Mantra 1. : a sound, word, or phrase that is repeated by someone who is praying or meditating. 2. : a word or phrase that is repeated often or that expresses someone’s basic beliefs.
In 2024, I am going to take two tried and true mantras that have worked for years into the new year and add one more to the list. And here they are:
Tried & True Mantra #1: I will hold on to my faith in Christ and not be a d*ck about it.
Because the Bible is not the fourth person of the Trinity, I will stand boldly in how my faith has evolved within and beyond the Bible. Some examples:
I believe the Mother Heart of God is as valid and equal as the Father Heart of God because God transcends the binary. They created it as a base to explore, not a cage to define.
I believe the personification of wisdom as a woman crying out for God’s people to listen (in Proverbs) was and is the Holy Spirit.
While I still believe in malevolent spirits (in people and negative spiritual energies), I no longer believe in hell.
I believe we all make it Home once we pass from this world, regardless of faith tradition or no faith at all.
OH yeah, and I won’t be a d_ck about these beliefs. Don’t agree? Cool. You do you spiritual or not spiritual boo.
Tried & True Mantra #2: Fight for life, don’t get run over by it.
Contentment is not found in circumstance but in honest assessment and intention. Discontent is also displaced with intentional gratitude.
I have moved beyond the need for others to define me for me; to open doors I can open for myself. If there is a hell, it would be full of empowered people trapped in a state of learned helplessness.
When sh_t happens, it happens. Get up and keep moving forward, not roll around in it with self-pity or negative attention-seeking.
When emotional empathy isn’t available, situational empathy almost always is. Empathy is always at the root of any shallow or intimate relationship.
New Mantra: Work really hard, play even harder… don’t settle for silence.
I don’t have bullet points for this one because the intention to be more playful and to understand its importance is new!
I have gotten much better at being playful, but I found it exhausting and overwhelming at first. I played a lot when my brother and I were very young, but that stopped in middle school when the family dynamics took a terrible turn.
I spent almost all of my life isolated in some way, shape, or form (abuse, alienation, abandonment, party life in the ’80s was not healthy play time, being in a cult meant I was always worried about “what it meant” or “would I be tempted” … you know, all that kind of mess).
As a result, I’ve never had much of a work/life balance that involved being playful. I have always valued downtime but never really valued playtime. Examples: when I paint, I zen out = downtime. When I am laughing with family and friends, dancing at a silent disco = playtime.
At work, I think my coworkers would say I am very playful, but that is personality, not intention. Meaning, since being married to Dan, we play a lot (cruises, with friends, parties, road trips, the occasional trips to the bars, each other … on dates 😉, etc). It sounds weird to say, but the past year I found the value of playing as an adult to be gratifying in unexpected and wonderful ways.
I also love remembering that I have earned the right to play because I am human and also, I work very hard and need downtime AND playtime 😃.
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