Not very spiritual? Living in chaos? Here is what to do
Or what a guy from Gladwin, MI does to keep from losing his mind
Sometimes people send me messages asking me how I keep myself sorted out here in Israel-Palestine, working, being a parent, keeping up with language studies, and trying to do some sort of advocacy in a climate where everything is easily dismissed as “alternative facts.”
Well, the truth is, I am not so sure how sorted out I am. But I can say there are a few helpful things I do to stay grounded.
The things I do are pretty practical and straightforward, yet they are things that I can dismiss easily. First thing, I try to wake up every morning and do some spiritual reading, have a cup of coffee, and say a little prayer before I leave the house. I try to walk to work rather than hitch a ride, and when I get to work, I try to respond to all my emails in my email box first thing. At lunchtime, I try to leave my phone alone and read another little piece of literature that’s non-political, and I try to re-cap my day in a little journal and then say another little prayer before I pass out.
Now, what this looks like in your head and how I actually perform this is probably dramatically different. When I read my spiritual book in the morning, often it’s still when I am in bed half asleep. Sometimes I skip that step and end up reading my little book with one sock on and one off while sipping my cup of coffee.
When I pray in the morning, it’s not in some transcendental nook of the house with incense burning, but instead when I am bent over trying to wrestling on my old pair of Red Wing work boots. I usually mumble something along the lines of, “God, please help me not get strangled with resentments today.” Or, if it’s a day when I have my son Alex, it’s something along the lines of, “God, I am so thankful for this little guy in my life. Help me be the best dad I can be today.”
The walk to work is all uphill. It’s like a 35-degree grade. So by the time I make it to the office, I already feel like Rocky Balboa and am feeling pretty accomplished.
I like to get to work before and answer my emails first thing before the stress of life piles on, because I know it’s best to try write to others with a good spirit and not rush through it. I try to remember that each email I have isn’t a “task” but a real person, who is dealing with their load of stress. It reminds me that my relationships are a priority in doing this work well.
At lunch time I go to this little Palestinian bakery down the road. It’s down a little back alleyway, and Abu Issa speaks only Arabic, so it’s good for practice. But it also isn’t a very busy place, and in fact, I often wonder how he manages to stay open. But with that bit of solitude comes to space to regroup just a bit midway through the day.
At night time I jot down a few lines in my journal. Sometimes it’s something simple, and sometimes it’s something longer. But it all kinds of puts things into perspective. I remember growing up my dad would always tell me, “Cody, you know, most problems you have will just die of neglect.” What he meant by that, is that these existential crises I like to fashion myself being it, a lot of times they just pass. I look back in my journal, and he’s almost always right. The problems that I was having a year ago just disappeared.
I’ve been told over and over in life to be grateful for the thing I have. My old buddy Clint Kern would always say, “Don’t forget the little things that make you happy Cody.”
I always give a few thanks for my son, because I recognize not everybody is in a position to be the father they want to be.
