Greetings

Inhale. Feel the breath, coming into your body, expanding your ribs. Exhale. Let it all go. Let’s do it one more time. Inhale. Expand. Exhale. Surrender. Welcome to a Hit of Hope. I read somewhere once about a greeting they use, I think it was in Applachia. And the greeting is, “What’s learnin’ ya, what’s workin’ ya?” This is a more interesting greeting, and more importantly, implies genuine care.

Transcript

Inhale,

Feel the breath coming into your body,

Expanding your ribs.

Exhale and let it all go.

Let's do that one more time.

Inhale and expand.

Exhale and surrender.

Welcome to a hit of hope.

I read somewhere once about a greeting they use.

I think it was in Appalachia.

And the greeting is,

What's learnin' ya?

What's workin' ya?

That's a far more interesting greeting than,

Hi,

How are you?

Because when we ask,

How are you,

Nine times out of ten,

We'll get and give answers like,

Fine,

Or pretty good.

And those answers might be true,

Or they might not.

The person might really want to say,

Awful,

Things are so hard right now,

I can barely breathe.

But hi,

How are you is meant to keep things superficial.

Easy breezy.

But if we were to ask,

What's learnin' ya?

What's workin' ya?

It sounds like we might really care about what's going on inside the other person,

About the hard things that they might be facing in their life.

If we were to ask that,

We would give the other person an opening,

A chance to declare what it is they are wrestling with right now.

What's learnin' ya?

It might be how to do less and be more.

What's workin' ya?

It might be how to let go.

What's learnin' ya?

It might be that the only thing you can control is yourself.

What's workin' ya?

It might be all of the uncertainty swirling around in your life,

Or that you have these shadows inside.

Things that you don't like,

Things that feel dark and clinging,

Hard to admit,

But everyone has them.

Okay,

So it might be easiest to stick with,

Hi,

How are you?

Because if we go with,

What's learnin' ya?

What's workin' ya?

There is something more,

Much more,

Required of both people.

First of all,

It takes courage for the person to answer,

Because to answer those questions requires an authenticity,

A rawness,

A realness to say,

Here are the things I'm struggling with right now.

But it also requires that the person who asks these questions be present and listen,

Not just hear,

Not be in a rush to get somewhere else.

You must,

As Saint Benedict says,

Listen with the ear of your heart.

Now it can be just fine to say,

Hi,

How are you,

Because sometimes that's all we have time for.

But other times,

We want to connect.

We want to be heard.

We want to know that we are not alone in struggling with our humanness.

What's learnin' ya?

For me right now,

It's how to be alone.

What's workin' ya?

For me right now,

It's how to let go of that which no longer serves me.

Inhale.

Exhale.

May you find strength and courage as you live with what's learnin' ya and what's workin' ya.

Namaste.

Reviews

Very thought provoking. I usually try to listen to body language in their response to “How are you?” But I’ve been conditioned not to inquire because it might be very personal and the might not have the tools to have a short saying they’re having trouble but the don’t want to elaborate.
I’ve been in awkward situations where I want to ask, and they want to reply, but I want them to know that respect their privacy and I’m not pressing, but I care. But I don’t know how to say it shorter than I just did and more eloquently.
Thank you Very much for this.
Wishing you blessings and everyone on the journey.
Warmly,
Anne

I loved this, thank you

Thanks for the laugh, thats workn!
Nice new pic by-the-way.

Betsy, YOU. ARE. NOT. ALONE.
I know you feel like you are, but you aren't. We all love you because you are A FUCKING WARRIOR and you inspire so many people. I know you don't want to be in the situation you're in, you just want to be "normal" but look at what you've done with your pain and suffering and rage and sorrow. You've become a hero and you've changed lives. When you cry remember all of us who cry with you.

"She's sowing seeds, she's burning trees, she's a Supergirl" 💪

Namaste beautiful soul 🙏🌟

What's learnin me: getting better at focusing in my daily life, not just the minutes on my proverbial cushion. What's workin me: getting back to walking & other exercise following a hip replacement (yay!) in August. Thinking about what I'm learnin & workin has helped me see what is important to me right now. Thank you again for your creative and thought-provoking talks & meditations!

Good morning Betsy, what is working you, what is learning you? You are amazing.. I love to listen to you to your anology and to your perspective on life, perfecto!🧡😇🧡

Beautiful Words of wisdom....thankyou
Taken to ❤!

WOW 🤩 simple phrases that changed my day. Namaste 🙏🏾

So wonderfully spot on, as usual. Much gratitude. 🙏

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you for being vulnerable.
When I first got sick and people asked the ? Hi how are you.....I didnt know how to answer....should I give them the full story, shouls I say fine. I asked my doctorwhat O should say as I wanted to be honest about my health but not negative or depressing😉
She' s from the USA ...after saying things like "tell them you are improving and are under your dr's care" She said I didnt need to go into it in depth as after they had asked they would walk off and be involved in their day and move on from our conversation. I am not sure that is the case for all who enquired but it reassured me at the time. It's a pity we live in such a fast paced world..where texts are a way of NOT talking.
I think she was right to some degree for most who asked..ut was just a polite greeting and the answer really wasn't that important

Thank you very much. Interesting and insightful.