Tag Archives: Three Truths and One Wish

One Truth and Three Wishes

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I know, it’s backwards: One Truth and Three Wishes. That’s not typically how this works. It’s supposed to be the other way around, three truths and one wish, but there is only one thing that I know for sure today, one thing I can be certain of, and the rest is wishes.
decembersky03

One Truth: I am tired. I know I say this a lot, but this is different. This is deep in my bones, head to toe, all the way down, all the way in and all over, every part of me depleted: body, heart, mind, spirit. I want to put clean sheets on the bed, clean pjs on my body, turn off the ringer on the phone, shut down my computer, and do nothing but sleep and eat and snuggle with my dogs for days, and if I have any energy at all, that will be for walking and reading. It sounds so dreamy.

It has something to do with the time of year, the end of a teaching semester, the ramp up to the holidays, the lack of light, the cold, everything turning brown and gray, dry and brittle, the promise of snow, a long season of goodbying with Dexter, the coming of a new year, the reflecting and planning and reverbing and emerging. I want to hibernate, to sleep, to rest. I am tired.

Then early today I read a poem from John O’Donohue, and it touched into what I was wishing, longing for, craving–for you kind and gentle reader, for me, for everyone. So here it is, broken down into three wishes.
threewishes

1. Wish: “May all that is unforgiven in you be released.” Wouldn’t it be wonderful to walk into the new year unburdened by old grudges, ancient angers, bitter resentments, those old stories about unfairness, betrayal and hurt? Holding on to them, feeding them, keeping them warm and alive has only generated more suffering. I would be much lighter, much happier if I could let these go, surrender them to the wind.

2. Wish: “May your fears yield their deepest tranquilities.” I can also imagine the great relief I would feel if my fears softened, if panic and tension were to ease, if I could surrender to what is, sink into the comfort of reality with an open heart, have confidence in my natural, fundamental wisdom and compassion. I am wishing for this.

3. Wish: “May all that is unlived in you blossom into a future graced with love.” This one especially. I keep reading the line, over and over, feeling every part of me say “yes, please.”

To Come Home To Yourself
May all that is unforgiven in you
Be released.
May your fears yield
their deepest tranquilities.
May all that is unlived in you
Blossom into a future
Graced with love.
~John O’Donohue

Three Truths and One Wish

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keepgoing A warning for you, kind and gentle reader: this post is completely and utterly unplanned. When I realized this morning that it was Tuesday, but that I also was two days behind on Reverb12, I thought there was no way this post was going to happen. I had no idea what I wanted to say (this is pretty typical) and Eric walked the dogs for me this morning, so that strategy for coming up with something wasn’t going to happen, and I wrote off this post. And then, just a little while ago, thinking about maybe starting to work on my second reverb post, my fingers started itching to tell some truth, so here we are…who knows what’s going to happen.

1. Truth: Waiting for your life to happen, for the magic to work itself, for your fairy godmother to arrive and fix everything is a bad plan. Your invitation isn’t in the mail, an owl isn’t going to show up to take you to Hogwarts, you don’t need another degree or a fancy set of letters after your name, you shouldn’t wait until you’ve lost 10 pounds or have more money or time. If you are waiting for something to happen, stop waiting and happen.

2. Truth: Resisting, refusing, or even running away from the thing you know you want, the work you long for, the experience you dream of, the life you’ve always wanted generates suffering. That suffering grows in equal measure to your denial, your rejection. That hunger will demand to be fed by something, that longing will find satisfaction somehow, and as Brene’ Brown says, “Unused creativity is not benign. It turns into grief, judgement and shame.” Unexpressed love becomes toxic, turns to poison.

3. Truth: You can start now, you should. There is nothing else you need to wait for, nothing can stop you from taking that first step. The obstacles have no real power, you may begin, you can start now, start over now, take one tiny step. If you need permission, here it is: Go ahead. This is who you are meant to be. You know what to do. Deep breath and go.

One wish: That you know, from this moment on, that what Tulku Thondop says is true, “Every person has a unique view, need, and ability,” and you realize that because this is true, the world needs you, we need you to manifest your ability, embody your unique view, the world needs you to open your heart and give your gift. If you don’t, it will be lost to us forever. Do what you came here to do. We are all counting on it.