Friday roll call

[teddiebears]

Hello everyone!! I'm going to try a roll call and see who might join in!


Today's thought is:

All human beings hold to the tools of their own destruction.
--Barbara Gordon author of "I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can" [1979]

People who live in the forests and mountains of India have an age-old method of catching monkeys. They do not run after the monkeys, and they do not use ropes. Rather they rely on their understanding of a monkey's behavior. They carve pots with necks as long as a monkey's arm and a base large enough for a banana. The monkeys, eager to collect their food, put their arms down the neck of the jar until they have the banana in their tight grasp. Unable to pull it through the narrow neck, they sit holding their treasure, unwilling to release their grip for fear of losing it. Because they cannot give up the banana in their grasp, they remain immobilized, and the villagers simply pick them up.

We are all afraid of letting go of what is in our grasp, that is why we become prey to the domination of others, whether that be advertising, other people's will pressed upon us, or mindlessly following the crowd. We take a leap of faith when we "let go," but in that leap of faith we might find our freedom in a variety of small or big ways. I will release what my mind is clinging to and refusing to let go of.

What I hold onto holds onto me.

You are reading from the book:
Journey through Womanhood by Tian Dayton, Ph.D.

~~~~~~~~~
This reading has been very true for me lately.

While 'holding tightly' to thoughts about my divorce a year ago, and the sale of my things and my home, and moving into a small apartment, I've allowed myself to stand still rather than move forward. I've been feeling alone (and lonely) and tied to some anger and resentments that I needed to let go of so I could begin again. I have begun to work on 'letting go' of all those negative thoughts. Today IS the first day of the rest of my life and I can choose to stay trapped in the past or to let go of the past and anticipate new and exciting things to come.

Thanks for letting me share.



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"For many, negative thinking is a habit, which over time, becomes an addiction... A lot of people suffer from this disease because negative thinking is addictive to each of the Big Three -- the mind, the body, and the emotions. If one doesn't get you, the others are waiting in the wings."
--Peter McWilliams