JohnKowalsky.com
A Self Evolving Site
Releasing Pain
Jun 2nd
At times in life, we all undergo periods of discomfort and pain, whether physically or emotionally. Quite often the two are interrelated, with the negative emotions bringing dis-ease to the body, and vice versa. The pain is there to let us know we need to do something differently, whether to stay off our feet for a few days, or not eat that thing that upsets our stomach, or to keep better guard over our hearts and thoughts. The most important thing with pain is to listen to it. Learn what it wants to teach you, then you can thank it and send it on its way.
I am a firm believer that pain is a tool that guides us to a place of being where we can no longer experience it. It is a strong stimulus pushing us upward on our journey of spiritual and physical evolution. The old Chinese saying goes, “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” While pain can be healing, sometimes we get stuck there when it is no longer useful to us. We can become addicted to the feeling of a bad memory, the rush of the chemically depressing cocktail that our brain puts out when we think a certain way. In this case we are no longer in pain, but in suffering. Suffering is a choice that we can make at every opportunity. Have you ever noticed how some people around you seem to always be caught up in some kind of drama? Their car breaks down, they got in a fight with their spouse, the waiter brought them the wrong meal, the dry cleaners lost their clothes. It all comes back to how you want to look at the glass, whether half full or half empty. Lately, with great success, I have been welcoming the pain when it comes. Not seeking it out mind you, but not resisting it when it cannot be resisted. Then once the pain is accepted, I give myself permission to enjoy it. This works especially well with painful or negative emotions. Don’t fight against them, just enjoy them to no end. The funniest thing happens; before you know it, there is a smile on your face and you’re no longer in a bad mood, or angry, or hurt. The next time you’re in a funk, try to really enjoy it. See what happens and let me know about it.
Where We Live
May 16th
I was doing whatever it is that mad people do when ideas pop into their heads, and the words to an old song came into my mind. The song comes from Acts 17:28, “In Him we live, and move, and have our being…” it goes on, but I was graced with a new understanding of this Truth.
It always amazes me how much we’ve lost as a species, that our ancestors knew. Somehow, without this internet and computer and thousands of scientists, and physicists, and calculations, people knew that we exist within God. Look more closely at what Paul said, “In Him we live,” — I don’t know about you, but I tend to think that I live in my body, my mind, my thoughts… I live in a planet called Earth, in a solar system, in a galaxy, in a universe. All of these things are God, and I live in Him. I move in Him. I have my being, in Him. The Earth, and the environment, these are parts of God’s physical body, and we deny this at great peril to ourselves.
In the book of John, it says that, “everything was made in Him. Without Him, nothing was made that has been made.”
I find it interesting that we separate ourselves from physical contact with the Earth as much as possible. We see it as icky, and dirty, and unclean. We build quarantined rooms with absolutely no trace of a natural environment, and this is how we are introduced into the world. We are birthed already disconnected from the touch of God. We are usually conceived unconnected to God. We live cut off from God, and we die quickly and experience much pain because of it.
And yes, your house is a part of the Earth, but touching someone through a winter coat and touching someone’s skin directly… well do I need to spell out the difference in connection and relations?
Is it any wonder that Nature is out of balance? That We are out of balance?
“In Him we live, and move, and have, our Being.” – Something to think about the next time you step out your door.
Starting Your Day
Apr 23rd
“Oh, he just got up on the wrong side of the bed today.” — It’s a common expression, often heard at job sites everywhere. Have you ever noticed though, that some people always seem to get up on the wrong side of the bed?
You can’t always choose what mood you’re going to wake up in, but you can choose how you start your day. The energy that you start your day with, whether positive or negative carries through and overshadows your entire 24-hour experience. Don’t leave that energy up to chance. Develop a habit of starting your day the same way. Do things that start your day right and put you in a great mood.
The first thing I like to do when I wake up, even as I’m reaching over to turn off the alarm, is smile. Why smile? Because even if you’ve had the worst dreams imaginable, smiling causes your body chemistry to begin to alter. Don’t believe me? Try keeping a smile on your face for 60 seconds and see if your mood doesn’t improve.
Next, drink a liter of the best water you can get your hands on. If you can’t get the best water ever, then squeeze a lemon into it and drink the entire glass. Why? You lose a lot of water when you sleep. Your body is detoxifying and it is important to re-hydrate when you wake. It will also get your insides moving again.
After this, wake your body up fully with some stretching or yoga or physical activity of some kind. It doesn’t have to be a full on workout, just get the blood flowing and the muscles warmed up.
With a fully awake body, you now have a great place to focus on the rest of your day. Pray, meditate, or think about what the rest of your day will consist of. Get into a state of peace, joy, and love. See yourself doing the things you have to do today with love in your heart and a smile on your face. Then you are ready to have some breakfast and begin your day.
Try it out. Make up your own routine. I promise you, the better you start your days, the better the rest of your days will be.
Seasons
Apr 13th
Do you allow yourself to live through seasons? Always changing, never the same way twice.
In our modern technocracy, we’ve removed ourselves as much as possible from living out among the changing seasons that the Creation holds for us. We wall ourselves away in boxes that are temperature regulated, light controlled, terrain un-changing. We’ve grown to dislike and detest any change in our “comfort” level. It’s very easy for us to be un-aware of the seasons in our own lives.
The world we live on adheres to cycles of birth, growth, death, and decay. Nature has its seasons of Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Our lives replicate this same pattern on the large scale (of our bodies) and the small scale (of our day to day lives).
All too often I’ve spent my time, fighting to stay in one season for too long. I’ve forced creation/work, when I should have been resting, or I’ve slept the day away when I should have been creating/working. Learning to live in balance and harmony is a challenging thing in the world we live in.
There is no concrete solution to creating balance in your life. It’s something that is unique to you alone. What creates balance in my life, will not necessarily be the solution in your life. Just as the length of seasons varies in different parts of the world, so your own needs will vary from mine. What is interesting to me is that all of creation is guided in the right moment to undergo the change needed at any given time. Imagine if the winter didn’t know when to end it’s bitter cold, or the summer when to cease it’s fire and burning. There are parts of the world where we can see the effects of this. The ice caps, the deserts, both extremes are examples of what happens in our own lives when we don’t allow the natural flow of seasons to occur. We become stressed. Life is still present, but the existence is harsh and mostly unpleasant.
For everything under the sun, there is a season… What are the seasons of your life?
Lately my life has been undergoing the transition from sleep to awakening, or from rest to plowing… working the soil to be ready for planting. After sowing, a period of rest will occur in which the seeds will begin to grow. The seeds will only grow if the work I have done has created the needed conditions for birth. Those conditions will only be created if I have rested properly to have the energy to create them.
Perhaps you are in Winter (the season where no work takes place, and you begin to dream), some will be in Spring (the season where you sow the seeds of your dream), some will be in Summer (the season where you tend your creation and help it grow), and finally some will be in Autumn (the season where you reap the benefits or consequences of your work).
The benefit you have over nature, is you are the only force in control of your seasons. You can begin again any time you wish. For some their lesson will be to nurse their garden/life/dream back to health/success. Others will need to wipe the slate clean and begin back at the Winter/Resting/Dreaming stage. Some will need to learn that there is a time to cease working and enter into rest, some will need to get off their ass and begin taking action.
How do you know when you are in the correct season in your life? When you feel at peace, when you feel like you’re living your life’s purpose, when things seem to click and just fall into place, all these are good indications that you are in the proper season.
Most people will spend most of their time in the dreaming/working stage until they learn to create the right conditions for their dream to grow into reality, but once a seed/dream starts growing, it grows all on its own.
Whatever season you may be in, love your way into the next one!
Have a great day and tend to your Garden 
