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Double Back

Image result for freezer door top open

Double Back –

Last night, after dinner, Beth wanted a popsicle. I was getting up anyway and told her I’d get her one. I opened the top freezer door on the refrigerator and grabbed two by mistake. One fell to the floor and using the three-second rule I quickly stooped down and picked it up. Unbeknownst to me, the freezer door was swinging back and when I was two-thirds up I whacked the top back of my head on the corner of the freezer door. “OUCH!” It hurt so much I crumpled to the floor rubbing the wounded area. Beth heard me, came and looked at it and thought there would be bruising and soreness. She was right. It never occurred to me until it “hit me” that the door was doubling back. My mind was elsewhere and the freezer door brought me back to reality.

I was listening to someone describe addiction this week and they said; “It gets inside of you. You think you have a handle on it and then you begin to crave it. It comes back again and again and again.” I thought about other things which come around over and over. Grieving the loss of a loved one who has passed on, anger at being taken advantage of, bitterness at being betrayed, the pain of past memories and experiences that hurt us emotionally and physically, drug, alcohol and other addictions, friends who have negative influences on us, wounds which seem to never heal. All of these can cause us to crumple to the floor when they double back into our lives.

There is a needed balance of awareness and acceptance. Awareness is needed because perhaps we can see it coming and side-step the toll it would take on our minds and spirits. Acceptance is important because we are human, are not all-powerful, and difficult and challenging experiences are part of what makes us unique.

It is in this balance we may find wisdom and peace.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: #acceptance, #addiction, #Addictions, #againandagain, #alcohol, #anger, #area, #aware, #awareness, #balance, #betrayed, #bitterness, #blessings, #bruise, #challenging, #comearound, #comesback, #control, #crumpled, #describe, #difficult, #DoubleBack, #doublingback, #drug, #emotionally, #experiences, #friends, #grieving, #handleonit, #happens, #human, #hurt, #impact, #important, #influences, #insideofyou, #listening, #loss, #lovedone, #minds, #mistake, #neededbalance, #neverheal, #occurred, #ouch, #overandover, #pain, #pastmemories, #perhaps, #physically, #reality, #seeitcoming, #side-step, #soreness, #spirits, #surroundings, #swingingback, #takenadvantage, #thewannabesaint.com, #toll, #unique, #whacked, #wisdom, #wounded, #wounds, @BrianLoging, Negative, Peace

Taking Up Space

Jun 12

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Taking Up Space –

I have a friend who has a boss who is a pain! At least that’s how they describe him. He’s often in the staff’s way, interrupting staff’s conversations with co-workers and clients, calling last-minute meetings, forcing staff to take late, early, shortened lunches and breaks. My friend is a good employee and enjoys their job and interaction with the customers but this boss makes the job unbearable at times. I told my friend that this guy doesn’t seem easy to work for but also noticed he was creeping into other conversations and being complained about excessively. “Be careful,’ I said, ‘not to let this guy take up space in your head.”

It’s easy to let other people, things, difficulties, hardships rent a place in our noggin. These are issues we must deal with, live with and are forced to confront. However, if we aren’t careful, aware, they can begin to invade the other parts of our lives. We ruminate, stew, in our negative thoughts and this takes energy and a toll on us physically, emotionally and spiritually. Learning how to deal with problems, finding solutions that help us keep them from encroaching in unwanted areas, takes wisdom, practice and awareness.

“Keep the doors to your mind open. Let problems come and go. Do not serve them tea.”
-author unknown

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mental Health

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Tags: ##servethemtea, #aware, #awareness, #Becareful, #begin, #blessings, #boss, #comeandgo, #complained, #confront, #conversations, #creeping, #dealwith, #describe, #difficulties, #easy, #easytowork, #emotionally, #employee, #encroaching, #enjoys, #excessively, #findingsolutions, #forced, #forcing, #good, #hardships, #head, #helpuskeep, #interaction, #interrupting, #invade, #issues, #last-minute, #learning, #livewith, #meetings, #mindopen, #negativethoughts, #noggin, #noticed, #otherparts, #pain, #physically, #practice, #problems, #rentaplace, #ruminate, #spiritually, #stew, #takeupspace, #TakingUpSpace, #thewannabesaint.com, #things, #toll, #unbearable, #unwanted, #wisdom, @BrianLoging, Energy, People

Would You like to Dance?

Jun 3

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image result for slow dancing

Would You like to Dance? –

At a party at a friend’s house, one woman sat alone on the couch, her crutches beside her, watching the others dance. From across the room a man made his way to her, sat down, introduced himself and they made small talk. After a while, he asked; “Would you like to dance?” She pointed to her crutches and sighed; “Most people are worried my crutches will get in the way of their dancing.” He smiled and replied; “How about if I let you lead and I’ll move with you?”

This story was told to me a few weeks ago. I have been reflecting on it since I heard it. Most people are injured in some way; physically, emotionally or spiritually. We have crutches, not in a negative way, but in the sense that we need help to heal. However, too often, because of our hurts, habits, and hang-ups or the aids we use to walk this road of life we’re seen as a hindrance. People focus on how another’s imperfections will impact their lives.

What we need is someone who will let us lead or, if we’re the one helping, let the other lead us. We relinquish our desire to control, force someone to do it “our way” and by letting go we will find synergy and companionship.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Life

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Tags: #aids, #alone, #blessings, #companionship, #control, #crutches, #dance, #dancing, #desire, #emotionally, #focus, #force, #habits, #hang-ups, #heal, #helping, #hindrance, #hurts, #impact, #imperfections, #injured, #lettinggo, #movewithyou, #needhelp, #ourway, #physically, #pointed, #reflecting, #relinquish, #roadoflife, #spiritually, #synergy, #thewannabesaint.com, #walk, #watching, #way, #weneed, #worried, #WouldYouliketoDance, @BrianLoging, Lead, Negative

Cracked

Mar 14

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image result for cracked skin thumbs

Cracked –

My fingers have a nasty way of cracking and splitting open when I work outside during the winter in cold and dry conditions. Last week my thumb developed a big one. I had several days of work in front of me and it was becoming sorer by the moment. Finally, after arriving home from a trip yesterday, my wife “made it better.” She cleaned it with Peroxide, gently using a Q-Tip to get the dirt and grime in the crack, applied Neosporin to the affected area and then covered it with a Band-Aid to keep it protected. I repeated the procedure this afternoon and will continue until it improves.

Certain seasons of life can also wound us physically, emotionally and spiritually. We do our best to keep going but sooner or later we must pay attention to the hurt because if we don’t it will only get worse. At times others can help us heal and other times we can do it ourselves. Wisdom teaches us the important axiom; “If we can’t take care of ourselves we can’t take care of others.”

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Life

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Tags: ##continue, #affected, #applied, #area, #arriving, #axiom, #Band-Aid, #becoming, #better, #blessings, #care, #certain, #cleaned, #cold, #conditions, #covered, #Cracked, #cracking, #dirt, #dry, #during, #emotionally, #Finally, #fingers, #gently, #going, #grime, #heal, #help, #hurt, #important, #improves, #keep, #later, #life, #nasty, #Neosporin, #open, #ourselves, #outside, #payattention, #Peroxide, #physically, #procedure, #protected, #Q-Tip, #repeated, #seasons, #several, #sooner, #sorer, #spiritually, #splitting, #teaches, #thewannabesaint.com, #times, #way, #wisdom, #work, #worse, #wound, .#developed, @BrianLoging, Home, moment

Non-Action

Jan 15

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Non-Action–

Today was busy! I know for some it was a holiday but my schedule was stuffed! The day started early and it felt like a sprint to the end of it. I don’t mind busy days most of the time because it keeps the time moving and there’s no boredom to fight off.

On the other hand, my wife had a holiday. Today is Martin Luther King day and she was able to sleep in, keep her PJs on and enjoy a wonderful day of doing nothing, purposefully. She’s been incredibly busy since November of last year and a day home, without me!, and zilch on her schedule was what she needed.

There is a thin line between balancing a healthy life or action and inaction. Our chaotic world and its need for non-stop entertainment, to-do lists, places to go, things to experience, can set a pace where eventually we burn out, fall apart, or both. We need to know when to stop, take our foot off the gas and be still; not just emotionally and mentally but physically.

Knowing, sensing, its time for a break, a rest, a lazy day is an important sense to develop and put into practice.

blessings,
BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mindfulness

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Tags: #able, #action, #Balancing, #bestill, #between, #blessings, #boredom, #break, #burnout, #busy, #chaotic, #day, #days, #develop, #doing, #early, #emotionally, #end, #enjoy, #eventually, #experience, #fallapart, #fight, #gas, #healthy, #important, #inaction, #incredibly, #King, #knowing, #lazy, #life, #lists, #Luther, #Martin, #martinlutherkingday, #mentally, #MLK, #moving, #need, #needed, #Non-Action, #non-stop, #nothing, #November, #otherhand, #pace, #physically, #practice, #purposefully, #rest, #schedule, #sense, #sensing, #sleep, #sprint, #started, #stop, #stuffed, #thinline, #time, #to-do, #today, #wonderful, #year, #zilch, entertainment, Holiday, Home, Mind, World

Watching

Dec 12

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Watching –

Last night Beth boiled tea and I prepared it to be put it in the refrigerator. I had to remove a pitcher half filled to put the full one with tea on the back part of the shelf. I’m still not sure what happened but when I put the half-filled container back in it didn’t sit fully on the shelf. As soon as I let go the pitcher I watched it fall and spilled its contents under the fridge and all over the kitchen floor. To say I was frustrated would be an understatement. This morning, the wind was blowing quite hard and I went to get a sheet we’d hung up outside. I grabbed it and began folding it as I went inside. I wasn’t watching where I was going and stubbed my toes on a big rock! They’ve been sore all day.

I told Beth last night my brain was tired. I confirmed it with these two incidents and others. It’s been tough focusing on reading or even watching TV. My brain feels as if it’s in a fog. Grief, stress, trauma, life’s challenges can sap us physically, mentally and spiritually. We must be careful to take the time needed to recharge, replenish and renew or suffer the spills and stumbling along the way.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Life

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Tags: ##brain, #along, #blessings, #blowing, #careful, #challenges, #confirmed, #container, #fall, #feels, #focusing, #fog, #frustrated, #full, #fully, #grabbed, #grief, #half-filled, #happened, #hard, #incidents, #inside, #letgo, #lifes, #mentally, #needed, #night, #outside, #physically, #pitcher, #prepared, #recharge, #remove, #renew, #replenish, #sap, #sore, #spilling, #spills, #spiritually, #stress, #stumbling, #suffer, #thewannabesaint.com, #time, #tired, #tough, #trauma, #Twitter, #understatement, #watched, #watching, #way, #wind

Worn

Jul 29

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image result for bungee net

Worn –

Last night Beth and I went to Madison, Tennessee to pick up a few items from friends who are having a garage sale this weekend. I always keep a bungee net in the truck bed for when items are placed in the bed and need to be held securely.

Once everything was situated I grabbed the bungee net, hooked it to one side, threw it over to the other and walked around to the other side to set the hooks in place. However, when I pulled the net tight it broke in my hand. Figuring it was just a weak spot worn out by time, weather and use I grabbed another piece and it did the same thing. The net, which I bought several years ago had begun to break down and though I was able to finally find enough strong places, to hook it to the truck, it is time to buy a new one.

On the long drive home I thought about the net and how we too can become worn out physically, emotionally and spiritually. We long to be a source of security and strength to others but seasons of use and stress have taken their toll. Giving up, hopefully, isn’t an option, but as we get older, become more self-aware, we know where our strengths are and the weak places. With this wisdom, we are better able to be a source of security and strength to others and discover we are still capable of being used to help others feel and be secure on the road of life.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Life

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Tags: #discover, #emotionally, #givingup, #held, #inplace, #older, #physically, #safe, #seasons, #secure, #spiritually, #strong, #weak

Fires Together, Wires Together

Apr 13

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

This interesting picture and intriguing quote was in my Facebook feed this morning. It caught my attention in part because I’ve been studying Epigenetics. It’s the study of how trauma impacts people and generations following.

One of the experiments used to prove this area of science involved shocking a female rat with electricity when a certain odor was emitted. After a while the rat, even though there was no shock, still reacted when she smelled the specific odor. What’s even more compelling is the rat’s babies and the baby’s babies also reacted negatively even though the second and third generation of rats had never been shocked with electricity when the odor was emitted.

Epigenetics proposes that the genes of the rats have been altered, changed due to the trauma of the original female rat and these genes have been passed down to preceding generations.

“Neurons that fire together wire together” is another phrase used by brain scientists which deal with nerve pathways. The more often we do something, or have something done to us, the more used to certain behaviors and environments we are mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. In other words it becomes our definition of normal, our reality. It is only when we are able to learn new ways of thinking, being, can we change our personal and family’s destiny. To consider that the choices for our lives impact the immediate now and our, other’s, future the more important it is to be sure our decisions are filled with wisdom and grace.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mental Health

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Tags: ##brain, #behaviors, #being, #choices, #decisions, #definition, #destiny, #emotionally, #environments, #epigenetics, #Future, #grace, #impact, #learn, #lives, #mentally, #nerve, #Neurons, #normal, #pathways, #physically, #reality, #scientists, #spiritually, #thinking, #wisdom

TheWannabeSaint.com

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Blog Archives

Double Back

Taking Up Space

Would You like to Dance?

Cracked

Non-Action

Watching

Worn

Fires Together, Wires Together

Brian Loging, OSBO

@BrianLoging

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…..a place for sojourners on this spiritual path called life

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Brian Loging, OSBO

@BrianLoging

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