The Temptation-Goddess


A Visual for the Temptation-Goddess
(Hanging from the top of a storage door in my brother, Jim's, basement) 



Yesterday's blog post was fun for me to write.  I wrote the poem, "I'm Not Coming", to the temptation-goddess named "Stress".  First, I felt I was being drawn to a place I've been so very many times.  A place that's so alluring it's hard not take the complete ride it takes you on.  I even bought the ticket and boarded the train!  As soon as I thought it through, I felt the freedom of stepping off and skipping away.


Trains by Rapid River, Upper Peninsula

I felt the old thinking patterns calling to me.  It's so much easier in the short term to stress everything.  But, it's so much more satisfying to not.  I've done it.  I recognize the patterns.  The game of double-guessing each and every step.




What are you going to do when...    

What if....

Don't you think it would be nice...        

How are you going to learn...






Trust me, there's more where those questions came from.  But, I know from practicing the new patterns of thinking, if I take things as they come, I live the process more.  

I plan and organize when I can.  I practice not worrying so much about the unknowns.  The study of the brain, and how it works, fascinates me.  It helps me to believe I don't have to think in the same way I've always thought.  Challenging my thinking and how I arrive at solutions is good for the brain.


Trolley in Moda, Istanbul, Turkey



I've taught first graders to do this for more than 30 years.  It's time I tried it myself.  With six year olds, it may have been a learned pattern from home.  Maybe a reaction to violence or fear of rejection.  Maybe they were pampered and enabled by their care-takers and didn't practice thinking.  And sometimes, they learned to give up, because they were laughed at or ridiculed.    

If a first grader can learn to adjust their thinking (and most of them did), so can I.  I have an imagination and I have a positive attitude toward change.  I have a few role models I watch closely, too.  Some are alive and some have passed away, but their strength lingers.



Train Crossing in Iron Mountain, Michigan



I've just moved to Ann Arbor.  I'm being open about my possibilities. The gifts I have that will allow me to learn.  The process of adjusting and relocating doesn't have to be the train ride to hell.  Change is constant.  I can skip and watch for the light ahead.  It will guide my adventure.


Inside Detroit Metro Airport



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