Saturday, August 10, 2013

Mindful Presence and Vulnerability

This one was a birthday tribute for a friend.
I'm grateful for the presence of several people in my life
who are able to offer their mindful presence to me.
I need to work on my own ability
to be present to those closest to me, my family.
It's not always an easy thing to do, for family or friends. We get distracted.
And sometimes, presence is the only thing
we can offer in the face of pain and/or problems 
that are not easily solved
(or may not ever be solved, really). 
It takes a courageous person to sit with someone in that kind of situation 
and not panic 
when it is clear 
there is nothing one can do to improve the situation or take away the pain.

This one is just another good quote.
I've found this to be true.
But hard. 
Being vulnerable is risky.
The trick is in finding the "safe people."

In other news:
I'm heading off this morning to visit with a few friends from my younger days. We are going to have an adult slumber party and catch up on our lives from the last, um, nearly forty years. Good grief, how can it be that we have been adults for so long?

I've lost 20.2 pounds. Last night I walked four miles and I needed every single step of that walk! I'd had a rough day and it was wonderful how walking cleared my head and calmed me down.

4 comments:

  1. Walking helps me, too. Good for you on the weight loss!

    Your quotes made me think of this one:

    "The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares."
    ~ Henri Nouwen

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  2. I'm proud of what you've accomplished, happy you find clarity in walking, and sorry you had a rough day yesterday. Enjoy your meet-up!

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  3. Congratulations on the weight loss! For me, walking has been very close to a prayer closet, the most "safest people" I know with whom one can be vulnerable. Both quotes are good; but the second enables us to better fulfill the first....

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  4. Way to go, annie! Walking is also my way of clearing my mind.

    Excellent quotes. Trying to become more mindful of mindfulness myself these days!

    Hope you have a great time slumbering!

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