Thursday, February 2, 2012

High | a post about resistance

"In the field of the Self stand the knight and the dragon.  You are the knight.  Resistance is the dragon.  ~  Steven Pressfield, Do The Work

I love you.  I love me.  I love everything and everyone and every moment of this endorphin high.  High, high, high...such a nice change from the dark, winter-y low-oh-oh's of a few days ago.

I'm loving this high so much that it makes me want to share my stuff.   This morning it's images from my photowalk and my personal truths.  Are you ready?  Here we go!

Early Bird/Instagram/02.02.12/Chiqui Pineda
Personal Truth#1:  It is real.  It is as real as the letters and pictures in front of you and me.  It is this thing called Resistance.   It's that very thing that keeps us away from doing/being with/experiencing that which we Love.  Be it a Dream, a Relationship, A Weight Goal.  Its names are fear, evil, The Devil, depression, oppression/victimization, boredom/sadness/loneliness.  There’s more.  These are just the common ones.  I battle with it daily.

Personal Truth #2:  It can never ever be extinguished, erased, removed, banished for good.  The most one can do is…

Broken Tree/Instagram/02.02.12/Chiqui Pineda
Personal Truth #3:  Look It squarely in the face (mine looks like my high school religion teacher, let's call her Sister Callie who told me in so many words at the Stella Maris Academy of Davao that only the holy and the perfect will go to heaven which, of course, I am neither and where's heaven again?), get to know It and all Its nuances such as my all time fave: rewinding past mistakes, emotional eating, “so much to do so little time/money/space/etc.” syndrome, dramatic episodes with loved ones.  And after doing all that, move in this world with It knowing that...

Personal Truth #4:  There are powerful solutions to quiet/appease/shush or put all our versions of Sister C. to sleep.  No, it isn't and will never be in a tub of President’s Choice Cookie Dough like I once swore it was.  It is in My 10 Favorite Antidotes which I’m going to share with you.  Because I love me.  And you.  And everything and everyone and every moment of this endorphin high.

My 10 Favorite Slay-The-Dragon antidotes to Resistance:

#1:  Connectivity!  With Self first.  Then with others.  
This is why I love and swear by my daily morning pages.  It grounds me.  It quiets the monkey mind.  It gently puts me into gear and varrrrroom myself into my busy day of 99things and then some.  I then connect via my pics: iShake, Instagram, Canon Powershot, to the moment then connect via FB, email, Viber with family and friends.  Connect, with Self FIRST.  Then others.

Frozen Lake-ish/Instagram/02.02.12/Chiqui Pineda
#2:  Walks!  Not the “I gotta do this/burn that much/get the numbers in…” kind but rather the “Ooh...ahhh…look at that bird/cloud formation/sunset…” version.  Happy walks sweep the cobwebs out of my over-crowded mind, calms my frayed nerves, gets me away from the busy-making life and social networks and the NegaStars* (including myself!) that come with it.

#3:  Blogging!  Which, really, is part of #1 but with a brave twist to it because it entails vulnerability = courage = shut up, Sister Calixta!  It’s so much fun for me to put one’s thoughts and show one’s underbelly in all its glory (and muckiness) to the world.  I must qualify that: It's so much fun to see the results of my putting it out there...because it gives others a chance to get to know me and me them.  

#4:  Zzzzzz’s!  Obvious, simple, yet too easy especially for busy moms to forget.  Power naps, quick mid-day breaks, stop spinning.  All timed with one’s personal...
#5:  Timer.  Time it.  Time it all.  As I edit this, my oven is beeping.  A simple yet very powerful tool to fight the dragon of Resistance.  I use my phone’s alarm clock for my 10 minute morning pages and my oven’s timer for chores.  I know my coach Julie uses a red egg timer when doing emails online.  BFF Allison, too.  However you time it is up to you as long as you do it.  And another must-do...

#6:  Sex.  There.  I said it.  I imagine my mom’s eyes just bugged at number sex, I mean, six!  :)  But it has to be said if I am doing my Truth*full Thursday.  Sex with one’s spouse, partner, with oneself!  It’s such a huge part of a healthy adult's power source.  Good, healthy, responsible sex counts for most of a person’s good mood or lack of it. And moving on….(Mamay, you can close your mouth now.  LOL)
Dinner.Day2/Instagram/02.02.12/Chiqui Pineda
#7:Healthy food choices!  I find it hard to think happy, powerful thoughts when I'm full of unhealthy food.  So, I have enlisted my iPhone’s Instagram to be my quiet witness to this challenge I’ve posed for myself and for others who’d like a fun and creative way to awareness in eating.  I call it my FB Pic Your Food Project, an old idea from my friend Sylvie who first shared this with me before the holidays.

#8:  Fail faster.  Ooooh, this one took a long time to sink in.  I’m a dweller.  I review.  Take stock.  Rehash.  I loop-dee-loop the incident until I’ve totally figured out the ins and outs of the mishap.  New flash:  Sometimes, there's just no figuring out the mistake.  Momentum is a precious thing.  Now I’ve learned (and am continuing to learn) how to fail gracefully.  Fast.  And move on.  It does help to yell “Next!” at the top of one’s lungs, too.  And..."Next!" ;)

#9:  JDI.  Nike got it and got it good.  Just do it already.  Enough research, preparation, warming up or checking what others think, say, are suggesting or doing on Facebook.  One of my mentors even says this:  Begin before you’re ready.  There's a more poetic version of this: Leap and then net will appear.

And finally...courageously, gracefully and loving ~

10:  Share!  Which loops back to #1 with a goddess-bless benevolence as one can only share from what she has after she actually has it. 

When I have it, I can’t help but share with you because…

I love me.  And I love you.  And everyone, everything and every moment of this endorphin high.  And beyond.  As long as I can keep Sister Callie sound asleep in her corner of my mind.

On to fighting the good fight, my brave knight!




Courage in Creativity,
A Brrrr-y Cold Walk/Instagram/02.02.12/Chiqui Pineda
Chiqui





High Ideas inspired by my favorite authors, Steven Pressfield (Do The Work, The War of Art) and Brenda Ueland (If You Want To Write).
  

*NegaStars = Negative Drama Kings and Queens.  Thank you, my quotable mama JD.

*I just edited the title.  Didn't want to mislead anybody into thinking I was talking about illegal substances. :)

2 comments :

  1. Replies
    1. Who? What? Where??? Heehee! Thanks, Sisa-ter. Grateful for you in my loonie-tune life!

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