Last Friday was a very quiet day at work.  I had projects to complete, but in doing so had some time to converse with my counterpart.  We talked about where we both are in our lives, how dissatisfied we currently are and steps we needed to take to gain a different prospective on things.  We talked about:

• Super Soul Sundays and how much we both appreciated Oprah for using her power to make the world a better place.
• the readings of spiritual authors Thich Nhat Hanh and Jon Kabat-Zinn, and other books to read such as Produced By Faith by DeVon Franklin, The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer, Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach and The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav.
• learning to separate ourselves from the little voice inside that is constantly speaking–Saying the good, the bad and the ugly to you every second of the day.  This is a voice of judgment.  It’s the critic overanalyzing every move you make.  It’s fueled by every experience you’ve ever had, good or bad (I’ve found my little voice seems to mostly retain the bad, but I mean to change this!).  Just being aware that you are separate of this voice gives you the power to tune it out or at least change its words!
• learning that true surrender is done with a smile, your arms flung open wide and head held high.  It’s not an action of giving up downtrodden and hunched over.  Humbled, yes.  Beaten down, no.
• looking at our current circumstances (however fubar they seem at present–mine in particular) as avenues leading us in the direction our lives really need to go, and what actions we each need to take in our lives to get there.

We each made a committment to take one small action, before October 1st, toward a more purpose-filled life.  My action is to read The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer (of which I purchased two copies months back–one in hard copy and the other more recently on my Kindle).  She had just finished it and pleaded that it is a must-read.  Her action is to develop an advertisement and e-mail address for a like-minded, intention-driven, single parents group.

I can’t tell you how much I appreciated our conversation and how afterward the vice I’d felt so caught in seemed to loosen.   Even the glimpse of a different prospective on any situation can do wonders.