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Today's
quotation:
There
is an Indian proverb or axiom that says that everyone is a house
with four rooms--a physical, a mental, an emotional, and a
spiritual. Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time, but unless
we go into every room every day, even if only to keep
it aired, we are not a complete person.
Rumer
Godden
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Today's
Meditation:
One
of the most important things I've ever learned about
myself is that I'm not just me. When I was young, it
never entered my mind that there might be more to me than
just the person I thought I was. As I've grown and
learned, though, I've come to see that I'm made up of many
different parts--and that if I try to improve one of these
parts while neglecting the others, my efforts are going to
be much more difficult indeed.
If
we "go into every room every day," we're making
sure that we're aware of where we stand as far as these
elements of ourselves are concerned. Perhaps I'm at
a spiritual low for a few days. Without this
awareness, I might not understand what's bringing me down,
and I can't see that some spiritual nourishment is
necessary. Maybe the stressful feelings of the last
few days are the result of emotional turmoil. Again,
unless I pay attention to my emotions, I won't be able to
address the issues that are causing the turmoil, and the
stressful feelings will continue.
Opening
the doors to these rooms can help us to stay aware of
what's going on in our inner lives. It will air out
the rooms and it will bring to light all that is in those
rooms. When I bring to light those things that love
light, they grow much stronger, and when I bring to light
those things that hate light, they weaken.
So
how am I today physically? Do I need to exercise or
eat something in particular today (or avoid eating
something else)? Mentally, do I need to pull myself
out of some situation, or find something to stimulate my
mind, such as a good book? Emotionally, will I be
helping myself if I forgive or let go, or can I encourage
someone else to strengthen the positive feelings I
have? And spiritually, is it time for a prayer or a
long talk with God as I take a long walk in a beautiful
area?
You're
not just "you," and I'm not just
"me." We all are made up of many different
parts that work together to comprise a whole person, and
when we start paying attention to individual parts of
ourselves, we'll find that improving ourselves and solving
problems in our lives becomes much, much easier.
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