Swings

        The only swings that adults seem to see are the emotional kind. Perhaps there never was a time as a child when the pleasure of an actual swing soothed away any cares. Even then, to swing too high might have been frightening or if you were an adventurous personality, the challenge might have been exciting. Time wasn't a factor when swinging ....just the back and forth movement was enough to capture the moment. Adults on swings seem a little sheepish at times - almost like being caught in the act of being a child might make them feel guilty.

        Swings in life can be extreme or they can be small. They can go from day to day, month to month, or year to year. It depends on the perception of the individual. We all have our ups and downs. Some who are reading this may say that their swing isn't moving, that it is always down. Life's lessons are very difficult and adversity is a struggle of survival and endurance, yet even when 'stuck' in a downswing, there is always movement. That movement is mainly in the mind. We play this instrument, the mind, non stop. We seldom give it rest. Those who are involved in a mental type of job know the frustrations of having it affect the body physically and in a draining way. The swings we experience daily are those changes on the downside or the upside of balance. You are so busy that you may not have experienced balance or so used to a pattern of behavior that is difficult to change, and so your 'swing' is usually up too high or comes crashing down too quickly. If we look at each day as a swing of feelings, emotions, thoughts, desires, frustrations, disappointments, success, failure, we see the range of how our emotional swing can go very high or very low. The same is true of the physical. We either overdo or we do not do much at all.

        We are the pilot of our daily swing through life. We can guide ourselves in such a way that we make the choices which will help us maintain balance. This is not an easy thing to do when there is so much activity and little time to deliberately balance with meditation or quiet time. It takes awareness. When we feel that we are becoming too 'hyper' or too drained or too nervous or too depressed or too ....anything, then it is a sign that we need to bring ourselves back to a balance. The swing that moves smoothly, the swing that goes not too high or too low, that is the "swing" that will bring balance into your life. Practice your swing through life in a conscious way and enjoy the highs and learn from the lows.