Welcome all!

After the devastation to our well beings. How do we individually begin our own process of healing ourselves, and getting ourselves back on our feet, back on our paths? After falling so hard, how do we start the climb again, where did the cherries, and chocolates go? Who can we turn to and why do we? May it be through connecting with God (pick one or all), lets be specific, and lets get in depth here, is it by trying to have good times and letting nature take its course? Do we visit the knowledgeable (Doctors or healers of all sorts, including the clergy), reflecting, (praying, reading, meditating) or is it reaching into ourselves and drawing upon our own strength, may it be to forgive, finding patience, or drawing from our experiences or from our spirit. Is it as simple as looking at ourselves? Should we 1st look into the mirror, or do we need to clean our up our own house? How, why and what do we do to keep our sanity?

Exercise, and routine. I get up every morning and work out for about an hour, then have breakfast and coffee. This is my time, and is necessary for me to handle anything and everything that comes my way.

all

Writing. Oh, yes and walking the dog every day for a nice long walk, even when I don't want to do it. But writing just is necessary to my well being, for some reason.

That and killing monsters in WoW.

Thank you both for your insights!
Thank you allthegoodnames, and gilly, for sharing a part of yourselves with me. It does make the day at hand so much simpler, doesn't it? Just to welcome the day, as we permit our energies to flow a little more freely! May it be a routine, walking, or as simple as upon waking, making coffee, going outside while still dark to greet the Sunrise, as I do!
Thats the 1st step to having a great outlook on our lives, and the world around us!
I noticed you both used the word "necessary". Interesting, so for your days to begin, and your views on life's challenges to stay a steady course or balanced....this is a indispensable part of your life?
It boggles my mind that so few people take time to connect with themselves!

When you find yourselves in difficult times, or in a funk, do you still greet your day in the same way? Or do you find excuses, denial, through self pity, self blame, feeling sad, or depressed, NOT to? Or is it the opposite? When you find your life topsy turvy....do you CRAVE the time spent?

I have found that when I am having a bad time of it, that is when I need to get my routine more than other times!

Even though I do view this as an indispensable part of my life, I do find that occasionally it just isn't possible. I feel that I can handle one day, but I find that even at the end of one day without it, my wife is making sure that I will be able to find time the next day. I start to feel depressed, but when I feel depressed I express it through belligerence.

There is a phrase that John said years ago that has always stuck with me. "The gods have no patience for those who know what needs to be done, yet take no initiative to do it". I think of this whenever I start to try to make excuses about being tired, or just wanting that 5 more minutes of snooze on the alarm.

all

I'm refreshed in knowing that your honesty and humanness are intake, and very balanced! Thank you, allthegood!

When I was studying Eckhart Tolle's works I found I could convert some very negative stuff into something close to bliss. It was really surprising to me because to read about it didn't convince me. In several places he talks about stepping back and just observing our reactive behavior or feelings. I came to the conclusion that I was looking forward to the next time I got upset or mad, just to see if I could do the energy conversion thing again. LOL

I'm keenly aware that all this mental stuff is not everyone's cup of tea. When I was healthier , swimming, running or racquet ball kept my mental monsters at bay. Now I'm glad for all the meditation and spiritual exercises I have tried. I have so little power to change much of the stuff going on around me, but I can preserve my inner well being much better than many healthy younger people in my life. Gosh, I just want to grab them, cuddle them and whisper sweet nothings about the uselessness of egoic mental machinations. LOL

Music. And writing. Often at the same time.

When someone or something really angers me or makes me feel sad, I simply allow myself to thoroughly feel that emotion. I do not feel guilty about it nor do I feel the need to justify it....I simply feel it. I completely wrap myself in it and explore it....for up to one day....and then I release it. I find that by validating the emotion as real, I can let it go much easier. I ground and shield myself every night before bed, as well as do stretching exercises. I try to do as much good as I can by volunteering as much of my time as I am able (which drives my husband nuts). Besides...it just feels good!

Teka, just the newness of Tolle's ideas are refreshing! I was amazed at some of the same ideas I have had, he actually put down in print! When the world is closing in I take my refuge outside. I always thought that Mother Nature had the key to the answers! To read in the "Power of Now", how animals, plants, etc don't have the hangups of mankind, because they live in the Present! The story of the 2 ducks really hit home with me!
SG?! Writing is always helpful, and its a form of release of energy out of your body. Past 30yrs the new self help speakers have touched upon this same idea! What sort of music do you listen to, & why?
Beribee, its refreshing to know that you actually thoroughly feel your emotions! I've noticed in today's society the answer leads to covering them up, or we are bombarded with classes to MASK what we feel. Anger management for one, I had to go to a 3 Saturday class with one of my sons when he was a 9th grader. A fight in school (he was the one beat up on). The class was basically about respect of others, and communication. Had nothing to do with "When someone punches you, what do you do?" The boys that beat up my son? They never attended any classes through the school board, they both ended up quitting school in the 9th & 10th grade. Where was their help?

Boys especially are encouraged to hold their emotions in and not show them. I've taught my sons from a very early age that their emotions matter and that they are allowed to feel them. They may not be allowed to act on them in a manner they would like, but they are allowed to feel them.

sacrificialgoddess wrote:Music. And writing. Often at the same time.

Music does it for me, but not just any music. It's usually upbeat eighteenth-century music, and for weeks at a time it will be be one particular piece, played five or six times in succession. Last year I played this movement from an Albinoni concerto over and over for a month:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcmwykYcNyE

Then that stopped working and for two months only this bravura Handel aria, sung by the male sopranist Philippe Jaroussky, would do the trick:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKVSbReIVyg

I really liked the first one, Ken! (I only really like classical stuff with no singing.) That's the kind of music I listen to on April 14 & 15th (tax day) because it keeps me totally focused (my poor co-workers simply have to deal with it! LOL)

Just as long as no one talks to me or expects me to do anything until after at least the second cup of coffee in the morning, my day generally turns out great. It's sort of like an old man who was once asked how his day was going. His answer was it's going fine, and will continue to until someone comes along and ruins it for me.

I don't know if I have a set pattern or not.... besides the coffee thingy in the morning, that is. I'm generally a touch me not, and try to get up ahead of everyone else so I can have it all out of my system by the time people start to stir about. I'm sure however, Fang...er... Willowcreek will be able to point out a few particular traits that have become routine for me though. She's spent nearly the last 30 years taking stock of my inventory, and will more than likely be more than happy to share some with you (and me as well.)

Ah, Ken! Beribee! A thumbs up & right on yes to Classical music! Anything in between up to Punk/Rap...I'll listen to it all! Can't carry a tune, nor play an instrument, but I love to listen! I had a 7th grade music teacher, that turned his students on to Classical & Opera! How? Through Warner Bros. cartoons!! LOL! We loved going to his class!
Nowadays, I get my vibes from NPR radio, they have programs also that play everything & anything! World music is fantastic also! I drive John nuts with my NPR radio shows, but I got him hooked on Thistle & Shamrock! (A secret you guys never knew!)
Personally, I love a little bit of imagination/free thinking/take me to another time music moments! I start craving these more now! EX: For meditation: I have a few Native American CD's with drums & flute. My fun Down time: I through in some Jazz & Blues, along with the Mills Brothers. Alone time for me: Swing, Big Band, and of course Frank. (A secret, John probably doesn't know about me!)
If you like music, what kind, why, & what does it do for you?
What other ways & or experiences can anyone give us here for real soul searching contemplation?