Being faithful

faithful  (adj)  having faith; remaining true, constant or loyal

Health wise for me, last year was a strange one. Nothing major (thankful for that), but I kept getting one thing after another. Mostly digestive related, which is where I tend to internalize my feelings. I came to the conclusion (finally I heard the voice yelling at me), that I should start to meditate (again). It is one of my resolutions, and I hope I don't jinx it by making it one.

I was introduced to the art of meditation when I was 14 years old, thanks to one of my mother's friends.  Unfortunately, I didn't quite understand it at that time and struggled with many aspects of it, for instance; I thought it was supposed to calm me and it didn't, and I was even more restless. So to make a long story short, the seed was planted at that time, but it would take me a while until I could properly understand it.

I think we all have issues, right?  I'm not getting into mine here (most are still painful, plus I'm not ready to share), but I do have a lot of them.  Meditation helps me in a way that no other thing does. It has been 5 years since the last time I sat to meditate, and I really need to find the balance of mind and body. Every little helps in my case, and it became quite clear why my illnesses happened and what I need to do about it.

Not that meditation has anything to do with religion, but I will just explain a bit because in my case I do find that they go together (meditation and buddhism that is).

I was raised catholic (btw), but since a very young age I became completely attracted to buddhism, which was a big NO in my house. I learned to pray the rosary with my grandmother (it is something I still do, occasionally), and my interest in buddhism never left me. It has been a "constant" in my life. I am not a buddhist btw (I do have dreams about it, but that will be for another post, someday). I do read a lot of books related to it because they help me, they give me tools I can work with, and I need a lot of those tools. A LOT!

I felt guilty many times. How can I possibly believe in God and Buddha at the same time? I actually do, and I don't question myself anymore. I am faithful to my beliefs, which are mine and only mine, and I've come to terms with all of them.  I've actually thought the same thing for the longest time; "Do whatever you have to do to become a better human, the road to get there is not the point." Isn't the point of this life to be better, or to at least try?

Since last week, with all that happened in Paris, I've been thinking quite a lot about religion and beliefs. Religion is not something I write about here or even discuss outside of my home, but it is something I've wanted to share for a while, just a tiny bit of what I'm made up of. I think the world would be a much nicer place if we all stopped judging each other's views. Every one has the right to believe in whatever they choose, and no one should think their point of view, religion, political inclination is better than others. That is just not the way. It is so simple, and yet so complicated. Why?

Anyway, without further delay I would like to inform you that I will be back soon, but not so soon. I will be trying to get my meditation act together.

I wish you all the very best,
Giova