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Meditations on God

  • Robert Van Valkenburgh

  • Managing Sensitivity

    Sensitivity is not weakness.

    Quite the opposite, actually.

    To be sensitive is to feel more, and to feel more deeply.

    It is to experience the world more intensely and through a thinner, more porous barrier than others.

    But to be sensitive also requires a greater degree of self care because sensitive people do not typically get to choose when and to what they are sensitive.

    When everything is experienced more intensely, life can become overwhelming.

    The world can feel hostile to the senses.

    Boundaries must be established to protect oneself from becoming overstimulated, overwhelmed, and burned out.

    Time must be taken to step back, to process one’s experiences, and to recharge from life’s interactions.

    But from this place of healthily managed sensitivity, something intensely beautiful and moving can emerge, for sensitivity interpreted and presented back to the world is art.

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    July 7, 2023
    art, boundaries, creativity, health, sensitive, sensitivity

  • Let Go Of Anger

    It is normal to be angered by things you feel are unfair or unjust.

    No one is happy or at peace all of the time.

    It is a mistake, however, to allow your anger to guide your decisions.

    Anger clouds your judgement and blinds you to the truth.

    Anger also divides you, not only from the people around you, but also from yourself.

    When you are angry, you cannot think clearly, but you also cannot feel clearly.

    Because anger is selfish; it demands all of your attention.

    It gives nothing while taking everything.

    Anger leaves no room for anything or anyone else.

    For this reason, anger is meant to be felt temporarily.

    It is a flame inside you that burns hot and fast.

    If you attempt to hold onto it, not only will it burn you, but it will begin consuming you as fuel.

    When you experience anger, experience it, learn from it, and then let it go.

    If you choose to hold onto it, it will hold onto you.

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    July 6, 2023
    anger, happiness, peace

  • Participate Playfully

    Allow life to happen around you.

    Let people be who they are.

    Observe without judgement or criticism.

    Participate playfully, but do not interfere.

    Be yourself, unabashedly and unashamedly.

    Be inspired.

    Be inspiring.

    Do not hesitate.

    Run toward your fears.

    Run into the darkness.

    Find your light there and let it shine.

    Be yourself, enthusiastically.

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    July 5, 2023
    be yourself, enthusiasm, express yourself, play, self expression

  • Allocating Internal Resources

    In our youth, we feel as if our internal resources are infinite.

    It feels like we will live forever and can do just about anything.

    As you get older, however, you begin to realize that you have a limited amount of time, energy, and attention to give away each day.

    And when you reach your capacity, when you have no more of yourself to give, in order to add some new task, goal, or relationship to your life, something else must be sacrificed.

    The resources you need for this new focus must come from somewhere and so, in order to add some new thing to your life, you will have to give less of yourself in some other area.

    If you do not withdraw your time, energy, or attention from some external aspect of your life, you will be pulling from the resources that should be reserved for your health.

    And this is unsustainable.

    You must, therefore, learn how to prioritize the allocation of your internal resources, and to give less of yourself to that which matters least so that you can give more of yourself to that which matters most.

    This means learning how to say, “No.”

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    July 4, 2023
    attention, energy, health, healthy relationships, resources, time

  • Deciding To Be Happy

    If you are waiting for other people to behave the way you want before you are happy, you will never be happy.

    The world and its people will rarely, if ever, do exactly what you want.

    Even if things do go exactly as you had hoped, you are still not guaranteed to be happy.

    While your experiences and your relationships obviously play a large role in how you feel, your happiness cannot and should not be entirely contingent upon external factors.

    Separate from your expectations, regardless of outcomes, and often in spite of what others say or do, you must decide to be happy.

    You will not always be happy simply because you decide to be, but if you do not make that decision, if you are waiting for some circumstance, relationship, or event to come your way before you find peace, joy, and contentment, you will be continually disappointed.

    Make a decision to be happy now and, when life lets you down, re up on that decision as many times as is necessary until it becomes reality.

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    July 3, 2023
    choice, decisions, happiness

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