Turning the Page

We like to be self-reliant, but at times we need help, so we need a rescue plan.     I got stuck in the mud a few days ago. I had been driving my small truck in the countryside and decided to do a u-turn. I crossed over the road and on to the soil and I got stuck in the mud. I hadn’t realised that it was so wet and mucky. I instantly stopped, as I knew that if I kept trying to get out, I would just dig myself in further.   Read further here   Support Turning the Page. Give

Our brains can keep reminding us. ‘My Sin is Ever Before Me’ writes the poet, but what if we had a purifier?   Read more here 

I’ve got too much going on in my life, but I want to keep my life simple, so I discard the complex.   He’s a fictional character and I like the freedom he has. His name is Jack reacher and is the creation of Lee Child. Jack Reacher has the life of a nomad. He wanders from town to town and solves problems, generally with a lot of violence. That part is not what I’m keen on, but there is something unique about his life. It’s extremely simple. He travels mostly by hitchhiking, and all he carries is an ATM Card and a toothbrush. That’s all. If he needs new clothes, he buys them. He doesn’t carry a bag or even a cell phone. He is free from all the possessions that we would normally call essential. His possessions don’t own him. Sounds good doesn’t it? Maybe, but he doesn’t have a spouse, girlfriend, kids or relational commitments. It’s a simple life, which has an appeal, but it’s a life of a loner. Does this appeal to something in you?  Is there something within you that would love to walk away from the complexity of stuff? I’ve shifted house three times in the last three years and I have got rid of a lot of things. Trailer loads. It’s freeing. It’s liberating to cut your life down to the minimum. I don’t think I will ever get to the ‘Jack Reacher’ phase, although I wouldn’t mind trying it for a few weeks to see what it would be like.   https://turningthepage.co.nz/keep-my-life-simple/   https://turningthepage.co.nz/writing-that-connects/   https://turningthepage.co.nz/give/  

Being caught in a trap was felt by the poet who wrote ‘The Snares of Death Encompassed Me’, but they had a way out.    I was recently watching one of those ‘survival’ reality T.V. shows where people are thrown into the wilderness and they have to survive. The show was called ‘Alone’ and was in Tasmania, Australia. To survive, they had to catch their own food and build their own shelter, etc. One contestant decided to try to catch a Pademelon which is like a tiny kangaroo. So he made a snare trap  A snare trap is basically a rope noose that, when an animal passes through, it triggers the rope to tighten quickly around the animal and it is caught and can’t escape. The hunter can then come and kill the animal. But imagine the sense of being trapped by a rope. A rope that has grabbed you and you can’t get free. The more you struggle, the tighter it gets. It might even be a net, and you are knotted into the mesh of the net. Your heart is thumping. You’ve lost control and freedom. Enter a poet who has been in that place.   read more here Give a donation here 

I need wisdom ointment, but so much ointment contains flies. Wisdom that comes from above, wisdom that is pure and holy.   I was visiting a friend the other day, and she noticed I had some eczema on my hand. It had been there a few days and was slightly irritated and red. She offered to rub some ointment into the skin. I gladly accepted. Touch is a wonderful thing, especially when it regards a skin disease. She gently worked in the ointment and I could feel the pain ease away. I almost teared up because someone had noticed, cared and offered ointment and love. I checked out the tube of ointment she had taken a small dab of ointment from. Looking over the ingredients, I noticed that there were no dead flies in the mix. There were no ‘flies in the ointment’ as such. It’s a funny litt   le saying, but I think it comes from the wisdom writings of Ecclesiastes. Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a foul odour; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honour. Ecclesiastes 10:1 The eczema is no longer there, but maybe the touch and the offering of wisdom to pain remains. So I wrote a poem!   Read more here

We all have painful experiences in life, but redeemed pain is more impressive than removed pain. What good can be found within in our pain?   Sometimes I am given a gift voucher. It has no value tangibly in itself. It is but a piece of plastic the size of a credit card. The value lies within what has been loaded onto it. Some kind person has placed a dollar value into its electronic magnetic memory (don’t ask me how this works). Then, if I remember that I have this card and the money on it, I can go to a store and ‘redeem’ the value of what has been placed on this card. I can exchange the card and receive back something good.  We don’t use the word ‘redeem’ very much but it comes from the two words re- ‘back’ + emere ‘buy’. Redeem means to ‘buy back’.  I present the card and the shop owner buys it back to the value placed on the card. I would like to suggest you have a card in our purse or wallet and on it contains all the painful experiences you have had. Ouch, for some this card would have a lot of weight to it. A lot of energy, grief, pain, loss, anger, resentment, bitterness, etc is locked up in that card. That card is heavy and you carry it around with you everywhere you go. It eats away at us. It changes us. The thinking patterns in our brain are trained by this burden. What can be done with the energy of this pain?   Read more here Give to Turning the Page 

We all have pain and we want the pain to stop, but the pain is telling us something. What if we could identify the pain and stop the suicide slide?    It’s pain and we want it to stop. It could be physical pain from body ailments, but it could also be pain coming from traumas past and present. Grief, loss, anger, loneliness, the daily stress load of life that causes us to slump. It’s pain. Recently I learned something about pain. For the past year, I’ve had a sore back. I would take panadol at night to help me sleep. I also went to a physiotherapist and did exercises. All of which helped a little, but not completely. I was living was in a rented cottage on a farm. I had been living and working there for quite a while. But then I got the news in April 2023 that it would be sold. So many unknowns.   read more here 

The practices of your week and day may drain your life, but what practices restore your soul? ‘Oh, that’s so good for the soul’ Sometimes I hear people say that. Sometimes I say it myself. It’s that moment when you feel a restoring of something drained out of you. You feel like your energy tank has been topped up. Often, this comes as a result of a practice or an activity that you do. Practice – something you regularly do. An activity, habit, or custom. What are some practices that restore the soul? What do you do that helps restore your inner life? Read the post here

Life and activity can drain our mental health, but there are places to restore. Take notice and soak in them. There is a place I want to go to. The gardens are beautiful. Full of colour all year round. Fruit trees are full of ripe fruit ready to be eaten. There are beaches sparkling with shells and sand. Fish swim in the sea and there are waves perfect for surfing. The sunrises and sunsets are magical. Soft tender hues changing every minute. The food that is provided is tasty, nutritious, and good. Large tables for abundant parties but also little tables for intimate connections. The beds provided are perfect to sink into and you fall into a deep, secure sleep. Soft music and perfumes fill the air. Your favourite people are there too. Friends, family, soulmates, all enjoying the dance. A place to restore the soul.   Read more here

Some people can help you restore. Some you need to put out of the room. What are six qualities of people that restore the soul? Life can give you a battering at times, but there are some people that seem to be able to come alongside and help you restore. I didn’t need advice or problem solving. I didn’t want someone to tell me ‘It will be alright.’ I simply needed someone to be there. To be a strand of the community nest that I was in. I have lots of people in my life. Most are helpful and supportive. Some I have some firm boundaries around because they can be quite hurtful. But there are some people that, in my darkest moments, when my cup of life has drained out, are the ones that will come and empower me to restore. In this series about restoring the soul, I suggest that there are three ‘P’s’ needed to restore the soul. The first of these is people.   Read more here

The soul can get completely drained, but what restores the soul? What can bring it back to life? People, places, and practices.  Life can be draining. Too much going or too much has gone on. Now it feels like the energy tank is on ‘E’. Empty, Exhausted and not Enough. You have nothing in reserve and you know that tomorrow will probably be the same. This has become a pattern. You give and give. You know you can’t give out of an empty cup, but it feels like the smallest of droplets in the cup are being absorbed away by someone else’s tissue paper.   read more here

Are you scared to receive? To receive might just undo a carefully constructed sense of being in control, but little drops of love open the rustiest of doors.  I know someone who is very generous to me. In fact, this website and my ability to get content out is only possible due to their technical wisdom and support. He has a very generous lifestyle. But what is it like to receive when you know you know that you can’t respond in like fashion? We live in a very transactional world. You do this for me and so I must do that for you You work so many hours and so here is the financial compensation for the giving of that energy. You do the crime; you do the time You made your bed now you have to sleep on it It’s justice and retribution, not mercy and grace Black and White In or out We like it that way because we like straight lines. Fairness, balance, correctness, energy out, energy in. And then someone says ‘I love you’ and you have no words to respond.   Read this further here  Sign up for my weekly email full of help for your Mental Health, Faith and Spiritual Formation. FOLLOW ME! Email me: barry@turningthepage.co.nz Website: https://turningthepage.co.nz/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/turningthepage1atatime Twitter: https://twitter.com/barrypearman Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barry_pearman/ Podcast https://turningthepage.co.nz/podcast-listen-mental-health/ Support Turning the Page with a Donation https://turningthepage.co.nz/give/

Ive had more than enough of being held in contempt, but when I know divine approval, I can rise again.     It was like they were at the bottom of the pecking order and being held there. People had contempt for them. The word ‘contempt’ is one we don’t often use. To be ‘held in contempt’, in a general sense, simply means that a person is despised or strongly disapproved of. I was recently sent this image of what I believe is to be a young girl. What do you see in the image? What is her story? Why is she there? https://turningthepage.co.nz/ive-had-more-than-enough-of-being-held-in-contempt/

The stress load was too much to handle, but they knew what to do, so they took action and calmed the stress load down.   It was just getting too much, and I could feel it in my body. This was the experience from last weekend when I had a very busy social time. Meeting new people, trying out new things, and so much change that my introvert self was longing for seclusion, or to simply have some quiet time with just one person. I withdrew a little, had a break, and now my cup has been restored. The important thing was that I recognised this, was able to communicate my needs, and give myself self care. What stresses you? What fills your cup and what drains it? Do you know when the stress load is too much or it’s getting near its ‘camel straw’ breaking point? I know you’re not a camel. Camels never read my blog posts, but as the saying goes ‘It’s the final straw that breaks the camel’s back’ So how is your back? What sized load are you carrying and what could be a final straw?   https://turningthepage.co.nz/when-the-stress-is-too-much/

The cold wind of rejection can bite deep, but we are not alone. God knows rejection and can give us perspective and a new home of acceptance.  I don’t think there is such a cold wind as the wind of rejection. I don’t want you in my life. You’re not welcome here. Go away. I’ve seen someone, who I thought was a friend, turn their whole body to look another way to avoid any form of connection. Rejection is a saying you’re not worthy of my connection. That you don’t matter. Where have you felt the cutting wind of rejection? I know you will have because it’s part of the fabric of our humanity. But how do you handle it? What have you learned? How much rejection have you faced into?   Read more here  Sign up to newsletter here