• traceym

62.Take a different view

We sometimes forget just how in charge we are, of our own destiny; of the way our relationships develop or unfold, actions, moments - we can always choose. But often that awareness is hiding in the wings, and it takes conscious endeavours to tune into what is happening in any given moment so that we notice the choices we have, and the path we can choose.

Often in times of difficulty it can mean a conscious choice to identify differently with a struggle or challenge so that it does not increase in its hold over us. It can mean altering our perspective to take a different view, or to pause and breathe before making a decision that may impact us negatively.

A poem that talks to this well.

Who Turns
Who turns this into that? Sound into noise?
Aroma into odor? Taste into pleasure or disgust?
Who turns yes into no? Grace into unkindness?
Silence into boredom? Stillness into restlessness?
The ordinary into the menial?
Who turns pain into suffering? Change into loss?
Grief into woe? Woe into the story of your life?
Who turns stuff into sentiment? Desire into craving?
Acceptance into aversion?
Peace into war? Us into them?
Who turns life into labor? Time into toil?
Enough into not-enough?
Who turns why into why not?
Who turns delusion into enlightenment?
Who thinks? Who feels? Who senses?
Who turns?
All practice is the practice of making a turn in a different

By: Karen Maezen Miller

What turn may you need to make today or this week? Who or what would benefit you from turning toward something differently?

You can use your reflective practice to support this activity - journaling any reflections in this poem that speak to you.

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