What is the meaning of this?

What is the meaning of this?

Last week I started off by telling you a story about little Nightingale who asked me "What is the meaning of this?" as she showed me a picture when my hair was a different color.

I've been thinking about the meaning of things a lot this week. What has meaning to me might not have any meaning for you. Our perspectives can be vastly different.

I've seen people struggle with letting go of "things" that are old and useless (in my opinion) yet because the thing had profound meaning to them, they cannot part with it.

This happened to me and Paul too. When his sister died in 2019, there was so much memorabilia from her trips to Japan and other places around the world and we had no idea what to do with it all. These articles and pictures held so much meaning to my sister-in-law yet we couldn't just keep it all. However, knowing it meant a lot to her meant it was hard for us to let it go.

Identities are also hard to part with.

When you retire, for example, you are no longer a and that can be a difficult transition.

I learned a long time ago from A Course In Miracles that "Nothing has any meaning except for what you give it."

And for the most part, adopting this belief has served me. I can decide at any time to change a meaning of something so that it works for me.

Yet sometimes I cannot find meaning.

I cannot find meaning in senseless violence or death.

Sometimes things happen in life that are completely out of our control and are very painful.

Amid the pain, we may not be able to understand the meaning of it. Perhaps it will be years before we can even assign a meaning to it, if ever.

Recently I've been struggling with a cough. I also got the flu in May and in July I came down with Covid. It has not been a good year for me getting sick and yet my health is normally quite fine.

So I'm trying to find some meaning.

Why am I getting sick? Is my body trying to tell me something? Am I not taking care of myself properly? As I'm pondering these thoughts with a friend she says to me, "Maybe you just picked up a few viruses and that's it."

I think my lesson is to just be.

If you are trying to find meaning in something, maybe surrender is the answer.

I am going to watch and notice. See what shows up. Be mindful and conscious of what appears. Recognize that I am not conjuring these things and that I am not in control of all the things that show up. I'll allow myself to just "be" with what shows up and to be a conduit for peace and understanding whenever possible.

Sometimes I guess we just don't have to figure it out.

If you are going through a tough time, it's okay to set your goal to just get through it.

It's all okay. Sometimes there is meaning and sometimes there is no meaning. It's all up to you.

And if you are not ready to let something go, it's okay to hold on to it for a little longer.

Many blessings,

Maureen