Hang On and Never Give Up

While living in Portland, Oregon, I walked into a church service where the following lines were being sung over and over – “hold on just a little bit longer, everything is going to be alright.” 

It’s very easy to get caught up in the momentum when everyone is singing the same tune, swaying about and clapping their hands.  But what happens when the service is finished, fellowship and coffee time are over and we’re headed out the door?  How long can we carry forward the emotional impact and enthusiasm of words such as these before we start becoming discouraged and think, that while those were nice words and they made us feel good at the time, can we really trust the message?

How do we really know things are going to be alright?  We strive relentlessly towards our goals and, when we don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel, we start thinking we never will.  Questions like, “how long can we keep doing this without results,” or “maybe this isn’t what we’re supposed to be doing because if it was we should have gotten somewhere by now.” plague us.  It’s not easy holding on when we’re not even sure if we should anymore.

If we keep holding on is that enough?  Well, maybe not all of enough but some of enough.  If we can remember what started us in a certain direction to begin with and recapture the feelings we experienced at the time, then perhaps we will be able to change our dialogue.  If we truly believe that everything is in Divine Order, that we are guided by Divine Intelligence and that God has a purpose and plan for our lives which He placed within our hearts for the purpose of fulfillment, then we can hold on longer, even for dear life if needed, with the dogged determination that what we are striving for is what we should be doing.  It’s not all going to come to us at once but we can notice the incremental steps and be grateful for them as they eventually bring us face to face with the unlocked doors waiting for us to walk through and claim what we have been seeking and holding on for.

My advice – hold on a little bit longer.  A little bit longer might be tomorrow.

💙 Marian

Make A Joyful Noise

As the saying goes, ‘music tames the savage beast,’ but what beast are we talking about – anger, despair, feelings of helplessness and hopelessness or a particularly big one that deals with a neglected and hungry immune system.

There’s a story by Bernie Siegel, famed cancer surgeon, author and lecturer, that goes as follows (paraphrased):

-               There was a young man who loved playing the violin so much he wanted to make this his career.  His family had other plans in mind for him, though, and wanted him to become lawyer.  Not wanting to disappoint them, he did as they wished.  Some years later, he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and given a year to live during which time he played the violin.  At the end of the year, his tumor was gone.

Engaging in music allows us the opportunity to be so completely absorbed in its rapture that we open ourselves up and let out that which does not serve us while bringing in that which does creating a space in which the music can come in and do its healing.

 In the above story, the man involved played for his own pleasure but any form of music by any group of persons can be utilized for the purpose of healing.  Group musical therapy is particularly helpful as those involved not only perform to bring forth what they need but they can help others who might not be at the stage of doing that for themselves.

Now, can we picture singers and performers in parks, subways, hospitals, retirement and nursing homes, people standing in long, slow moving lines while imagining all those feel good music bugs jumping from one person to another latching on and providing untold benefits to all willing to receive.

🙌 Marian

Watch Out, That First Step Can Be A Doozie

Have you ever wondered about how Humpty Dumpty ended up on the ground after being on the wall for so long?  Was he pushed from behind or did he jump hoping to land in one piece?  Well, while we aren’t ever going to be able to solve this one, we can question our time on our own walls.  You know, the ones we sit on with our legs and feet dangling while we’re trying to decide what to do.  What if we finally decide to get off our wall and, even though we’re scared, we really don’t want to go back but we don't know what would happen if we stay where we have landed? Would we be willing to get off our wall knowing full well it could take a long time to get to where we want and that many difficulties are inevitable? We might even question if it really was that bad on our wall and wonder if we could adapt to staying there indefinitely.  

Okay, let’s say we decide to come down from our wall and, in the process, we slip and come crashing down.  Now we’re in a lot of pieces, something we hadn’t planned on.  How do we put ourselves back together again?  We can cry for help in the hopes of finding someone to do what all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t do.  But we now know we can’t go back because it wasn’t working where we were or we would have stayed there.  So now we’re faced with even more scary stuff like taking risks that lead us into the unknown with unknown consequences. 

Our pieces represent those parts of our lives that make it what it is – our careers, our material belongings, our relationships and our spiritual journeys, just to name a few.  So, while looking at some of our pieces, we might decide we no longer need some of them.  We might want new pieces, pieces that look and feel differently.  Some pieces might need altering or rearranging.  Sometimes, we need to replace all of our pieces.

Cracking up isn’t fun but growth doesn’t occur when we stay put too long in the same place.  It happens when we allow ourselves the opportunity to fall apart so that we can make ourselves into a new, better and bigger us.

❤ Marian

"What would happen if we picked up the pieces of our lives, held them and scrutinized them long enough to receive a glimpse of what we could become if we put them back together in a different way.  " - Marian