A Final Gift

 

Perhaps the oddest experience of serenity happened when my father died suddenly – “coincidentally” 11 years ago tomorrow.

One might easily jump to conclusions of denial, when this was really an act of completion.

 

I had returned just days earlier from a week long coaching intensive where Dad butted his way into my very last process. The structure was designed perfectly for me to ask questions and him to answer in a way we both weren’t brave enough to otherwise.

I discovered a person I never knew, and never would have known any another way.

What little was said spoke volumes and left nothing undone.

 

The moment I heard Brent’s voice so close to midnight I knew.

Yet a wave of utter peace I’d not felt before poured over and embodied me. Nothing remained between us to cry for.

I moved through the weeks afterward feeling at odds with expectations as I became the silent observer of what was supposed to be.

 

 

Dad’s final gift through this experience was a deep understanding of how the sense of peace and calm we yearn for is within us wherever we go.

Mandatory participation is not required when all chaos breaks loose.

Silent stillness can all too easily proclaim open season for the mind to run wild.

 

Surroundings often make us believe serenity awaits another lifetime, but we are only a decision away to be differently.

Buy in or step out?

 

Practice may not make perfect, but sharpening one’s skills is certainly doable.

Bringing purposeful serenity into awareness during slow times imprints a “muscle memory” to kick in during fast.

Play with signals and support tools to see what works best when – breath work, a token, a word or visualization to suggest a mere few.

The only magic formula is the one that works best for you.

 

 

Living Bliss is a jump-in-with-both-feet look at where Life bumps into the everyday – whether at work, play or times in between. Bliss knows no separation in the end. From a deeper dive into the ordinary pops forward the extraordinary life we search for – and has been there waiting for us to be.

 

Not quite a crazy cat lady – yet? – Lorraine’s insatiable curiosity of life leads her to explore, question and push beyond the box. A self-professed “left-brained creative big picture idea” type, she has an intuitive knack for seeing possibility everywhere and in everyone, and is a moth-to-flame for being part of turning possibility into reality. More of Lorraine’s musings can be found on her blog.