Chris Henry Dead at 26

I live in the Greater Cincinnati area, and the news yesterday was all about Chris Henry, the Bengals wide receiver who died from a head injury sustained during a domestic dispute.  Like so many others, I found this story terribly sad.  Of course, I don't know the details, but I suspect that these two young people, Chris and his fiance, were both very angry.  He apparently leapt up on the truck she was driving away from him, and one witness said he threatened to let himself fall out.  At some point, he did in fact "come out of the truck."  Now he's dead.  His fiance, who's almost certainly not angry anymore, must be devastated by the loss and her role in it.  And their three children are left without a dad.  And why?  Because two adults let their anger control them, let their anger at each other take over, let their anger make them act like tantrum-throwing two-year-olds.  We've all been that angry.  It's destructive to us and to everyone we touch with it.  Somehow, we have to get hold of ourselves - the domestic disputes, the road rage, the shopping frenzy, the maintenance man who raped and tortured a tenant for hours to settle a score.  The stakes are too high to continue to indulge our emotions in these ways.  But thinking about doing something on the grand scale is overwhelming, at least to me.  So today, I pledge to pay attention to my own anger/irritation.  If it comes up, I'll welcome and witness it, then ask it what it's trying to tell me.  And then I'll take action from a place of strength not terror or fury.  Today, at least.

Rest in peace, Chris Henry
Blessing to him and all his family

Hello Again

I haven't posted in over a week, and I'm not sure why exactly.  I've started several posts that I just haven't finished.  Some of the thoughts I want to express feel profound, and I bog down when I try to convey properly.  So I haven't posted anything at all.  Hmmm . . . . I know at least one thing that is not conducive to personal peace:  perfectionism.  Perfectionism can show up in my life as a fear of looking stupid, a fear of wasting my time, a fear of failing, a fear of succeeding.  It's been a handy excuse for just not trying very hard sometimes.  But there are plenty of other things that are also not conducive to personal peace:  not being fully present in one's life, not fully expressing oneself, not stretching and growing.  So at least for today, I'm going to choose to show up, be present, express myself, and maybe stretch a little.  Stay tuned for the next post.