{"id":4525,"date":"2014-11-07T11:07:32","date_gmt":"2014-11-07T16:07:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/?p=4525"},"modified":"2014-11-07T11:07:32","modified_gmt":"2014-11-07T16:07:32","slug":"what-are-you-feeding-fear-or-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/life-in-my-50s\/what-are-you-feeding-fear-or-joy\/","title":{"rendered":"What are you feeding \u2013 fear or joy?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I originally wrote this post in January, but I came across it this morning when I was looking for something else. It was exactly what I needed to hear today, so now you have to hear it again too. Who knows? Maybe someone else out there needs to hear it today as well. Here you go…<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been ruminating on this topic \u2014 What are you feeding? \u2014 for a while in my private time because I think it\u2019s a pretty big deal. If we feed our fears, if we feed our anxiety, if we feed relationships with people who don\u2019t really care about us or, even worse, make us feel \u201cless than,\u201d we throw a spark on the dead leaves lying around on our spiritual doorstep. Eventually it becomes a raging forest fire of self-doubt or unhappiness and, if we\u2019re not careful, it will siphon off all the energy that should be feeding the good things in our lives.<\/p>\n

So as I was driving to yoga class this morning at 5:15 a.m. (Update: haven’t been to yoga in months now), energized by the cold air and cheered by the twinkling lights that still decorate many front porches and trees in our town (Thank you, whoever you are!), I was writing the headline for this post. Because that\u2019s what I do, even when I\u2019m driving, even when I\u2019m showering, even I\u2019cleaning bathrooms or raking leaves. I write. It doesn\u2019t always end up here or anywhere, for that matter, but I write almost non-stop in my head.<\/p>\n

And so I walked into yoga class knowing that I would come home and write a post titled \u201cWhat are you feeding?\u201d and I had already planned to use that graphic up there, the one that says, \u201cPlease do not feed the fears.\u201d<\/p>\n

I sat down on my mat in the dark and quiet yoga studio and entered into that silent sacred space that exists wherever we want to find it, if we\u2019re willing, even at the YMCA, and I waited for class to begin. And then this is what my yoga teacher read to start our practice:<\/p>\n

Listen. Love laughs
\nat fear. Can you hear it?
\nAnd fear fades in the face
\nof laughter. Let nothing
\ndistract you from the fact
\nthat fear will grow if you
\nfeed it, and shrink when
\nyou pay it no heed. There.
\nSee? Fear disappears, and
\nleaves love laughing.\u2014 From \u201cOne Soul\u201d by Danna Faulds<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

By the time she got halfway through that poem, I was smiling on the inside. By the time she got to the end of that poem, I was smiling on the outside. How did she get inside my head this morning? Not sure, but I\u2019m glad she did.<\/p>\n

At the end of class, I went up to my teacher and asked if I could have a copy of what she read and she said something like this (might not be exact but close enough), \u201cI was sitting in my car this morning picking out this poem and I thought to myself, \u2018I hope Mary is in class today,\u2019 because I knew you would love this.\u201d Talk about a soul connection, and just when I needed it most. Thank you, Spirit. You never fail me.<\/p>\n

I came home from yoga class, went directly to my computer, and unfriended someone on Facebook who was taking energy I didn\u2019t have to give, a \u201cfriend\u201d I didn\u2019t even know but who had entered my life through the magic of social media. Why feed the negative? Because we humans tend to have a weakness for that kind of thing, I think. We want to be loved, we want to be understood, we want to be successful, we want, we want, we want. And so we continue to try to make a connection with people who don\u2019t deserve our time and energy, and we focus our hearts and minds on the fears and worries rather on the gifts and blessings. We think by focusing on those things we\u2019ll become stronger, we\u2019ll overcome the fears, but just the opposite happens. We end up feeding that fire of negativity, and it will burn our joy to the ground if we let it. So don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Today I challenge you to let go of one fear you\u2019ve been feeding, one negative thing that takes more than it gives, and use all that energy to feed something good in your life. Focus on one blessing, one person who deserves your attention and love, one joy, and see what happens.<\/p>\n

Peace, blessings, joy, love, namaste.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I originally wrote this post in January, but I came across it this morning when I was looking for something else. It was exactly what I needed to hear today, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[240],"tags":[347,243,389,285,167,67],"class_list":["post-4525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-in-my-50s","tag-depression","tag-fear","tag-inner-peace","tag-joy","tag-peace","tag-yoga"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat are you feeding -- fear or joy?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Please don't feed the fears. 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