Polishing My Heart
Some things are about the process for me. How I am engaged in the activity matters more than the outcome, knitting is like that for me. I will happily knit whatever is in front of me then unravel it or give it away. It is the act itself that matters the most. This challenge has been like that for me. It has also been an unexpected gift.
I started out doing this challenge to give myself a break from negativity from other people. Along the way I learned about quite a little bit about negativity and myself. I have been polishing my heart with determination and diligence. I didn’t know that’s what I was doing until last night. I was just putting one foot in front of the other and doing what seemed right. I was making it up as I went along. Then last night and again this morning I kept hearing the phrase, “I’m polishing my heart.”
If you’ve ever cleaned and polished an old mirror you know what I’m talking about. First you remove all the grime and dust that completes covers the mirror. That’s what I’ve been doing by removing negativity from myself and my life. Then you polish the mirror, rubbing it over and over until you can see yourself in it and it sparkles. One of my dining room walls is a mirror to make a small space seem bigger and there are mirrors in all the rooms of my home because I like how they reflect the light. I have stained glass art for the same reason. It is always satisfying to clean and polish the mirrors.
“Everyone sees the Unseen in proportion to the clarity of his heart, and that depends upon how much he has polished it. Whoever has polished it more sees more–more Unseen forms become manifest to him.” –Rumi. Sufism says that there are two ways of polishing your heart. You polish your heart by remembering the Divine through out the day and by removing obstacles to the Divine. I’m reasonably certain that negativity would constitute an obstacle to the Divine. I may be wrong but I don’t think so. If I am I’m not far off the mark.
Negativity is not completely absent from my life because I live in the world and I am a human being. Today was no exception. I pitched a little fit when Revel told me that he invited someone who is usually openly hostile and misogynistic paddle with us. He let me rant and rave then promised that he would make sure that it didn’t happen today. He told me that our buddy just got out of rehab and maybe I could give the guy a break. So, I did. I set some limits and chose to drive myself then let it go. Revel kept his word and I had a wonderful day. In fact, I paddled better than I ever have in a kayak. I finally (yee haw, baby) side surfed in a kayak. It‘s the one thing I loved doing in a canoe but have been timid about doing in a kayak. I was beside myself with that success. When we got ready to go home, Revel gave me a hug and teased me a bit, “See Deb, when you’re not negative, good things happen.” I know that he was being a little bit facetious but he made a good point.
The Divine is reflected in the unexpected kindness that you allow yourself to give and receive and good things do in fact happen in the absence of negativity. So, here I am with 19 days to go. I’m polishing my heart so that God will be reflected in my life. It is worth the effort and I am very grateful. Can I get an amen.
thank you so much Lisa, that helps a lot. I know he tried to blame me for so much stuff, but like I told all of his family and mine none of that added up to a divorce. I do realize it's his needs, it just hurts so bad to think how many years he's
How funny....i only very recently (within last week) read the coconut oil articles on the web. (100 uses, 80 uses etc.) so i bouht some and ordered some from amazon. (Im a stockpiler.)
Have started trying some of the uses. I tried using it a
Amen Sista!