sharing a fb post

shared this over on facebook today.
wanted to put it here too.
i think it’s a great reminder for every
single one of us.
we all have struggles with something.
some of us can be glad they’re not this big.
others can feel less alone.
and all of us can be reminded to keep on trying!

>>>>>>>

a year and a half ago, my buddy, les, had a stroke.
he’s been workin’ so darn hard ever since to regain his mobility.
he’s a musician. guitar was such a huge part of his life.
he’s not sure he’ll ever get that back. but he keeps workin’ on it.
and is now looking at a keyboard with new interest.
i’ve watched the man’s identity get taken away from him.
i’ve watched him struggle to walk again, and i watch him
every day work hard to make his life what he wants.
to say he’s an inspiration to me is an understatement.

he posted this today.
it was something he had written at the six month mark for him.
it came up as a fb memory and he shared it.
i wanted to share it here to help us all think about our
challenges we have in front of us.

and i want to thank les for sharing his journey with us
and for offering such bravery over and over again.
sometimes i think how close we came to losing him,
and the gratitude just fills me that he’s still here.
AND he’s here inspiriting the daylights outta me!

>>>>>>>>>>

from les –

May 23, 2016. Six months to the day since the stroke. Well, since the big one. In the prior 5 days I had two mini-strokes. Practice strokes.

Yesterday I attended a Writer’s Center Board of Directors meeting for the first time in over 6 months. Walked in (on my own, but still not pretty), and participated in the 2 hour meeting.

My goal had been to be up for attending the Maryland Entertainment Hall of Fame ceremony (invitation thanks to Richard Shelton). I was inducted last year and invited to yesterday’s ceremony. I didn’t reach that goal.

There’s a point here. It is things like attending the MEHOF that help inspire. Even though I didn’t reach that goal it was the trying for that that DID get me to the Writer’s Center. Progress is the point….and being grateful for it and any inspiration that drives it.

Don’t get me wrong. A stroke is a royal pain in the butt. I’m often asked what have been the most important lessons learned. There are many, but one that comes to me most days is…. choice. You make a choice to fight like hell or throw in the towel. If you make the pity party choice….that’s all you’ll achieve.

See you at a gig.

do we let go or does it let go?

so in this big dream i had,
the past let go of me.
didn’t want me anymore.
which was an awesome thing for me.
and i was pleased.

but i’m puzzled by it all –
wouldn’t you think in healing that
YOU would let go of your past.
not that your PAST would let go of you?

i asked my girlfriend i was having coffee with
that very question this morning.
the past letting go made sense to her.
so i’m thinking sooner or later it’ll make sense to me as well.

for now, i’m just tickled.

and was thinking –
maybe it’s the highest compliment ever to
change so much that your past can’t deal with you anymore!

sitting with this shift with deep amazement and gratitude.

and the door closed…and her world opened…

from the moment i woke up from the dream,
i knew something powerful had just happened.

i got up, all alone in the house,
walking around whispering out loud ‘could it really be?’
‘is it over?’ ‘did it just end?!’

and then kinda an astonished – ‘i’m free!’

a recurring dream i had for fifteen years just had
what felt like its finale.
and with it – a door that so needed to close, felt closed.

i’ve had this before with a couple of other dreams.
the other dreams progressed…kinda made their way to a finish.
taking years to do so.
and when they finished, they never came back.

that’s exactly what this felt like.
only out of all of the dreams, this is the one i want to finish.

in looking at why now,
why this morning?
it actually seemed logical to me that it would happen.
there was a whirling combination of things that happened this weekend
that had fifteen years of work behind them.

i nodded.
yeah.
it really is time.
i really may have made it here.

i guess you never know until some time passes and you can watch.
but it sure feels right.

tears leaked outta my eyes the entire morning this morning.
and now i’m tired.
and oh so happy.
and excited.
and ready.
yeah.
i’m ready to see what comes next.

and it makes me think of the image i made last week.
will post it here, because, my gosh, does it ever fit!
celebrating the process –
oh……so celebrating!

transitioning into me

i don’t even know how to describe this.
bear with me?
read between the lines,
allow for gaps,
and see if any of this makes sense?

being a mom was a huge huge part of my life.
it really took a ton of focus and learning and giving.
the guys were always on my mind and what i needed
to do in relation to them was a constant pondering.
then everyone grew up.
and while it wasn’t bam! one day they grew up,
it kinda felt that way to me.

so then i spent a few years trying to understand that
and how i was sposed to be with them.
how do i work in relation to them now?
i did a whole lotta dropping the ball and doing things wrong,
and learning learning learning.

without really realizing it was happening,
i think i got to a place where i understood the dynamics more
and can navigate better now. (and yeah, it took long enough!)
and i think, somehow, in getting better with that,
the natural letting go that happens on the upper levels,
has now happened deeper.

it was like before i knew i had to let go,
so i forced myself to let go.
and now – there’s no forcing….it just is.

i feel like i gotta put a disclaimer in here – you know i don’t have
this all down and i’m not perfect by any means. but i do feel like
i’ve gotten good with what i’ve needed to get good with. and i wasn’t
sure i ever would.

and getting good with it brings something i wasn’t expecting –

me.

my gosh.
it opens the door wide open to me.

and again, i ‘knew’ this was going on in the way your brain knows,
but your bones don’t have it yet. so there was always a piece missing.
the bone piece. the deep piece. and you feel that when that’s missing.

but now, guys……now……..i think my bones are getting this.

and i am so comfortable and happy with this that i’m a little bit stunned.

and! i’m thinking ‘why on earth don’t i know to expect this stuff??!! why
don’t i remember over and over again that these things are all processes –
and i need to trust the process?!!’

yeah, well….maybe the forgetting over and over is all a process too.

don’t know.

all i know is that i feel good.
feel like i’ve arrived somewhere i was kicking and screaming about going to
and i’ve found it quite lovely and i’d like to stay for a bit.

and i’m reminded again – in such a beautiful way –

trust the process, terri. just keep trusting the process.

there it was

while i know there is something outside
that calls me and feels sacred,
i don’t always step into it.
i try to tune into it on my walks,
but sometimes i’m just too distracted
or tired or whatever.
i’ll still go out, cause there’s a part of me
that really understands the importance of
being out there –
but tuning in takes more than just part of me.

this morning i was distracted.
by what, i don’t know.
just lots of unimportant wandering thoughts.
when i got home, i decided i wanted to still be out a bit,
so i took a drink and some books and paper and stuff,
and went and sat in my yard.

i read a bit, wrote a bit, and thought a bit.
and then i looked down.
and i noticed it.
the energy in the green –
in the plant leaves and the grass.
it was so strong i wondered how i missed it at first.
i wondered how i didn’t feel it buzzing all over me.
i looked up and watched it in the leaves blowing in the breeze.

wow.
the energy that is so incredibly powerful
and so quiet.
right there with us all the time.

i slipped my flip flops off and put my feet in the grass.
and sat there and just felt the energy of the earth all around me.

how is it i don’t just buzz inside me the second i go outside?
well, maybe i do.
but i don’t notice.

i shook my head in wonder at how dense i can be sometimes.
and smiled that once in awhile, i really do see.
and when i do –
i just fall into something gorgeous.

a wonderfully beautiful normal moment

so, okay, it was no secret –
i celebrated my birthday yesterday.
and i had a ball!

as birthdays go – it was a fairly normal day
with a lot of fairly normal moments.

a ton of love was mixed in.
and some of the moments were tremendously special.

but the moment that stands out the most for me,
was a completely normal one.

i was out of coffee.
i had been out of it since the day before.
the day before i had stolen some from my guy’s stash,
but i like the flavored stuff.
he doesn’t.
and here it was – my special day –
and i didn’t want his coffee –
i wanted my own.

i decided to go up the road and combine dropping
off some orders at UPS and going to the grocery store
up near there to find my birthday coffee.

a regular ol’ errand.

dropping off the boxes turned into a treat when a really kind man
in the parking lot went outta his way to get the door for me.
he wasn’t even near the store, wasn’t goin’ that way, but offered
anyway.

i told him it was my birthday and he helped make me feel
like a birthday queen. we shared a laugh and he wished me
a happy birthday. i headed to the grocery store smiling.

the grocery store was fun as i wandered knowing i could
get anything i wanted for my special day.  i was delighted
to just be browsing for me.

and it was driving home from running those errands that
i had the moment.

driving down the highway, up a hill.
there was a beautiful view of the sky.
leaning back in my car, i noticed something –
i was completely comfortable with myself.
just completely comfortable.
with me.

there was no need to do anything but just be there.

and i realized, in that moment,
that i had finally learned that what i needed was inside me,
that it was up to me to make me happy,
and while others could add great delights to that happiness,
it was my relationship with me that really mattered.
and to mix that with genuine gratitude is an incredibly powerful combination.

and i was feeling that mix.

yeah, it’s taken me 56 years to get here.
and i’m okay with that.
i guess i needed a little time.

now…..i want to spend some time really practicing this.
cause it sure feels good.

thinking it’s gonna be a good year ahead…..

on my birthday

celebrating being here includes
the all –

joy
struggle
laughter
frustration
hope
peace
turmoil
strength
frailty
illness
healing
support
dreaming
trying
being
my guys
the guys
those guys
the aches
the triumphs
the growth
trees
sky
god
delicious food
gunk
vrooms
silence
fear, agony and terror
knowing, magic and gratitude
remembering god
forgetting god
touching god
tragedy, loss
choices
beauty, grace
friends – true and false
loves – real and not
delusions
clarity
stumbles
coasts
falling
leaping
flying
soaring
falling
loving
over
and over
again.
loving.
loving.
loving.
living.

celebrating the entire gift today.
and whispering with gratitude ‘thank you.’

you really are a light…

i saw something really cool this weekend –
i saw the ripples of someone’s kindness
go far beyond what that someone would have imagined.

and not only was the kindness seen and appreciated,
who she chose to be was admired and respected.
all this coming from a source further than she woulda
thought her touch would really go.

and it made an impression on a young man.

which kinda felt extra good to me.

and i got to tell her about it on a weekend
where she wasn’t feeling all that seen.
so the timing was pretty darn nice.

so while i enjoyed all that tremendously,
what really takes my breath away is how much it
really does matter how we choose to live.
how much we really can touch others –
way further away then we’d ever imagine.

and how – yeah – we really are lights.
and that even in those situations where it’s so hard
to be those lights – well, maybe those situations
count more than we know.

keep at it.
it matters.
shine on and on and on.
you never know who’s watching.

sorta like a recipe

i wanted to bring up a reminder
before the weekend hits us.
i know this weekend can be hard
for a lotta people.
and i can always use this reminder myself.

but the reminder has turned into more of a recipe.
which i’m really diggin’ here.

it starts with intention.

i was going to say it starts with focus.
but i’m thinking you really really gotta have that intention
figured out so that you can keep the focus.

so let’s use this weekend as an example.

mother’s day is a hard one for you.
you hate the holiday. just want the weekend to pass.

okay…
so maybe we can stop and remember that just having a
weekend is honestly a gift.
the fact that we’re here and able to be in it is a gift that
is really helpful to keep in mind.

so, okay, we’re here. and yeah, yeah, it’s prolly a gift.
but it doesn’t feel so great.
okay.
that’s okay.
doesn’t have to.

and that makes the gift all the more real.
it’s a gift that includes hard stuff as well.
but it’s a gift.

so what can our intention be?
maybe something like ‘i’d like it to be peaceful and not filled
with bad memories or inner turmoil.’

fair enough.

so whatever the intention is, now we’ve got something to hang on to.
now we add the focus.
where do we focus our eyes so that we’re not growing the inner turmoil?
finding something we enjoy is perfect! – okay, maybe i’ll garden,
or find a movie i really want to see, or get some really delicious food
i’ve been wanting lately. i’ll pull out my paints, or clean off the hammock,
or take a day trip. and i’ll focus on the good feelings these things bring up.

so you make some good plans. you feel good about yourself. you got this.
you get halfway thru it and all is goin’ good. you start to see that yeah, yeah,
this really is a gift.

then….if we’re gonna use the recipe idea, maybe we can say something
boils over or thickens too much or gets gunky somehow.

suddenly,  you have slop.

something catches you off guard…you see the thing that’s gonna press your buttons,
and you collapse, and feel totally awful.

that’s such a real possibility,  yes?

here’s where i just figured something out this morning!
cause i’ve done this kinda thing, gotten to the gunk/slop part, collapsed,
and told myself to just get back and refocus.
and you know what?
i can’t.

i think i’ve been missing a part –
here’s the part where opportunity has been presented.
another gift!

here’s your chance for self compassion.
it’s time to acknowledge what hurts.
it won’t be ignored.
it wants some attention.

go ahead, give it attention and compassion.
sit and give yourself love and compassion.

talk about a gift.

and THEN say okay, i’m headin’ back to the focus and the intent.

repeat this process as much as necessary.

stir with self love and awareness,
and i’m thinking you may end up cooking yourself something beautiful.

and the part i really love?
it’s up to us!
this is ours!
and we can do this!

ahhh….but wait….if you can’t right now? if you just don’t have it in you…
that’s okay. just remember this reminder. and tuck it away.
cause the day will come when you can. if you can’t right now, just wrap
yourself with as much care as you can muster
and be however you need to be.

you aren’t alone.
sending you love this weekend…….

the haunting

sometimes things that would naturally
bother a person come up.
but sometimes the reactions to those things
are out of proportion.

why?

for me, over and over, i can see it’s
what i’m coming to call ‘the haunting.’
the stuff that’s so deep inside you it drives
more things than you’d like to believe,
and haunts us more than we even realize.

one of my goals is to become more aware of this happening…
and then to respond to myself with compassion.

this is taking a lot of work.
there’s a lot of desire to focus on the upper level stuff,
and not the deeper stuff.

i’m assuming the distraction is much easier for me,
and my inner self knows that and leans in to the distraction.

that’s only not helpful, i think it’s destructive to life around you,
and certainly stifles any of the growth you would achieve by
looking deeper.

sooooooooo more stuff to keep in mind.
and i just keep at it…..
but that’s okay, cause my gosh…….it’s good stuff to be workin’ on!