Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Are you running on fumes?



*** As always, the following reflections have helped me "come back to life". I only speak of them because they are lessons I needed (need).  I hope that they can help you find your own personalized path back to inspiration and awe. ***

The day began with a message from my brother-in-law and a visit to my downstairs bookshelf for inspiration.

The message from Ryan read: "What is something for which you are thankful, today?" To which I responded: "REAL people. These people give everyone permission to be real and I find that inspiring and refreshing". I love honesty and I love people who reflect and, in turn, get me reflecting.

This little exchange sent me into a privileged spiral of thought: what are the things that keep us ticking? The things that keep us "awake,  inspired,  grateful? I believe that these feelings drive the world forward and allow us to co-create with God, rooted in Faith, Hope and Love.

As human beings created in the image of God, a loving Father and the Author of Life, we are created for endless "inspiration", joy, love and gratitude. But, it takes effort to be happy in this life, we cannot coast our way into joy.

As a runner, my husband and I have found endless metaphors for life throughout our race training. If we want to run well, it requires discipline and DESIRE. I need to want my goal and I need to be willing to forsake my own comfort to get there. I can't wait for the perfect conditions because they will never come. Some runs leave me with blisters, some runs lead to pulled muscles, sometimes I eat too little before a run and I need to re-calibrate my distance. Sometimes I am dragging my butt and I just want to turn around. But, other runs leave me feeling invincible. Like I could run forever. These runs come at a high price and I would never experience them if I didn't put in the effort. The same goes for any life situation. Do you wish you felt more love for certain people in your life? Feed your love. Do you wish you had more Faith? Feed what little faith you have. Even just by doing one small thing, daily, with an open heart. One sentence spoken to God with "borrowed" Faith will do e.g. "I don't feel like you are close, but I know that You are near." Do you have certain project ideas that have been on hold since your youth because you are waiting for inspiration? Feed your inspiration. What would you say if I told you that you are not only post-poning your own happiness and joy but that the inspiration and well-being of others depends upon your attitude,  upon your desire to be happy. No man is an island, we are all connected.

Many refer to the ideas I have just presented as "good energy". While this terminology (and philosophy) falls devastatingly flat, there is some element of truth to it.  The Holy Spirit is given to those who ask for it. Throughout Scripture, those who wanted to be healed had to ask for it. If they were too weak to ask themselves, they got their friends to lower them through the roof to Jesus or they sent their family to ask for the healing. We might not need physical healing like these people but perhaps we need to "feel" something again. Perhaps our lives have become shadows of what they were. Perhaps we feel only half-alive. This, too is a type of illness needing healing. And that healing usually consists of feeding our Faith, Hope and Love because, for a long time, we've been running on fumes; approaching collapse. I think many times this collapse is referred to by the world as a "mental breakdown" or a "midlife crisis". Truth be told, I think many times it is simply the natural response to the Spirit's reserves running on empty.

I'm sad to say that many of us see it coming before it's too late but we neglect to give our Spirits the nourishment for which they beg. Are you thirsty for beauty? Seek it out like blood returns to the heart! Feed on it. Sit in an empty church, or if that takes too much time and effort initially, google beautiful images or photography that inspire awe! Awaken the awe in your heart. Ask God to return the awe of your childhood. Is it Faith that you lack? Listen to Mother Teresa give a talk as you wash the dishes. Read quotations that move you, write them on your desk post-its. It's not about empty activism, but instead, it's about caring for your spiritual health. "Doing", in and of itself, is meaningless. It is only when this "doing" is infused with love and flanked with prayer that it becomes holy and truly life-giving for others. This, I believe, is the true nature of work- it is not the doing that matters (or even the nature of the task), rather, it is how much love we pour into our work.  Let's ask to be renewed in love. The world needs love and only "open" and "real" human beings can bring that to the world.


MAY 1- Feast of St. Joseph the Worker
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Earlier in this post, I alluded to a book I recovered from our heavy-laden bookshelf early this morning. It was a book of life lessons from John Paul II and, because there are no coincidences and today is the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, I opened to a page where JPII was reflecting on the meaning of work. He writes:

" For man and woman thus created and commissioned by God, the ordinary working day has great and wonderful significance. People's ideas, activities and undertakings-however commonplace they may be- are used by the Creator to renew the world, to lead it to salvation, to make a more perfect instrument of divine glory. " -Encyclical on Human Work (Laboren exercens), 1981, John Paul II

He's always right on.