Birthday night

Tonight,  there were two birthday celebrations at my home group.  One was for a lady with a year, and the other celebrated 19 years. I think that this was a particularly tender meeting.  All of us had a lot to share about life and who we have tried to control and how we have failed in expectations of others. 

The following was a poem shared in one of the cards tonight.  It sums up what it sometimes feels like to live this life and to find a solution that helps to get through it, move through it, and be okay.  

There is no controlling life.

Try corralling a lightning bolt,

containing a tornado. Dam a

stream and it will create a new

channel. Resist, and the tide

will sweep you off your feet.

Allow, and grace will carry

you to higher ground. The only

safety lies in letting it all in –

the wild and the weak; fear,

fantasies, failures and success.

When loss rips off the doors of

the heart, or sadness veils your

vision with despair, practice

becomes simply bearing the truth.

In the choice to let go of your

known way of being, the whole

world is revealed to your new eyes.