forgiveness clear the air and gives me my breath back.
I know the beauty of my mindful release. As a modern man, this art of living is a magical and mystical tool of survival. My saving grace is my practice of mindfulness and my practice of forgiveness. Because I can’t swim in my own resentments and anger, they make the home in my head a bad place to be. So, to save me, my mind and my soul, I practice the “Five Awarenesses of Mindfulness” which I learned from reading Thich Nhat Hanh’s “Teachings on Love.” It is a case of coming back to love, whether you are in an active or inactive relationship. Life is the balance of all of your relationships. And the journey of your life is designed by your choices made. Your choices change as you learn to be mindful of depth of your choices. I am mindful of my grain of sand on the beach and how it shines. I am aware of my place of being, as a human being. You can forgive what you understand. And, I understand you were part of my growth so I may step higher in my traveling, my practice.
I practice mindful steps of awareness with diligence and faith. And, when I falter, I jump start and begin again. I show up to be present in my own book in order to turn the page to move forward, even with a seemingly setback. I may get bruised, but I am never broken.
Here are five points of awareness I follow. There are many modes and methods of becoming aware. I have a toolbox to pull from and I use them with discretion. These are reminders to know my connects to the entire human story and just my own. I must remember my breath will be remembered when I am not breathing. We have to turn the page, because there is so much more to the book, more to the range of my potential. I am connected to a past and a future, as I live here in the now. I am connected to the human race. We, as the human race, are becoming more aware of who we were. Five points and five fingers, count your blessings.
Five Awarenesses of Mindfulness:
- We are aware that all generations and all future generations are present in us.
- We are aware of the expectations that our ancestors, our children, and their children have of us.
- We are aware that our joy, peace, freedom, and harmony are the joy, peace, freedom and harmony of our ancestors, our children, and their children.
- We are aware that understanding is the very foundation of love.
- We are aware that blaming and arguing never help us and only create a wider gap between us, that only understanding, trust, and love can help us change and grow.
As a modern man, I take the challenge to be more than I was yesterday, to be my entire story. I have to be willing to leave no path unbroken and no story left untold.