Smoldering
Smoldering –
On Saturday afternoon I burned a pile of branches, old newspapers, and other miscellaneous items. The smell of the ashes and leftover debris lingered in the air the next day. I had forgotten to grab an old wooden rocking chair out of the reading room which also needed to be disposed of. When I noticed it Sunday afternoon I wondered if the smoldering ash would still be hot enough to do anything. I took the chair out, broke it into several pieces and put some under the coals, which were still a faint orange, and put the rest in a pile on top. I checked it after a while and noticed the smoke had increased. About an hour later the wood was ablaze with a good flame. It didn’t take long to consume it once the fire restarted. Not too long afterward the chair was gone.
I wrote last week about the struggles I have when February rolls around. Many years have passed but the layers of hurt, anger, and uncertainty still lay buried, ready to ignite when fuel is added. What I try to do, instead of dwelling on the past, is not feed the flames. When I am aware and notice my mind drifting back to the place of pain I find a place to breathe. I close my eyes and take deep breaths. I remind myself of the truth that I cannot change the past but I can be present in the now. Does it always work? No. Does it work? Yes. Maybe one day I will be healed, maybe not, but I don’t want to give up on living today because of the difficulties of yesterday.
blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com
Posted on March 5, 2018, in Mindfulness and tagged #ablaze, #added, #air, #always, #anger, #ash, #ashes, #aware, #back, #blessings, #breaths, #broke, #buried, #burned, #cannot, #change, #checked, #close, #coals, #consume, #debris, #deep, #difficulties, #disposed, #drifting, #dwelling, #eyes, #faint, #February, #feed, #find, #flame, #flames, #forgotten, #fuel, #giveup, #healed, #hot, #hurt, #ignite, #increased, #instead, #items, #layers, #leftover, #lingered, #living, #maybe, #miscellaneous, #Myself, #needed, #notice, #noticed, #now, #pain, #passed, #past, #pieces, #pile, #place, #present, #ready, #remind, #rest, #restarted, #smell, #smoldering, #struggles, #thewannabesaint.com, #time, #today, #truth, #uncertainty, #Under, #wondered, #work, @BrianLoging, breathe, Mind. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.
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