At the risk of borrowing a phrase, new beginnings is “The Word”. I seem to be borrowing again, from Mr. Colbert this time!
“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”
— Maria Robinson, American author
Life is a succession of starts and stops, beginnings and endings, good choices and not-so-good choices. An education at the very least. At times it can be painful, though of course suffering is the construct of the experiencer, pain is as normal a part of life as breathing.
I begin anew this week. Back in the exciting environment of urban life. My new practice location in downtown Seattle is a cornucopia of senses and discoveries. For the fourth time I am creating a new practice base. Having built and sold two practices, and including my recent experiment being an employee for the first time in thirty years…it’s time yet again to create. Explore. Climb the mountain…the metaphors roll on…
Uncontrolled, and often misunderstood, fear complicates this process. It brings suffering in where the normal ebb and flow of life (sometimes interpreted as ‘pain’) could be allowed to be. Joy is not the absence of pain, it is the absence of suffering. Suffering is the result of resistance to life…resistance to joy.
Each day is an opportunity to truly explore joy and move yet another step away for the misery of living in the duality of right/wrong, happy/sad, good/bad….the list is long. Acceptance and gratitude are tools we can use to smooth the way for this natural and freeing process. Judgment, impatience, hubris and right-eousness are the pesky impediments of our life-long learning process and journey to peace.
The city, with its noise, commute, panhandlers and frenzy is an excellent environment in which to practice these virtues. Virtues that when practiced and ingrained lead the way to a life of joy.
Simple.
Not easy. However well worth the ego-taming effort invested.
May you IN-JOY your day!
Perry
Dr. Chinn is a 1986 Life University graduate (Marietta), has been practicing for 37 years, currently in NW Montana. He has served as a board member and vice-president of the Gonstead Clinical Studies Society. As a Gonstead technique diplomate, Dr. Chinn is authorized to teach and coach the Gonstead system to other doctors of chiropractic. He is the author of Symphony of Wellness and Soaring Beyond Fear (www.PerryChinn.com), his book Symphony of Wellness (now in an expanded 3rd edition) focuses on the science and benefits of the Nobel Prize winning science of nitric oxide for cardiovascular health and whole body wellness. He is available for keynote speaking and coaching. Dr. Chinn can be reached at DrPChinn@gmail.com