keys

a friend of mine's in a tough spot.
and hurting.
and asked for my thoughts.

oh man.
so i thought.
and i thought.

and i wrote about 'releasing.'

release.

that's a big big word.
that requires a whole lotta strength.

so i hopped on my bike and thought about that word.

it played a big part in several significant changes in my life.

i just laughed when i read that last line.

i guess it played a big part in EVERY change in my life.
cause the fact that i don't release when i need to affects
everything too.

but what i'm thinking of is the times i actually consciously DID release,
i opened myself up to life. and great changes happened.

so i pedaled away thinking about that.

a few years ago i wrote a bone sigh about there being no map.
you gotta write your own, cry your own, grieve your own, that kinda thing...

well, this morning i came up with directions for that map that you
create yourself -

and it feels like a new mantra to me -

trust.
release.
find the laughter.

that's it.
and to me, it feels like 'ohmygosh, that's IT!'

you gotta trust first.
that's a big one.
i know, personally, i'll be spending a life time workin' on that one.

then with the trust, you release.
oh, man, yes.
the few times i know i've done it, the entire universe opens up.

and then the laughter....
i thought of my story of my neighbor. (see post below)
it's when we found the laughter that i felt the love.
and the laughter doesn't have to be about what happened.
we certainly weren't laughing about his mom's passing.
we were laughing at my silly shoes.
something totally off topic.
and it created this great space for love.

so i thought of my friend who's struggling.
there's nothing in the struggle she'll find funny.
but it's something in her life in another area....

i thought of my own stuff. my own hurts my own hard stuff.
i don't want to laugh at that stuff.
but my gosh, tell me a silly story, and i crave the laughter.

all of those things - trust, release and laughter - all of them
are like portals into the magic of life.

i really think so.

so maybe instead of directions to the map, they should be called
the keys to the map.

cause man, they sure open doors.

now.
can i just keep all this in mind and work with it?
ah, i can try.
i can just keep on trying.......