Just One Look Forum Archives
Recovery and Rehabilitation
Hi, John & Carla, and my fellow JOL/SDA Lookers,
I started this about a week ago but kept either getting sidetracked or changing what I wanted to say...
Although I've been silent a couple months, I haven't bailed on y'all or the practice. I got sidelined from communicating (only a very little from practicing SDA) by family and ongoing health iss-ewes that require time and attention, and life in general. I also lost contact with the online meetings, maybe because it got confusing when the US went off DLS a couple weeks after Oz went on instead of happening the same weekend as it used to, took a while to get the time right, and then US Wednesday evening/South Oz Thursday mid-day meetings seemed to have stopped.
And honestly, I also felt I needed to practice SDA more than I needed to talk about it, 'cos I love talking about it, and needed to to remember that in my regular life I need to improve putting my attention where I want to it to be rather than practice during "formal" SDA practice but let it run wild the rest of the time like I have for all of my life previously. Apologies again now I'm ba-a-ack. Maybe not to talk so often, but just to let y'all know that my silence is not because I've bailed or that I don't care about how the rest of you are doing.
I do know that this works like nothing else I've tried in my previous 70 years of misery, but at least in my case, wasn't an instant Road to Damascus awakening (though my First Look felt a bit like that); no miraculous glittering gold fairy sparkles poured down on me from on high, I wasn't transported to celestial realms, and that's never going to happen! Peak moments isn't what this is about.
This practice takes some work, some diligence, some persistence, and how much probably varies from with each of us, but there really is no such thing as a free lunch. (And for me, it's part of finally growing up and taking responsibility for my own self, rather than expecting a guru to save me.)
As John said, in terms of learning to be able to direct our attention where we want to and not be at the mercy of every tiny thought that crosses our wee minds, the SDA is like building strength when we lift weights: we have to do the regular practice of bringing the mind back to counting the breaths; it's not the straying that matters so much the coming back. Coming back whether it's fun, boring, whether we can perceive any change or not. Or as a teacher said to me when I whined that I couldn't relate to the technique I was learning then, "Don't relate to it, just do it!"
And that's it from me for now. Glad to know the online meetings will resume at some point. No pressure.
Love, Carladownunder
Great to see you here! The Online Open House Meetings are now on Wednesdays at 11 AM PT(UTC/GMT -8).
It will be this day and time for a while. We change the day and time periodically so people in different areas of the world have a chance to join in.
Love,
Carla
Lovely, Mate, very kind, fair and much appreciated by all of us outside the continental US. Thanks so much; I'll keep it mind next time I have trouble finding it. Love, Carladownunder.
Yes, it's a good idea to check the day and time every time you want to join us.
We put the up-to-date information about the Open House Meetings on the top of every page here in the forum.
You can also check our Calendar of Events by clicking on the CALENDAR link on the menu at the top of this page.
Hi CarlaDownunder, really nice to hear from you! I love this: "Don't relate to it, just do it!". I will try to keep that in mind.
All the best,
Roed
Thanks, Roed, that hit me again this morning. I'm an intermittently poor sleeper and last night wasn't real good so after I finally got to sleep I didn't wake up for good until much later than usual. I realized I still had about 15 minutes before I had to get on with my day, so I did think of my morning SDA practice, only my "spoiled baby mind" started giving me the old whiny litany of objections, "I don't want to!", "It's boring!", "I hate this!", "It doesn't work!", "I'll do it later!" (Yeah, right!), etc. After that I still had 12-14 "free" minutes left so I did the SDA practice.
Much later I remembered that this only works if you do it (am I a genius or what?). There are a very few legitimate reasons not to: 1) you're done and unwaveringly know who you are and really have control over where you put your attention, 2) serious illness (like being in a coma?), 3) whatever else is truly important, but definitely NOT the lazy ones in my first paragraph.
The only way to get better at anything is to do it when it isn't fun or still a novelty. If we can't do it when these small intrusions happen, how are we ever going to get better at it, or stronger, or be able to take control of our attention? To paraphrase John, doing it only when it's easy, pleasant and interesting won't build our psychological (for lack of a better term) muscles any more than lifting weights only once in a while when we feel like it will strengthen our muscles. Not that I'm never going to have a slack day, but it can't be allowed to become habitual, or as the Aussies say, it's a "slippery slope" to being back to the "same s- -t, different day."
All the best back atcha, Roed
BUT I should have added, BE KIND TO YOURSELF, gentle forgiving while being persistent. If you fall of the SDA horse, then as the old song goes, "...Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again!" This practice can be so forgiving if we let it. "And we're worth it!" Love, CDU