Today’s post was inspired by our two male cats, Ry (pronounced Ree) and Jackson (pronounced Jack-Son).

Yes, I know. Ashara usually writes about our furry family in her weekly blog posts. This morning the two boy cats were in the post-breakfast state we like to call ‘The Zoomies’ while we were meditating.

Canned sardines.
Bones and all.
For.The.Cats.

_{Sardines!
Photo and breakfast credit: Glenn}

We’re sitting in bed listening to a guided meditation and ready to close our eyes when suddenly we hear scamper, scamper, scamper from the library and towards our bedroom. Ry attempts to leap straight up the door frame, with paws clutching the frame he ascends maybe a foot up and slides back down to the floor. Jackson chases Ry into the bedroom where Ry jumps on the bed and in a flash jumps off with Jackson in fast pursuit.

Jump up.
Jump down.
Run out.
Run back in.
Repeat non-stop until…

Silence in the house.
 
The Zoomies are over.
For the moment.
Until they let us know in...

The post for today is all about contrast and how it shows up in our lives.

A quick online search for the definition of contrast resulted in this:

The state of being strikingly different from something else in juxtaposition or close association: "the day began cold and blustery, in contrast to almost two weeks of uninterrupted sunshine".

The person who wrote that example must have lived in Colorado.
In the spring.
During the month of June.
When spring becomes summer.
Or, when winter bypasses spring and goes right into summer.
During the month of June.

What’s the point of this?

In Colorado the weather changes in a heartbeat.
On a dime.
Or, like Taylor Swift during her Eras Tour (that’s 16 outfit changes).
Google that!

The other point of this post is how contrast can be FUN!

For all you eye rollers out there keep reading…seriously.

Contrast shows up in myriad ways.
For example:

On Thursday, June 6 my friend Peter and I went to see Brit Floyd at Red Rocks Amphitheater. I purchased...

“There’s something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.”

Winston Churchill said that and from my perspective he was right!

The other evening after attending a 2-day training session from which I was somewhat brain tired my wife said to me “the water tank for the horses needs to be filled” as she made her way to an online meeting.

Usually this is not a big deal since we fill said tank every couple of days. BUT….this time I was in the middle of a mini-project attempting to get plastic sheeting over a raised garden frame to protect newly planted tomatoes and peppers all the while fighting the wind that threatened to blow the plastic sheeting over to the next county with me still holding on for dear life.

SERIOUSLY!
The wind here could lift a 1,200 pound hog if it had wings.

Looking at her with my best incredulous facial expression I said “I’m in the middle of something” while thinking YOU MUST BE OUT YOUR...

Hey, You!
Yes, You!

It’s me!
Your Inner Critic, aka, the snarky ‘what in the actual HELL are you doing?’ troll or gremlin voice in your head.

Oh, you know this voice SOOOOOOO well, dontcha?
Dontcha! Dontcha!DONTCHA!!

“Why, if you knew half things you think you knew, you’d be half-assed.”

You know whose voice that really is?
Anyone who criticized you during your formative years.

Let’s list those buggers.

Your father.
Your mother.
Your brother.
Your sister.
Your teacher.
Your classmates.
Your friends.
Your neighborhood bully.

Those blasted trolls are still running your life by telling you all that downer shit, only, you hear them as yourself.

I can’t do ________.
I can’t have _________.
I’m not good enough for ________.
I’m not worthy of _________.

Oh, oh, ANNNNNND, you hear it from your current friends or people you hang out with.
Because.
Misery.
Loves.
Company.

Will it ever end?
When will it end?

The answer to that question lies within.

When...

Have you ever wondered what it’s like living with Post Traumatic Stress? Actually, I hope you never have to personally experience it.

Do you know anyone who lives with Post Traumatic Stress also known as PTSD? Perhaps a family member or a friend of yours lives with PTS. Do you know how to help someone when they are triggered?

I can tell you from personal experience exactly what it’s like living with post traumatic stress and how my meditation practice has helped me overcome trigger points over the years.

First, let’s dive into what Post Traumatic Stress is.

The information below is borrowed from The Mayo Clinic, specifically, this website: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355967#. The bold items indicate my personal account of post traumatic stress.

Causes
You can develop post-traumatic stress disorder when you go through, see or learn about an event involving actual or threatened death, serious injury...

During a recent trip to the east coast I had a revelation that opened my eyes and my heart.

Ya gotta know the beginning before we get to the juicy part…

I was born in Brooklyn, New York and then moved to Holbrook, Long Island with my family when I was 14. That was a lifetime ago and yet - I still identify with those roots.

“Yeah, I’m from Brooklyn and Long Island.“ stating it like I’m wearing a badge of honor or some such shit.

That is up until quite recently when my wife and I visited the East Coast. We went to Vermont for the total solar eclipse (phenomenal and breathtaking) and then down to Long Island for a few days of visiting places that I haven’t seen in many years.

We had a great time visiting the Long Island Music Hall of Fame https://www.limusichalloffame.org to see the Billy Joel – My Life, A Piano Man’s Journey – The Ultimate Exhibition!  https://www.limusichalloffame.org/billy-joel-exhibit

My...

Let's face it. "Why?" is a terrible question to ask yourself. Here's the reason.

When you ask "Why?" , as in "Why is this happening to me?" "Why doesn't that person answer my calls?" and questions like that, it gives your Inner Critic a chance to raise it's self-serving head (because it's trying to keep everything the same, and you "stuck") and respond like this: "Because you're a hopeless dweeb." "Who would want to hang out with you? You're worthless."

The things you're told by your Inner Critic are NOT TRUE. It's what you heard (usually from someone else, or the TV, or any number of places), and what you've reinforced throughout your life. It happens to us all. 

Trust me when I say there isn't a person out there who doesn't have some version of a blue-suit-cats-eye-glasses-grey-haired-overweight-overbearing-loud-voiced Critic whispering (and sometimes shouting) in their ear telling them what a creep they are. Mine is named Sally Jenkins (with apologies to every Sally Jenkins...

Gestalt coaching is a form of individualized (or group) coaching that emphasizes personal responsibility and focuses upon the individual's experience in the present moment, the coach-client relationship, the environmental and social contexts of a person's life, and the self-regulating adjustments people make as a result of their overall situation.