Turning the Corner

Candy: Well, I think we both turned a corner today.

All day yesterday I felt like junk, dealing with lots of negative emotions carried over from my recent professional experience, and just feeling out of sorts.

This morning, Tim felt similar emotions.

Then, we decided to go to the nearest Barnes & Noble bookstore for some reading time, and an interesting thing happened. We have a habit of frequently visiting bookstores for long periods of time and each time we go to one we split up and find books that interest us, then sit together in the cafe and read.

The interesting thing today was that we both picked up books that addressed the same subject, but from different angles. I began reading a book by Byron Katie called Loving What Is. It addressed the idea that it's really our thoughts about reality, not reality itself, that create problems for us.

Katie said that we should write down on paper what is bothering us about another person or situation, then ask these four questions about each of the thoughts we wrote down:

1. Is that true?
2. Can you know absolutely that that's true?
3. How do you react when you think that thought?
4. Who would you be without that thought?

The essential idea was that if we applied this inquiry process to our negative thoughts and our problems, that we would see what the reality of the situation is and be able to accept it for what it is. Then we could move on to being able to be more free mentally and emotionally from the negative situations and people around us.

Tim's reading addressed many of the same ideas from a businessman's perspective, with the focus on being able to utilize integrity in negative situations to regroup, recover, and succeed after failure.

There were many more ideas that struck both of us today as we shared passages of our books over a diet coke in the cafe, and we both left the bookstore feeling as though we had crossed the first hurdle in this journey, that of finding something of value that mattered to each of us.

It felt really good to know that despite a couple of emotionally rocky days that we were going to be able to break through.

We also discovered several fun things to do in the area and have made plans to experience them in the coming days.

We hope to spend some time touring the USS Lexington, a World War II aircraft carrier permanently docked in the Corpus Christi bay, tomorrow. We also realized that there are several border towns within a two hours' drive and we intend to visit them, walk through the mercados, eat some fabulous Mexican cuisine, and maybe even cross the border if we're able to do so with Chase.

We have been missing our friends and family recently, but know that we need to pursue this quiet time with passion and dedication in order to earn the benefits from doing so.

We'll keep you posted and hope that perhaps despite our rambling entries that you, too, will be encouraged to reassess your circumstances and attitudes.