Beloved,
I have owned and used a sea kayak for about 20 years but time has caught up with me and I am not as physically strong as I used to be. I have been looking into inflatable and also folding kayaks. I accidentally ran into a new kayaker on the lake so I asked her about her kayak which turned out to be an inflatable one. She brought it over to my beach for me to try and I surmounted the two things I was most concerned about, getting in and getting out. My original kayak is solid so I can use it as a lever or handle but the blow up one does not have the firmness for me to use. But…I managed to do it anyway and now onto trying to maneuver it. I felt like such a neophyte as I could not control or steer this kayak. The oars felt so short and I had a hard time reaching into the water. I did but I had to hike up my shoulders and arms at a difficult angle. I even got a blister.
My mind was trying to figure out why I was having a problem and I thought maybe the oars were too short. I measured them against the oars I always use and they were the same length. No answer there. I came into the house as it was evening and Lisa was kind enough to let me borrow her kayak for a few days. During the evening, with my mind still trying to find a solution, I suddenly realized that it was ME that was not tall enough. My body does not sit tall enough and my arms are not long enough. I started to chuckle at the simplicity of the problem yet I had struggled to find a solution. The inflatable kayak does not sit in the water and it is taller in height to begin with than my sea kayak so there is much more kayak for me to surmount to get to the water with the oars. Problem solved yet I was sad because I was so hoping that I would be able to maneuver the much lighter one. Now I am hoping that a foldable kayak will be the right fit for me. Time will tell.
“Project Park Bench “by Jim Self makes a lot of sense to me. Since I am unable to travel or do workshops, I sometimes feel useless. I so want to help others. Here is an amazing explanation of how you can “be” who you want to be without having all the work involved in “doing”. YOU and I are very much needed by just “BEING” who we are. Perhaps I felt useless because my generation has been one of doing and old habits die hard. I am grateful that Jim Self brought this to light even if I am a late bloomer. See what you think.
https://spiritlibrary.com/videos/jim-self/morning-conversations-results-of-project-park-bench
Sometimes we think that to be “spiritual” we need to always be positive thinking and speaking or we create karma. I suffer from that as I always try to see the “other side” of whatever happens. I disappoint myself when I allow myself to feel pain or grief when in my heart I know I am creating it. Why can’t I stop doing that? Now we are being told by Eckhart that difficulties are inevitable so we should just assume they will come and it is OK to “feel” the difficulty. Somehow when he explains it, it just makes sense. “Eckhart talks about how life’s inevitable difficulties become a pathway to awakening, and how to stay present amidst the continual challenges we encounter.”
https://spiritlibrary.com/videos/eckhart-tolle/understanding-that-life-has-its-challenges
Lee Harris says it is OK to feel exhausted. Would you like to know why it is OK?
https://spiritlibrary.com/videos/lee-harris/its-okay-to-be-exhausted
I want to share this video with you and have you see these with your own eyes to believe that these are the most unusual instruments ever invented. Now you will have to believe in ALL POSSIBILITIES.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCYHMVlQezA
Love and Light
Mary Grace
https://thewoundedchalice.com