Counting the Omer Week 4 : Release old beliefs that no longer serve us

Our intention is to use these days to release old beliefs that no longer serve us, and replace them with the energies of the Focus Phrases assigned to each week and to each day. We all use Focus Phrases all the time, but usually we are simply repeating old patterns of thought and feeling. These Focus Phrases are designed to encourage us to step into new places of expanded possibility.
Kabbalistic Tree of Life
The Jewish Wisdom tradition, fueled by the flowering of the Kabbalah in the 16th century, brought a spiritual focus to this seven-week period, relating each week to the energies of one of the lower seven levels on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. These weeks invite us to welcome the more profound Wisdom and Love that springs from the One Presence and seeks to express more fully through each one of us. The two sides of the Tree reflect the difference between the form and that which it contains. This fourth week, we return to the right side of the Tree, to put our focus at Netzach, which represents the vital energy vibrating within the forms of all unique perceptions and sensations, but independent of any specific form. 

At Netzach, the flow of Awareness already contains feelings and the influences of Tiferet, the Heart-Space, but those influences are not yet associated with any particular sensations or perceptions. At Netzach, we celebrate the energy that will be contained in specific sensations.  

We awaken this week to the not-yet-limited vitality behind all sensation. Rabbi Ted Falcon

I live in a field of abundant Energy. 
Day 22 Focus, beginning the evening of Saturday, May 11 
 I welcome unlimited energies of Love. 
I must learn to reach out, to go beyond my comfort zone, to invite others in.  This evening could have been another lonesome one, but it was instead joyous.  Thanks to a suggestion by Iris to engage, Elaine and Amy joined us for a delightful dinner, wine, great conversation.  And I sold a piece of art for Chabad ($40).  How fun and all because I reached out and used the energy contained within.  There are many wonderful women out there who are interesting, open to engagement, willing and ready to be involved.  I have to learn to reach out more.  And I will.
Day 23 Focus, beginning the evening of Sunday, May 12
I breathe into the energies of this day. 
I am surrounded by good energy today and with knowing that Stu's still with us, his soul surrounds and watches over me.  Today Christine took me for a movie, Poms, and brunch.  What a lovely visit we had.  The movie, about a group of senior women who help nurture one another by starting a club for cheerleading in their development.  Uplifting, sad, heart rending, a reminder of aging and what the world sees when they see old people like me.  All good.  I am remaining open to what life brings, and this evening it brought a totally unexpected gift in the form of an invitation to stay with Sharon and Lou Gadliss in Logan.  What a surprise, what a gift from them to us.  There are such giving people around.  
Day 24 Focus, beginning the evening of Monday, May 13
I am in harmony with the rhythms of Life. 
A time to weep and a time to laugh.  Today was a time to build, to rejoice, to celebrate the helpers I am meeting along the way to creating my new space.  And the friends who continue to cheer me on.  Today I didn't have time to be sad, although sleep eludes me throughout the night and I wake tired.  The rhythms, the beat, going with the flow. Many ways of expressing related thoughts.  Releasing, letting go--that continues.  I have to let go of that part of me which no longer serves me well.  Being aloof, running to anger too easily, being in love with life and open to new experiences, finding worth and interest in everyone I meet.  Taking the time to say hello, to listen, to be fully in the moment.  I'm being more present, I like that.

Day 25 Focus, beginning the evening of Tuesday, May 14
I celebrate the vitality of my Being.
I am alive.  I am complex.  I am mourning and grieving.  I am rejoicing and living.  I am reaching out and reaching in simultaneously.  I am being Jewish in following my path, my individual path.  That takes courage.  I am vulnerable in putting my beliefs out there even when/if they may not be the most popular, nor easily understood.  I own my feelings, complex as they might be.  I am alive.

Day 26 Focus, beginning the evening of Wednesday, May 15
I contain the vibrations of Life.
What does this mean, the vibrations of life?  The essence? The heartbeat? The awareness of life surrounding me?  I'm unsure.  And how does this relate to releasing old beliefs that no longer serve us.   

Day 27 Focus, beginning the evening of Thursday, May 16
I am energized by Life.
Day 28 Focus, beginning the evening of Friday, May 17 
I act with renewed vitality. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Covid, Lockdowns, Isolation, Spiritual Growth, and More

 No one could have accurately predicted how the advent of the Covid virus would begin a rolling lockdown across the world.  At home we were told, especially as the more vulnerable senior population, to hanker down, shut our doors, order on line, isolate from everyone.  Up popped Zoom, FaceTime surged, but touching and hugging, collective activities faded.  Along with Zoom, we continue to see an uptick in depression, alcohol usage, domestic violence, suicide.  We are a people needing people, and I am one of those. The Covid lockdown caught me in Israel, mid-trip, which ElAl airlines truncated--get home tomorrow or risk unknown departure date sometime in the future.  Still aglow from my Israeli adventures, I sailed into lockdown without belief that this might last for weeks, morphing into months.  So much to do, so many quilts to sew, so many masks to make, books to read.  By April it was harder to get out of bed in the morning.  As a solo trav...
Read more
The Perfect Storm - Challenges without end Aunt Roz is 95 years young/old.  She's mentally sharp, although her patience gives out more quickly than in the past.  Physically she's only slightly frail using a cane for balance, sometimes reluctantly pushing a walker.  She fights every slight loss of more independence.  She struggled against giving up her car, but wisely made the decision at 93 that it was time.  She bemoans the independence she lost as a result of no longer driving herself about town.  Today was a bad day, the perfect storm.  Roz's Verizon flip phone lost all of her contacts.  Not only the important family and long time friends, but all of her increasingly important doctors.  After three frustrating hours with customer service the best they could do was locate her info in the cloud, somewhere, but still unable to return the contacts to her phone.  Late into the night Roz copied contact info from her handwritten address ...
Read more

Growing a New Chapter

 Three years into my widowhood I realized that I was unhappy living alone.  I felt more like a half of a whole than a whole person.  The world, my community, is certainly still geared to couples life.  While weekdays could be readily filled,  evenings and weekends remained difficult.  Adult children and grandchildren are busy with their lives, or live far away.  Friends are off with their spouses doing couples things and invitations are rare.  Singles are plentiful and my Meet-Up groups certainly allow for 7 nights of activity, if I so choose.  But how much Trivia, bar eating and dancing can one do?  For me, once a week of these inconsequential activities is enough.  Along with Pickleball, mahjong, and stitchers, I have social contact.  What I thought I needed was a mate, a special partner, a Stu stand-in if not a replacement.  And so I joined two dating sites. I learned there are many lonely older men, some widowed, other...
Read more