I wonder...

Here is a list of things I worry about:  my health, my finances, my mom, my children, my thinning hair, my memory, world events, Texas government, health insurance, wars, our dysfunctional federal government, civil rights for all, the environment, disasters, religious fundamentalism, blah blah quack quack.

Some of these things I worry about more than the others.  My worry often takes the form of an urgent voice in my head that asks, “What should I do?  What should I do?  What should I do?  How can I fix this?”  The implication is, “it’s up to me, it’s up to me, it’s up to me!”  Wears me out.

Lately I’ve latched on to a new approach that I find more productive. And, ironically, it is also more relaxing.

Instead of worrying about what is going to happen, and what I should do to make things happen the way I think they should, I am practicing curiosity instead.  It goes something like this:

- I wonder how this will turn out?

 -Wow, I didn’t expect this—I wonder what will come of it?

- Oh this is interesting—where on earth will it lead? 

-She’s in a pickle—I’m curious how she handles this.

- I’m keeping an eye on this situation—I don’t have a clue what should happen.

-Whoa!  I didn’t see this coming—hold on, no telling what is coming next!

-Ok Robyn, wait and see what you are prompted to do now.

Curiosity feels so much better than worry, and why not?  I did not create all these situations; I did not even create myself.  I’m not in charge of the world; there is little I can control.  I can certainly do my part, but I don’t always know what my part is.  I’m curious about that too. 

Every one of us has built into our Being a loving, wise presence, a Voice of Loving Kindness that knows how to solve all kinds of dilemmas.  Curiosity invites me to turn to that Presence and say, "now what? I always get such a kick watching how you transform problems!" 

How it feels to ask, “what am I going to do about this?” is very different from “I wonder what I’m going to do about this?  I wonder what creative solutions are going to pop into my head, and when?  I wonder who is going to show up to help me?  This is all such a mystery!"

Worrying is always non-productive.  Curiosity opens doors, windows, peepholes, and kernels, and allows for nuggets, flashes, hunches,  nudges, and awarenesses to reveal themselves to me.

I wonder what people will think of this?

Retreat, retreat, retreat

I'm excited.  We all know I'm a big proponent of "stepping out" of your life in order to breathe, gain perspective, slow down, think, stop thinking, unclench, and (as most women will understand) let your belly go soft.

I have been invited to facilitate a women's contemplative retreat at the end of May.   It is such a privilege to join folks who have made the conscious decision to drive away from their daily life for a weekend dedicated to touching Reality.  We will spend time getting quiet.  We sill spend time telling the truth as best we know it.  We will listen and trust.  Oh, and we will eat delicious food.

I do not have to wait until the retreat is ending to thank the women who "stepped out."  I can already thank them because I know what lies ahead.

Never mind, no matter...

Sometimes I feel disappointed and discouraged.  Sometimes I feel tired and weary, and almost but not quite, hopeless.

Recently during such a time, I “heard” the following:

Feel our hands kneading your neck and shoulders,

Feel our presence in the quiet.

Too often you allow yourself to slip into “feeling alone.”

Never mind, no matter,

The truth always resurfaces,

You always return and allow us to soothe and heal.

We would point out that these painful periods are needless,

But you know that.

Never mind, no matter.

Now is now and you know what you know,

You’ve been where you’ve been,

Your resistance to our tender mercy grows weaker,

Your skepticism is less convincing.

Never mind, no matter.

Truth is true, Love is love,

Pain dissolves, optimism returns, and

Equilibrium is restored 

Just as dependably as the sun rising and setting.

Stepping Out Groups - one week from today!

If you haven't already registered for one of the spring Stepping Out groups, please do so now.  We begin the evening group one week from today!

Send an email to robyn0623@gmail.com, or give me a call.

As always, if you want to participate but the fee is beyond your budget, contact me so we can work something out...I want you to be there.

Spring Stepping Out Groups

An Invitation to Join a

SPRING STEPPING OUT GROUP

Led by Robyn Whyte

Evening Group – Monday evenings 7:00-8:30

                             Beginning April 18 for nine weeks

Daytime Group – Wednesday mornings 10:30-12:00

                             Beginning April 20 for nine weeks

A Stepping Out group provides the opportunity for you to “step out” of your daily life and join with a small group of people who commit to explore the spiritual dimension of their lives.  Members need not share the same religion or beliefs; they only need share a desire for a deeper experience of God, Life, Love, Spirit, the Ultimate Mystery.

Group participation is confidential, sacred and organic.  My role is to begin each session with a guided meditation and then facilitate honest discussion and exploration of the Inner Journey.

The cost is $30 per session with the understanding that you will miss no more than two sessions out of the nine and that you will pay for any additional missed sessions.  The group experience suffers when you don’t come!

We will read Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual by Henri Nouwen as a springboard for discussion; Stepping Out groups are NOT book discussion groups, but rather an intimate small group experience of sharing and exploring. 

To register, send me an email to me at robyn0623@gmail.com.

It matters what we believe...

Reading the following poem by Sophia Lyon Fahs recently moved and encouraged me. 

IT MATTERS WHAT WE BELIEVE

Some beliefs are like walled gardens.

They encourage exclusiveness, and the feeling of being especially privileged.

Other beliefs are expansive and lead the way into wider and deeper sympathies.

Some beliefs are like shadows, clouding children’s days with fears of unknown calamities.

Other beliefs are like sunshine, blessing children with the warmth of happiness.

Some beliefs are divisive, separating the saved from the unsaved, friends from enemies.

Other beliefs are bonds in a world community, where sincere differences beautify the pattern.

Some beliefs are like blinders, shutting off the power to choose one’s own direction.

Other beliefs are like gateways opening wide vistas for exploration.

Some beliefs weaken a person’s selfhood.  They blight the growth of resourcefulness.

Other beliefs nurture self-confidence and ignite the feeling of personal worth.

Some beliefs are rigid, like the body of death, impotent in a changing world.

Other beliefs are pliable, like the young sapling, ever growing with the upward thrust of life.

A prevailing theme in A Course in Miracles is that it really, really matters what you believe, that your beliefs determine how you see the world, and how you see other people in the world.  I have little expectation that our world political leaders will discover Ms. Fahs’ poem and drop “some beliefs” for “other beliefs,” thus changing the world into a kinder, gentler place.

My hope lies in those of us who wake up each day to tend the children, go to work, get the car fixed, and make a grocery run on the way home to prepare supper and watch American Idol.  My hope lies with those of us who, additionally, periodically and consistently step out of the daily grind to ponder what Life means and examine our beliefs.  As more of us regular folk become more enlightened, moving in the direction of being for more and against less, all of our experience will soften around the edges.

I will be offering a Spring Stepping Out group very soon, an invitation to join a small group of “regular folks” who want to step out once a week and explore our beliefs.  Stay tuned…