Category: Words To Live By

I had a strange pea-sized reddish-looking spot on my face that appeared over night a bunch of weeks ago. And no, it wasn’t a pimple. But man you would have thought the world was ending by the way I acted about it the entire time it was there. When it finally disappeared a few weeks later, whatever it was, I realized I still had some serious vanity issues I needed to deal with.

My vanity definitely began growing up in a family where how we looked and how we presented ourselves was far more important than working on our spiritual conditions within. Each of us in our own way spent more time in front of a mirror, with maybe the exception of my father, than we did looking at the things inside of ourselves that truly needed to be worked on.

As I grew older and left home, this only became exacerbated once I came out of the closet because for some reason how one looked seemed to be the most important thing with the majority of the gay culture. So as all my character defects began to glare more and more with each passing year, the only thing that really remained important to me was how I looked, especially my face.

Yes, I know that’s pretty vain. But for the longest time, it’s all I knew. I thought that as long as I looked attractive, people would want to be around me, date me, and be a part of my life. I never actually put much thought to the idea that maybe if I worked on my spiritual condition, it too might attract people to me, but ones that were far healthier for my life.

Over the past three years this is precisely what I’ve done, work on my spiritual condition. And while that has vastly improved along with my character defects greatly being reduced in the process, there obviously remains one unhealthy trait I haven’t been able to fully remove yet. That of course is my vanity and it’s something that became extremely clear to me for the several weeks I had that large red spot on my face.

In all honesty, I must have looked at it in the mirror dozens of times every day, placing tea tree oil and various other concoctions on it all with the hope it would disappear as quick as possible. The only thing all of that did though was make it look even worse, to the point where I had a mini meltdown when a friend at a meeting looked at me and said “What happened to your face?” It was then I ultimately started to accept the fact I had a problem with this unwanted trait.

Yes I realize I’m not getting any younger and as the years go on, I know more things are going to appear on my face and body, such as liver spots, moles, and various other signs of aging. This is specifically why I decided to write about this, because for me, the first step is admitting I’m powerless over something as silly as a red spot on my face and vanity itself.

I think the key for me on where to go from here with this character defect is to continue improving my spiritual condition. Because ultimately I fully believe that the closer I grow to my Higher Power, the less I’m going to ever become concerned with how I look on the outside. After all, I’m finding that as I continue to walk further and further along a spiritual path, what’s on the inside is really all that matters…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

I look for signs of communication from my Higher Power everywhere these days. Not too long ago through I thought the God of my understanding only communicated with me through a message at a church service or maybe through a friend. But I’ve come to believe if God truly is omnipresent, then why can’t God talk to me in plenty of other ways such as through a sparrow in my backyard.

Recently I was sitting in a chair there, contemplating life and questioning how much longer I can endure these health issues I’ve been facing, when I suddenly tuned into a repetitive and very loud chirp nearby. I looked around for its source and noticed high up in the utility pole in the corner of my backyard sat a sparrow.

Chirp Chirp Chirp Chirp Chirp Chirp Chirp Chirp Chirp.

Given my frustration with my pain levels, I began to direct all of it upon this tiny sparrow as I watched it start to quickly build a nest between some wiring and cylinders on the pole. Any bit of peace and serenity I was trying to find out there in my backyard was somehow being eradicated with each and every one of its chirps. That’s when I decided it was becoming an unnecessary extension of my pain and proceeded to call the electrical company to come and remove the nesting that was there. I claimed it was a fire hazard and sure enough they came that very evening and looked at me like it was the most ridiculous call they had ever been sent to. In all honesty, it probably was looking back at this whole experience now. Anyway, the nesting was removed and I was promptly informed it was never a fire hazard in the first place. I was also told I could simply use a leaf blower the next time it happened.

Ironically, or maybe not so ironically, the innocent sparrow immediately returned to rebuilding its nest as soon as the electrical company worker left. Over the next few days I continued to direct my irritation over how I felt with my health upon this sparrow. Again and again I used my leaf blower, just as the power company had suggested, and blew any nesting away that was there. All of this started weighing heavily upon me though on one of those specific days after I had gone up my ladder for the umpteenth time and done that very action.

As I watched the sparrow not give up and hastily start rebuilding its nest yet again, I felt sad, wondering how I’d feel if I were it and my home kept getting destroyed. But even more importantly, as I looked around at all the utility poles nearby, I noticed not one of them had a single nest in it, which made me think there might be a deeper message here coming from my Higher Power than just feeling sad about a bird.

What if this sparrow’s determination to build its nest was a message for me to not give up in my own determination to heal given all the prayers I’ve sent to God lately due to my pain?

What if the message was to just keep on doing what I’ve been doing day after day after day to heal?

Simply put, maybe the nest I’ve been building for a while now is a healthier me. And maybe the main message here was to keep on building this nest like I have been, even when the wind blows, delivering me days of great pain, and knocking me down. I say all this because of how this story ends, at least with the sparrow.

After I came to acceptance that this might be a message my Higher Power was trying to communicate to me, I asked the sparrow to forgive me for my acts of control, sent it love and went back inside. A short time later, I decided to return outside and there sticking in my fence I have to open to enter my backyard was a piece of the bird’s nest. I instantly looked up and saw the bird happily making its nest grow bigger and bigger. That’s when I kneeled down on the ground and once again asked for forgiveness for the pain I had caused it, when suddenly it flew over to the gutter nearby and looked straight down at me. In that moment, while I can’t say that I heard its voice in human words, I felt in my heart a sense of peace and a thank you coming from this little sparrow.

As I watched it then fly back up to attending to its nest and soon to be breeding ground, I was glad I had kept my eye on the sparrow because it was through it that I truly believe God has been watching me…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

So many people tend to shy away from the practice of meditating, even though it can have numerous benefits for oneself. Often the most common reasons I hear from those who do avoid this practice appears to be the lack of time, the inability to sit still, or even just having an outright fear of even trying. Having practiced meditation for over a decade now, as well as having taught many meditation classes, I can safely say each of those reasons are coming from nothing more than the ego’s resistance to doing something unfamiliar.

Unfortunately too many of those who do shy away from ever learning about meditation seem to hold this belief that doing the practice means sitting in some uncomfortable position for long periods of time, being surrounded by candles, and chanting weird things. Sadly, most of them fail to realize that meditating is really just about doing any exercise that attempts to focus the mind. While I’m sure there are those out there who probably do meditate in strange positions surrounding themselves with candles, all the while chanting odd phrases, there are plenty of much simpler ways to do so.

For example, washing the dishes by hand can be a form of meditation if one focuses on doing that task and only that task. In other words, moving a soapy sponge around a plate or a glass or a cup or a bowl and thinking about nothing other than that action is actually a form of meditating. But doing the same action while listening to a television program or talking on a phone isn’t meditating at all, it’s doing what the brain normally does.

The truth is that each of our brains rapidly process thought after thought after thought. In fact, it is estimated that the average human being processes somewhere between 2,500 to 3,330 thoughts per hour. The whole point of meditation is to slow the mind way down to far less thoughts than that, except it’s quite hard to do in a world that’s so sped up with a “go, go, go” attitude.

The image I like to portray when it come to this type of attitude in life is that of a puppy. Have you ever been around one that can sit still for any period of time? I sure haven’t and that’s exactly what our brains are normally like. They run from thing to thing to thing, hardly ever sitting still. But quieting the mind though meditation can tame that puppy within us so to speak. And as the mind becomes more still on a regular basis, the benefits of doing so begin to occur. Here are just 25 of them (but there are so many more):

1. Increases exercise tolerance.
2. Leads to a deeper level of physical relaxation.
3. Reduces anxiety attacks.
4. It increases blood flow and slows the heart rate.
5. Decreases muscle tension.
6. Enhances the immune system.
7. Enhances energy, strength and vigor.
8. Improved flow of air to the lungs resulting in easier breathing.
9. Decreases the aging process.
10. Builds self-confidence.
11. Increases serotonin level, influences mood and behavior.
12. Resolves phobias & fears.
13. Helps with focus & concentration.
14. Increases creativity.
15. Increases productivity.
16. Increased emotional stability.
17. Helps in quitting addictions.
18. Helps to relieve insomnia.
19. Helps to discover one’s purpose.
20. Increased compassion.
21. Brings body, mind, and spirit in harmony.
22. Increased acceptance of oneself.
23. Helps living in the present moment.
24. Creates a widening, deepening capacity for love.
25. Experience a sense of “Oneness”
and a connection to God.

Now that I’ve explained a little bit about meditation and provided some of its benefits, let me get back to those three most common reasons why a person tends to shy away from ever doing this practice.

Did you know that meditating could be done in as little five minutes each day?

Did you know that a guided meditation could help those who have that inability to focus? (Yes, even people with ADD or ADHD.)

Did you know that fear and resistance of even trying to meditate can cause more stress in the body than actually trying it for a few minutes? (Which instead reduces that stress.)

The point I’m trying to make here is how the ego will consistently find any number of excuses to avoid doing something unfamiliar such as practicing meditation. This is true especially when the benefits of meditation don’t come immediately, as they come over time with consistent effort. Most humans want immediate benefits in that “go, go, go” attitude of life, but meditation is the exact opposite of that.

But don’t let this discourage you ok? I started off living in fear of even trying to meditate, until I gave myself 5 minutes, which turned into 10, then 20, and so on. Today I allocate 40 minutes each day to meditate using various techniques from breathing, to guided, to chanting, to awareness, to a few others.

The important thing is to just try. Try it for a few minutes ok? And know that even in walking along a beach and staring out at the ocean, focusing solely on the water and clearing the mind of everything else is doing a form of meditating. There’s really no need to be scared of it and know that in time, you too will see the numerous benefits that can come from regularly practicing meditation.

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson