WIRE CUTTERS

“Dream,” he said.

 

“Dream of the life

and

work

you know is in you.”

 

“I do” I replied.

“I do

and

when the picture starts

to become clear,

I think of

the money,

the time,

the expertise

needed

as

chain linked, barb-wired topped

fences

keeping it all out of reach.

And I cannot imagine the first step.”

 

“Ah” he smiles.

“Perhaps the first step

is to buy some wire cutters!”

 

Then, I realized.

 

The fence,

like the dream,

was my creation.

 

The only thing

really standing between

me

and

moving forward

was my own

mind.

 

My own mind,

thinking

the dream had to be completely

realized,

bought and paid for,

before I could take

a first step.

 

Excuse me

while I go buy some

industrial wire cutters.

DEMONS UPON WAKING

When I wake,

demons are ready

to start talking.

 

Demons of

to-do lists,

unfinished conversations,

body image consultations,

character assassinations.

 

Apparently, they have had

a good night’s sleep

and

two cups of espresso.

 

And when I join in,

when I join in,

my heart revs up,

my anxiety rises,

and I’m either

off to the rat races

or

pulling the covers over my head,

pouring another

shot into their cup.

 

The effort needed to quiet them

now

is tremendous.

 

Overwhelming.

 

How do I beat the demons

when I’ve set them up with their

own barista and espresso machine?

 

After long years of experimentation,

here is what I’ve found:

Morning demons love an unstructured playground.

 

So immediately upon waking,

I put my feet on the floor.

I stand up

and

head toward the bedroom door.

There is coffee to be made,

gratitudes to be said,

movement and meditation.

 

And the demons?

 

The demons get distracted

by this series of focused actions.

Their tongues get tied

as they try to speak their lies.

and they are the ones

who go back to bed.  

RISING HIGH

Your

openness,

attitude,

energy,

infect

everything

and

everyone

around you.

 

So your self-awareness

becomes

more and more

critical

with greater responsibility.

 

The higher you rise,

the more you must

care,

show up,

do the work.

 

Every. Single Day.