INSIGHT OUT
GOD Did NOT Invent HURRY
The Finnish have a saying:
“GOD DID NOT INVENT HURRY.”
My Poppa was Finnish, so I joke that I was half Finnish before I was started.
However the part of me that isn’t, keeps rushing to get it all done!
When my kids were little there was always a long list of things to do before I could get to the things I WANTED to do.
That’s why I developed time-saving devices, like my idea of matching socks, which was:
“ONE ON EACH FOOT!” (Mothers will understand that means, “Who cares if they match!”)
Do you ever get out from under the pressure?
Now that my kids are grown, I can assure you that there IS life after kids.
It isn’t fast or easy, but like any good thing, it’s worth waiting for.
WHAT CAN YOU DO IN THE MEANTIME?
SLOW DOWN
TAKE THE LONG VIEW
GET HELP FROM OTHERS
LET PEOPLE MAKE MISTAKES
YOUR PERFECTION IS NOT REQUIRED (Progress, not Perfection!)
EVERYTHING TAKES LONGER THAN YOU THINK IT WILL . . . and
TWO WEEKS AFTER YOU ARE DEAD YOUR HOUSE WILL NEED CLEANING AGAIN!
SO . . .
TAKE PEACE NOW and REALIZE …
HOW AMAZING YOU ARE. . . THAT YOU CAN DO ANYTHING AT ALL!
MY HURRICANE WEEK
October brought a hurricane to Florida that year. . .
And there was one in MY LIFE, too. Everything collided.
Taxes were due! Kids got sick. Important ‘fun’ social events were scheduled. An irrevocable appointment was approaching.
OMG. ALL IN THE SAME WEEK! I was racing to get it all done. Even the fun stuff wasn’t fun.
How was I to make it through?
ONE:
Stop. Breathe. Pray.
Remember:
TWO:
Observe myself.
Are your shoulders tight? Do your arms ache? Can you manage to STOP long enough to FOCUS? RELAX and remember it’s the nature of life to swing from pairs of opposites, from happy to sad, peaceful to chaotic, etc., etc.
The only way to get through it is to get above it, and not get sucked in by the drama below.
THREE:
Take these steps to stay balanced in Body, Mind and Emotions:
BODY: Pay attention to your body’s needs. FEEL yourself. Are you tired? Dehydrated? When your body is worn out, you need to recharge your batteries.
MIND: Slow down. WATCH your mind. Learn to meditate. Meditation helps you quiet your mind and make you more aware of what you are actually feeling in your body, thinking in your mind and feeling in your emotions. And remember what you’ve been forgetting.
EMOTION: Are you full of love, joy and peace? Or anger, frustration and resentment? What things have gotten in the way of being the person you want to be? Examine your heart to face what you are feeling. Then reach out to someone you trust.
FOUR:
Communicate Your Needs
There is wisdom in reaching out for help.
We all need each other.
Watch this video.
NO WAY TO STAY CLEAN
No way to stay clean…
Why is it that you can’t get something clean without getting dirty in the process?
The biggest slob I know won’t touch anything filthy or yucky. No way.
“EWE! I’m not getting near THAT!”
So the result is, that the mess sits. And sits. And sits.
But of course, they are not parents – yet.
Imagine if we just let the baby sit in their poop forever.
The baby would die.
There’s no way around it:
In order to get rid of something bad you must get in there and face the awful truth.
No matter how bad it smells.
Yep. We can’t let the baby die, so we face the poop.
I think God invented babies so we would learn to finally grow up.
And dealing with the poop in our little ones, we begin to see who we really are.
How mean and selfish we are only thinking of ourselves all the time.
And in the process something wonderful happens.
We begin becoming people who do truly care about others.
ALL CLEAN NOW!
Once our little ones are clean and neat again, they’re so beautiful. And sweet. And lovable.
Even though you know they will get dirty again.
We can forgive them for that. They can’t help themselves.
Were we ever so precious? We were. And still are. Underneath it all.
You’re still cleanable!
So don’t give up.
YOU ARE FORGIVABLE, TOO!
When I first imagined I wanted kids, way back in 1970 B.C. (Before Children) I pondered what I would tell my (future) kids if they ever screwed up so royally they were afraid to come home!
Then I wrote this song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxu8Lgu_to4&feature=youtu.be
When my seven kids were grown I finally recorded it.
Some things take time to happen overnight.
And I still feel the same about my kids.
Naughty or good, I love them.
It’s OK. I’m you, too.
HOW TO BE HAPPY
There’s a way to be happy, and YOU’RE IN CHARGE! Enjoy these insightful tips from Ruthie, gleaned from the fields of true life!
DRAGGING A DEAD WEIGHT?
I had a dream about a man with a foot that had been stepped on. The foot had basically died. But he kept dragging it along with him everywhere he went, dismissing it. It hurt badly, but he had ignored it for so long that pretty soon it didn’t seem to bother him anymore. But it was still with him, and when people would notice that he walked funny he’d say, “Oh that? It’s nothing! It doesn’t hurt.” But it DID hurt, and kept him from getting very far.
My ‘dead foot’ consisted of all the false beliefs about myself from the pains I suffered as a child. That I wasn’t good enough, or smart enough or deserving of the good stuff other people had. That it was my job to keep going when I was hurting, endure it and help everyone else, even though underneath, the real cry of my heart was, “Who’s going to help me?”
Is there an injured or dead part you’ve been carrying around with you?
It’s no use pretending it’s not there. It’s obvious. Everyone else can already see it, so you may as well admit it.
Do you ever feel like a flower, surrounded by weeds? Have they had a stranglehold on your progress, keeping you from getting anywhere?
Your life may have been so intertwined with people and things that robbed you of your energy, that pretty soon you began to think, “I guess this is who I am.” But inside of you, there is a flower. When you find the strength to extract yourself from the lies you believed about yourself that others told you, you will be able to see it, too. You are the flower. Not the weeds.
When I finally got free of my ‘dead foot’ of false beliefs, I asked myself, “Why did it take so long?”
It was because it was what I was used to.
Rene Descartes said, “I think, therefore I AM”.
Back then I would have said, “I hurt, therefore I exist.”
But most of all, I had never met anyone else who had been in my shoes and found a way out.
Then I met Stacy Brookman.
Stacy showed me how a person can go to hell and back and use all that manure that had been dumped on her to THRIVE. And she did it by WRITING IT OUT.
What about you? Are you ready to get free?
As a Resilience and Life Storytelling Expert, Stacy opened the door for me to heal, grow, and blossom. Sometimes all you need is a good gardener for the soil of your soul – to help you dig in and pull out the weeds that keep you from flowering into your true beauty. Thank you, Stacy. I am eternally grateful to you.
Find out more at StacyBrookman.com
Are YOU stuck at the “BUT”Stop?
Struggling to get somewhere in life? Or tried to help somebody who WON’T be helped? No matter how great your advice is, they reply “BUT, this”, or “BUT, that.” Get the details and get unstuck. You are not alone! Laugh, cry and learn as Ruth Elliott-Hilsdon shares her wit, wisdom and bad drawings to get you farther down the road.
Get the details and get unstuck. Watch and share with others!
Schedule a breakthrough session here: https://calendly.com/gomommygo/breakthrough
PASS IT ON
This beautiful song was written by my wonderful husband, Jas Hilsdon. He said this about it:
“From early 1976, when I was wandering in a wilderness called Life, in search of a wilderness called Love, I am reminded of this little gem that, after all these years I fully confess is not sung well, but contains lyrics that have come to mean more to me than they did when I wrote them, wherever they came from. Please enjoy. And if you like it, pass it on.”
PASS IT ON
LOVE IS ONLY IN YOUR HEART
THOUGH IT MAY BE HARD TO SPOT
IT WILL NEVER GO AWAY
LOVE IS IN YOUR HEART TO STAY
AND IT’S VERY GOOD TO KNOW
YOU CAN TAKE IT WITH YOU
WHEREVER YOU GO
THERE ARE THOSE WHO TRULY SEE
HOW TO TURN THE SECRET KEY
AND UNLOCK THE GOLDEN DOOR
TO THEIR HEARTS FOREVER MORE
AND EACH DAY AS YOU BECOME
VERY SURE, THEN PASS IT ON
PASS IT ON AND LET IT GO THRU
GIVE IT AWAY, IT’S GIVEN TO YOU
PASS IT ALONG AND SEND IT AROUND
LET IT POUR UP, AND LET IT FLOW DOWN
ALL AROUND___ YOU
(Instrumental Break)
___________________________
LOVE IS OLD, LOVE IS NEW
THOUGH IT MAY BE HARD TO DO
IT WILL ALWAYS BE AROUND
LOVE WAS MADE TO BE FOUND
IT CAN EASILY COME THRU YOU
AND NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE
IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU
LOVERS COME AND LOVERS GO
AND IT’S VERY GOOD TO KNOW
THAT A HEART THAT’S TRULY FREE
GIVES OFF LOVE ENDLESSLY
AND AT LAST WHEN YOU’VE BECOME
VERY SURE, THEN PASS IT ON
PASS IT ON AND LET IT GO THRU
GIVE IT AWAY, IT’S GIVEN TO YOU
PASS IT ALONG AND SEND IT AROUND
LET IT POUR UP, AND LET IT FLOW DOWN
ALL AROUND___ YOU
Written January 1976
PEARLS © Copyright Jas Hilsdon, 2010
STOP! Before you do something you’ll REGRET!
If we want to teach our children peace, we need to demonstrate peace.
They learn by your example more than anything else.
It’s more caught than taught.
So BE the change you wish to see in the world.
STOP worrying about what other people are doing that makes you angry and upset.
Hold onto YOURSELF.
Use the acronym, ‘STOP’ to remind you what to do:
S stands for Stop
T stands for Think
O stands for Open your heart, and
P stands for Pray.
Stop, Think, Open your heart, and Pray.
This reminds all of your centers what to do to get back into control.
Stopping is physical
Thinking is mental
Opening Your heart is emotional and
Praying is spiritual.
Remember that the next time you’re about to overreact.
It will stop you from doing or saying something you’ll regret.