Weigh In April 18, 2010: Garfield and Parting Paths

Taken from this site, this cat weighs 35 pounds.

• This week’s weight: 280.6
• Weight lost from last weigh in:  2.4
• Weight lost this go-round: 34.9
• Total Weight Lost:  119.4

After last’s weeks picture, the bondage brassiere for men (or at least for Mickey Rourke), it’s nice to see something “big.”  And this isn’t something just big, this is huge.

It’s kind of a milestone of forward movement: I’m lower than the weight I was when I first changed jobs, which means, I’m lower than the weight I was when I fell off the wagon on my last weight-loss kick.  In the past two weeks, I’ve also finished the bathroom and bedroom painting, laid the floor for the bedroom, and begun painting the hallway and living room.  I’ve also finally committed to a statement of purpose for grad school and <gasp> mailed it.

That was last Tuesday. I keep checking the website to see if it’s been accepted but not yet.

Today’s going to be busy. I’ve run out of essentials (i.e., milk, Splenda, and COFFEE!) and I’ll be doing laundry for most of the day. I also need to get moving on the painting in the living room so I can figure out the complementary colors.

And I’m going to church for our final service.

Our church voted for dissolution which is a bit bittersweet for me.  There were too many unanswered questions in money management — there was too much hurt and anger that had half the congregation leaving. I had stopped going months ago, where I was first put on the spot about money I had given to the church and then addressed publicly for it in front of other people.

Because of that and because I think my spiritual journey has taken a different direction, it wasn’t home for me anymore.  It was no longer “Practical Christianity.”

But still I hate to see it go.

The classes I took through the church, Course in Miracles, I of the Storm, Living in Transition, all of them have definitely bettered me. Hell, I was able to make it through my grandfather’s funeral without killing anyone thanks to I of the Storm.  The class was based on the book by Gary Simmons, and there were two main principles I took away with me:

1. No one and nothing is against me.

2. The four-step rule for dealing with one’s “enemies” is thus: love them, bless them, do good by them, and pray for them.

The first is based on the idea that 1) Everything real is of God and 2) If it is not of God, it is not real.  Everything, despite appearances, is for our betterment if we approach it from that point.  Looking at the crises points of my life: terrible relationships, a hurricane, not able to find affordable rent afterwards,  relationships ending, other traumatic events, so on and so forth, I can see the good in everything in hind sight. Had I not experienced this, I would not have learned that, and I would not have become this.

I am definitely okay with what I have become, and, because of that, I am most grateful for those crises points because without them, I would not be here, now.

The four-step is simply this: Love them for what they truly are, children of God. Bless them by wishing the best for them (although, I must admit, sometimes I wish that the best for them involves their being on the other side of the planet). Do good by them: When given a chance, always do good, never bad. Don’t gossip, don’t relive hurts, don’t sabotage them. Praying for them is simply turning them over to God.

When faced with people who definitely did not do good by my grandparents, I found myself in the coffee room of the funeral home chanting the mantra “Love, bless, do good, pray” over and over.  I couldn’t quite DO the actions, but just saying it over and over kept me from losing it during a very difficult time.

And sometimes I lose track of these two tenets, but they’ve changed my baggage-load considerably.

Whatever happened with the church, with the minister and board of directors, it doesn’t matter.  They were exactly what I needed at the time that they appeared. And now that they’re disappearing, so to speak, it’s evident that I no longer need them.

I love them for what they’ve done for me — for the school of thought they’ve exposed me to.  I bless them and wish them all the best; I hope they find whatever it is their heart desires. I will do good by them by attending the final service with a good heart, and I will pray for them.

Their journey is not mine; I’m just glad I was able to walk with them a little while.