The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night’s sleep. ~E. Joseph Cossman
Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. ~Thich Nhat Hanh
A good night’s sleep is helpful if you are feeling generally cranky and tired. But it seems to me that if there is a major problem, a crisis, all that happens is you go to sleep, you wake up, you remember what’s going on in about five seconds, and you’re in a state of shock.
Again.
One little recess from the terrible is not going to be much of a bridge between despair and much of anything. It takes something more. And, in my experience, this is where breathing is important. But not just breathing which, of course you must do on a regular basis or all your problems will take a back seat to the one indisputable fact – your dead! It’s more important to be aware of your breathing. Focus on it. Because it truly is the gateway between the physical and mental worlds. And this type of exercise will calm both those things down.
It’s especially good at calming the thoughts and allowing a third element to enter the picture. And that would be the spiritual realm. Because, beyond our physical activities and thoughts there lies an all encompassing power that will actually allow us to experience peace in the face of adversity.
All of this is a brief summary of the art of meditation that does not do it justice. There is much more. I’m just saying, for starters, that we can decide to focus on different things in our life. Sleep offers a brief respite. But solving problems that are not going to go away overnight takes something more. And when you really can’t figure out the answer to a particular problem it doesn’t mean that there are no answers.
You may just need to chill. Breathe. Feel the peace. And go from there. Next week, next month or next year things will probably look very different.
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The thoughts of a retired guy living in Virginia. His interests include photography, writing, poetry, relationships, walking and the humorous side of things.
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