Unexpected Day

Isn't it funny how some days just smack you in the face? Sometimes good, sometimes bad but always unexpected.

As you might guess from the title, today has been that kind of day. A good friend of mine invited me on a course. This friend has been attending a 'night class' on meditation; learning how to meditate, how to relax, breathing techniques etc. So when he invited me and a couple of friends along to a one day workshop I thought that is what we would be doing. 

What we actually did was write. And it was fantastic!

I have been doing prayer/meditation/ spitritual journey excercises for at least 10 years now if not longer, and I know that you ALWAYS get something from the time you put in. However, I have never been to a secular course before. Previously courses and workshops have been within the framework of organised religion so I was curious to see how different a secular course would be.

The answer was - no different at all except that the word God was replaced with higher power, or creator, or higher self. It seemed to me to be a lot of pussy footing around the word; trying to say God without frightening people away. I am all for bringing people closer to God and if that must be done without using the word, then as far as I am concerned that is all to the good. It is just a little bit sad that people see God in such a negative light; a product, no doubt of years of bad theology, consistently negative press and a vague feeling that belief in God is somehow weak or hypocritical in someway.

I got an awful lot out of the day, much of which is too private to share here. It is enough to say my dissatisfaction with the education system is entirely justified. As well as writing (uninterupted for an hour) and battling negative thinking, we had a lovely lunch, played hopscotch, laughed and grew together as a group of friends. After some revelations about the sources of our negative thinking we were encouraged to do three things which I would like to share here, just in case anyone might one day find them useful.

1) Write a positive statement about who you are. NOT who you would like to be but who you are now, in the present moment. And then write it out agan 20 times.
2) Journal everyday. In the morning or at a time of day when you are at your best, sit down with a blank journal and write. Write anything that comes into your head - a stream of conciousness and eventually it will change you. People of faith call this prayer but the label is unimportant.
3)Once a week you need to take yourself on a date. Just yourself. Not with a partner, child or friend. Even walking the dog does not count. Just you. A treat that is just for you doing something that brings you joy, for no other reason than it brings you joy.

That is why we played hopscotch.

And when we got home we ate good food and played kerbie something I haven't sone since I was a little girl.

So why did I not expect any of this? I don't know is the short answer. Because I haven't learned maybe? even after ten years I still forget that time put into yourself is time that will always be repaid. So I am off to write my list of twenty