Discarded

Welcome to a Hit of Hope, and just so you know, this one is a more personal musing than a true meditation. So if you are looking for more traditional meditation, you might look somewhere else.
I was recently at a church garage sale, and at it, I saw a stuffed animal sitting on top of a pile of other old toys. Some of the toys were missing arms. Most of them were smudged. And the lion had seen its share of wear and tear.

Transcript

Here we are again,

Breathing in,

Breathing out,

Centering ourselves,

Letting what was and what will be go.

Breathe in,

Breathe out.

Welcome to a hit of hope.

I was recently at a church garage sale,

And while I was at it,

I saw a stuffed animal sitting on top of a pile of other old toys.

Some of them were missing arms,

Most of their faces were smudged,

And the stuffed lion had seen its share of wear and tear.

It was the exact same kind of lion that I had once brought home for my child when I was on a trip.

And as I stood there,

I smiled and was sad at the same time.

I smiled because I remembered the joy on my child's face when I handed over the brand new lion.

I smiled because I remembered how it felt to hold my child in my lap.

I smiled because I am so proud of all this child has become.

But I also grew sad because that child now towers over me.

Any lap holding would now crush me.

I miss that.

But the more I thought about it,

The more I realized the real reason I grew sad is because I have felt like that stuffed lion,

Discarded,

No longer worthy of keeping.

And for the longest time,

I was sure that had everything to do with me.

That if I had just stayed shiny and new,

If I had just done this or that,

Then all would be well.

But no matter what we do,

We cannot stop what I recently referred to as the din of crumbling in a poem I wrote.

So if I cannot stop the din of crumbling,

Then should I remain hopeless?

Will I always be the discarded,

The thing let go?

Hold that thought.

I have also recently heard about the quarter turn.

This means that when you face a problem,

You often go at it in the same way,

Pushing,

Pushing,

And never making any progress.

But if you do a quarter turn,

If you face the problem from a different direction,

Might you see it differently?

Might you then have a new understanding and be able to deal with it?

If I cannot stop the din of crumbling,

Then yes,

I could remain hopeless and be certain that I will be the thing discarded on top of a pile of other broken and battered things.

But if I do a quarter turn,

I can see that while I am not perfect,

I am also worthy of being looked at with love,

Grace,

And kindness,

No matter what state I am in.

I think that bears repeating,

And I hope you can hear it this time.

You are not perfect,

And yet you are worthy of being looked at with love,

Grace,

And kindness,

No matter what state you are in.

Believe that,

Trust in that,

Let that truth sink into the very center of your being,

Because it's true.

Even a torn plastic bag caught in the branch of a tree can be beautiful as it plays with the invisible wind.

Namaste.

Reviews

Ah, perfectly paced, soothing balm to my soul.
Short & sweet.

You are amazing. Thank for thos and all your beautiful meditations and poetry! 🧡🧡🧡

Very touching. Thank you for repeating that line at the end, and meaning it.

Your visual storytelling is remarkable.

I needed to hear this now. Thank you.

Nineteen years ago, I brought my lovely Jacquelynn an adorable stuffed bear when she was under the weather. She never again voluntarily slept without her little Beau Beau. He traveled with us, he went to the hospital with her, and he stayed by her side in the nursing home. Many months before her death, in a rare moment of complete lucidity, she begged me to make sure he stayed with her when she passed, and I kept that promise.
I came upon a photo this evening of her with Beau Beau in her arms, and had barely dried the tears from my face when I opened the app and saw you had posted a new meditation.
Without hesitation, I knew instinctually it would be completely relevant to my day.
Your trademark eloquent brevity drives the point home like a 16-penny nail; I had rarely ever felt worthy of grace and light, but she showed me better. SO much better than I ever imagined. I still struggle with feeling worthy, but, when I turn my heart toward it, I know that EVERYONE ELSE truly is, so who am I to think I, uniquely in all creation, am not?

Thank you, Betsy. Your timing is incredible.

Again.

Perfect. Bookmarked and following you. I love your stuff. Speaks to th heart.

So helpful. Thank you.

Much love and Gratitude. My son, that I hadn't seen in 15years. recently came to visit and tell me of things I could not have imagined, I love him more. TY Betsy 💚🙏🥀

This is just what I needed to hear. Thank you I'm bookmarking this.

Aw, made me cry. Beautiful. Thank you!

Wow! That was so profoundly beautiful, and very touching.
My son also towers over me. Im grateful he's a happy man now.

Thank you for sharing... That was amazing & just what I needed to hear. 💜

Beautiful 💖. Thank you so much .

Be the beauty.
Be the past, the present and the future.
Be infinite.
But know this...
YOU
ARE
ALWAYS
ENOUGH

Namaste Betsy 🙏🌟

Thank you so much, I have felt like that discarded toy as well.

Beautiful, and exactly what I needed this morning,thank you.

A powerful tool to help with our journeys of self-compassion, worthiness, and acceptance of our own imperfection. This goes on my To Repeat Often list, where so many of Betsy's meditations & talks already are. Namaste, Betsy, and thank you.

Beautiful sentiments