I DO NOT KEEP A CHAIR FOR IT
"There will always be times when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it; I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate. The reason is this: In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here."
Clarissa Pinkola Estes
American Author, Poet and Psychologist
I came late to the Clarissa party, she's been around forever, and I've only been grooving with her since last summer. She is it on a stick (another Terry Whitaker expression, along with, "Not enough has been made..." and many others that I've stolen from her outright).
I've been looking for a particular mantra, one that I can use to shut out the voices on the outside of me, that threaten to drown out my inner voice. This is it, "I do not keep a chair for it." When the noise starts to deafen I am going to acknowledge it, merely observe it, and let it go back from whence it came.
I do not need to make others wrong for me to be right.
I do not need to justify/explain/correct/set the record straight.
I do not need to keep a chair for anything I don't choose to, even if it would please others a great deal if I did.
I know why I came here, I think.
I know who I serve, pretty much.
I know who sent me here, kinda.
I will hold a chair for I Think, Pretty Much, and Kinda. I've got plans for them. I will entertain them and allow them to eat from my plate, freely, until I Think, Pretty Much and Kinda grow so big and so strong THEY entertain and feed ME.
*Photo from Monty Stabler Galleries
13 comments:
I don;t think Henry Ford was a spiritual man but he was a smart man that knew how to get things done, My favorite saying of his is
" never complain and never explain".
This was related to how he handled the media but it is helpful to remember when you know you are doing the right thing for yourself and other people may not think you are. If you never comlain it's a lot easier not to have to explain yourself. All errors are mine.
Always clear the noise, listen to and trust, that little voice inside of you, that knows what is right, knows what to do. It really is there all inside of you, you just have to be still enough to hear it.
XOXOX
Not needing to make others wrong for you to be right is one hell of an accomplishment. It's a trait not many have.
And don't you just love Clarissa's "will not keep a chair for it?" How perfectly those words draw the picture!
When doubt and fear creep in, I'm going to remember this post. I will not keep a chair for them.
Brilliant.
I agree with Jerri. I also have a lovely image of your special invited chairs pulled up to the table that is Love - the core of you.
Hmmm, can I share that mantra? Brilliant.
:)
Love Clarissa. I'm gonna use that one. I'm thinking about two chairs, tonight. I keep a chair for that!
Stealing this. Thank you.
She
Echoing everyone.
Love the chair image.
I will not keep a chair for it.
The visual sooo works!
Thank you.
It reminds me of a line in A Year By the Sea
"...my own joy is my responsibility. Only I can receive it, and, likewise, only I can allow others to take it away."
And...I agree about Clarissa Pionkola Estes, and I, too, came late to the party. So thankful I didn't miss it!
Righteous! Now yer talkin' er, listnin'!
I have many thoughts that I cling on to when the going gets tough including many from the Prophet one of which is "Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love. When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, I am in the heart of God.""
I will now add your "I do not keep a chair for it" to my list. Thanks.
Can't fit anymore chairs in my house - no room no room!!
But love the idea.
okay. I am loving this post. I love that you are going to leave chairs out for those you are going to entertain and the negative, well there just isn't room. I am really inspired and really challenged.
You rock.
Period.
Post a Comment