Shirley, Goodness and Mercy...and Aunt Stasia

With all the best intentions, my first week of preparation for the 5K revealed the need for refurbishment. My partially-met goal was a week of seafood and 50% raw plant-based food, for 2 meals a day. Coach Gayle and I had a conversation about this, creating a positive re-frame for the coming week. This led me to understand something about using different strengths to find success. In searching for inspiration, I found some wonderful support.

And so it happened, then, that I got up and went to the kitchen this morning to make seafood-based lunch. That’s exactly where I found the inspirational quartet of chefs, Shirley, Goodness, Mercy, and Aunt Stasia. We worked happily, preparing tuna salad, chopping crunchy raw veggies to mix in. We seasoned with vinegar. And so, we prepared the core of lunches for several days. No waiting until lunchtime when I’m too tired and too hungry to fix tuna salad. Because I had such lovely company, it was done, not with pain, but joy.

What different strengths did I use? I considered the VIA Signature Strengths found under the category of “Temperance: strengths that protect against excess.” I was surprised to find “Forgiveness and mercy” as the first on the list! Next came, of all things, “Humility,” then “Prudence” and “Self regulation.” But those two I expected.

Here’s what I learned. I’m angry and have some gaps in forgiveness that give me an appetite to get even!! I’m never full, as vengeance creates a hole in me. So, positively speaking, I can write the offender’s name in the center of a page, write some words describing the hurt right under the name, and enclose them all in a big circle. Next, I can draw 15 (!) circles around the center one, and fill them with the “Goodness” things about that person. Mercy plugs the hole, appetite-wise!

Humility comes next. I found that I have to be humble enough to bless me along with the food, not seeking lime-light, but rather being modest in receiving kind feelings about myself. This fills me up and makes portion control a non-issue. My real hunger is for “succor.” And that is exactly where Aunt Stasia re-enters the inspiration. She is my model of humility, but more so, the very one I think of first when I think of blessing me.
Surely (aka “Shirley”) goodness and mercy (...and Aunt Stasia) will follow me all the days of my life.

Tell Me A Story....

So I had a nightmare. I was awake the whole time, you know. I was just telling myself the story of what my preferred future might look like, when a terrible alternate story took over. The Nightmare Bard attempted to narrate my least preferred future. It was a future filled with negatives notions, clammy fears, and bitter irony. Optimism and hope were the first casualties. What a brazen daylight sortee! What a wicked stab at commandeering my very own internal monologue!

But maybe you could help, here. What do you folks do about night terrors, (even those like mine that happen in broad daylight)? What remedies were tried on you? When the little ones in your loving care cry out in the night, how do you help? I thought about this. How about sitting close and telling a story, until the tight feeling goes away, and the damp brow dries?

For example, once, Janet was afraid to go to sleep at Grandma's house. Grandma engaged the help of then student psychologist-in-residence, Uncle Marty. He thought a gentle story was the perfect medicine. So, Uncle Marty told little Janet the story of Don Bosco. According to this particular narration, Don Bosco's appeal to little ones was his amazing ability to turn white milk into chocolate milk! Can you imagine such greatness? And Janet's response to this effort at soothing? "Nothing helps, Grandma."

You know what would chase the Nightmare Bard away for me? Would you tell me a Don Bosco-type story? What I mean is, please tell me a story about a time when you experienced a moment of greatness. What was it that made it a moment of greatness? (And thanks for turning on the light in the hall.)
Love you, dear Nematodes,
V