Day 74

This morning began with an opportunity to be of service. I put in a little time helping Kelli and another gal, Bonnie, finish cleaning up Kelli’s yard. And, I stopped before I felt any pain in my knee and iced. Later in the afternoon, I walked Chandler, and my knee felt strong.

After several years of difficulty with my knee, I made the decision to have my knee replaced (September, 2014). The relief I found after the replacement, and the strength that I gained in my knee is something I feel grateful for every day. You can imagine then, how difficult it was for me when I stood up two and a half weeks ago and couldn’t walk without leaning on something. In all honesty, I catapulted between thoughts of “it’ll be fine tomorrow”, to “the knee joint is failing and it’s going to need surgery”, to “snap out of it and keep walking”. You see, my thoughts will snatch Peace away from me in an instant. And here is where the learning comes in…

When I am racing between thoughts, irritable, reactionary and quick to defend my actions, I am incapable of making a rational decision. This is why I have a community of friends, family and colleagues around me. They ask the questions that need asking. They encourage me to feel the feelings and to ask my body what it needs. They challenge me to look deeper than the surface. They help me to remember to take the actions that keep me present.

For me, Peace is restored only when I have stopped the chatter of my brain, connected to my body, and taken a moment to see the humor in the drama of my thoughts.

I often speak of presence as a way to Peace. For me, presence is the ability to be in my body, while noticing my thoughts. Presence is evident by the amount of energy I have. When I am present, there is enough energy for the task at hand, whatever it may be. Conversely, when I am caught up in thinking, I find myself overly tired, touchy and tense.

I’m sharing this today, because I awakened in a state, with my thoughts acting like an auger in an ever deepening hole. I’m grateful however, that I have a series of actions that ground me in my body. I took a few deep (full wave) breaths, meditated, chanted a bit, and focused on what my body needed to relax and come to a Peaceful place – ready to start the day.

For this Peace Walker a daily practice of breathing, meditating and chanting keeps the auger called thought at bay and the energy of Peace flowing freely through me.