becoming centered

I read a lot, and I save parts or quotes that resonate with me.

When you are frustrated or restless: Ask "What am I wishing for now? What is wrong with what I have?" Then say: "This suffices." Welcome what life is offering you in this moment. Accept what you have been given and be satisfied.

I do not recall where I got that from. It's really powerful and comforting. It is what helps one become centered. Trusting in what is, in yourself, in others, in life's happenings, you become centered. You find peace through acceptance, through compassion and simplicity. You find it through being satisfied with your lot in life, through loving what you do and doing what you love, through connecting with others. There are many ways of finding peace, of becoming centered.

Often I have dreamt of traveling and taking note of different places, foods, cultures, dialogues, and people. I want to go outside of myself and see what the world holds, but I have a hard time doing that when I limit my world. So what do you do when you have difficulty accepting what is? I thought to myself that if I had to pick a word to describe my mood in 2014 so far, it would be "annoyed." Without judgment, I just want to accept that it has been how I've felt for the most part, whether at school, home, with my relationships, or myself.

It's one thing to count your blessings - I'm aware of that. Yet, that doesn't mean "negative" feelings that arise should be suppressed, ignored, or snubbed. There's a purpose to them. It means something might need a change, whether it's yourself, your attitude, your outlook, or even the environment. The beauty of social work is that you try to understand the challenges that a person faces despite their efforts for change, regardless of the fact that everything one does or doesn't do is a choice. Life happens to me, but how I feel about it, what I do about it, whether I accept it or not, it's always a choice. Keeping that in mind, I must add that it doesn't take away discomfort, the frustrations or pain.

No matter how learned one is, some lessons are forgotten and learned over and over and over. When I pray for something like patience or guidance, what I get are more tests. I guess it has to be practiced. You don't just get to be patient or guided. And you don't just get to be centered either. But we have all been all of these at some point, so it's not impossible. It fluctuates, like faith, like everything else in life.