the word RESILIENCE has cropped up a number of times for me this week. Manhattan Arts posted a call to art about resilience. Friends used the word. I thought about it, read about it in a few places and decided to write about it. I noticed right away words that begin with RE are primarily about doing something over again. The world silence with an extra I is resilience. I cant wait to paint that abstractly!!!
When I sit in silence , I am quiet and mindfully let my senses take over. I feel the chair cushion against the back of my legs. I hear the clock ticking and the sound of the fan moving as it recirculates the air. I feel the cool of the air as it softly touches my skin and makes unbridled wisps of my hair blow gently away from it. I can smell the banana bread baking. I know how delicious it is going to taste. My eyes are closed. They rest while other senses step forward to provide stimuli and information with heightened awareness.
These are all examples of mindfulness. At times, I may hear my thoughts. I hear them, but I let them float out of my mind as quickly as they entered. A study from Cleveland Clinic suggests the average person has 60,000 thoughts daily. It also suggested 95% repeat daily and most of them are negative. Many studies estimated closer to 6,000. My main point is that not all our thoughts are true nor are they positive.
I think a lot about positive thinking and work very hard to block negative thought, and REFRAME them in ways that will support my positive self care and image. My goal is to eliminate worry, fear, self doubt and general negativity.
RESILIENCE is actually encoded in the Old Testament. I found a podcast entitled Hashkivenu. It speaks to spiritual and practical focusing. It also supports living well, wholly and purposefully despite grief, challenges and disappointments. I consider it a synchronistic gift to have found this site and look forward to engaging with it more.
I found this definition of resilience on www.vitalworklife.com. " Resilience is made up of five pilars : self awareness, mindfulness, self care, positive relationships and purpose. " Over the next days and weeks I will RESEARCH, soul search and put together blogs on each of these pilars. i will also relate to each using 5 of the 7 Chakras.
Stay tuned and together we can give inner peace a chance.