How we embody everything.

Having a rough day? Too much to do and not enough time? Overwhelmed by anxiety for no particular reason or some seemingly terrible reason?

If only we could harness the mental energy that anxiety produces and transform it into electricity…

The hardest thing to do on days in which our minds seem to be overwhelmed by activity and stress is to remember the life that is us. I define “re-membering” as reminding ourselves of who we really are.

“Remember that you are all people and that all people are you.”

As you read this post, remember that in our world there are 884 million people who still don’t have access to clean water. 2.6 billion people lack basic sanitation. Tens of thousands of people—including children—are trafficked for prostitution every day. Millions of people live in countries where basic human rights are trampled upon every day.

Remember Bibi Aisha, an Afghan woman who was forced to marry at age 12. A victim of domestic abuse, she ran away from her husband. He cut off her nose and ears and left her to die.

We are Bibi. We embody her courage and strength. We embody her determination to be free.

“Remember that you are this universe and that this universe is you.”

Remember the beauty of our home in the universe:

The Earth is changing in ways that we can’t seem to fully acknowledge or understand completely. We forget that we pollute the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land we live on. And yet we embody the rivers, the oceans, the plains, the mountains, the skies, the flora and fauna—all in need of care and respect.

“Remember the dance that language is, that life is.”

We embody the exuberance of dolphins dancing in open waters, even if it is hard to feel that some days.

Re-member.

You are much more than your thoughts, feelings and ideas. You embody awareness.

One of the most difficult things to remember is to remember to remember. Awareness begins with remembering what we tend to forget. ~ Stephen Batchelor

* This post was inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings on inter-being, his poem, Please Call Me By My True Names, and Joy Harjo’s poem, Remember. The three headings in quotes are lines from Joy Harjo’s poem.