THE “HANG TIME” OF GRACIOUS PERSISTENCE

© 2009 Howard McQueen

Michael Jordan had hang time in basketball. Ski jumpers in the Winter Olympics set new records hanging the longest, coaxing out every second in the air, before touching down.

This story celebrates a somewhat different use of Hang Time.

I called a friend on the phone this morning.
I said to him “Ernest, you’ve got the most impressive hang-time”,
meaning the incredible patience and grace he has shown
while his core life has been coming completely unglued and shorn.
He said to me, wow, Howard, let me take a moment and drink that in!
And then there was a long pause
And then he said

A friend once said to me “gracious persistence” will take you a long way.

He also told me he had not always been living from this space and that, in the past, he would either go unconscious and insane or be kind of frozen in fear.

When I think of my now several year old motto “perpetual sabbatical”
I see this as merely the foundational gift,
the opportunity to slow down and open
I also know more of my energies are now being diverted into gracious persistence,
allowing life to mold and re-shape me by accepting my fullness of experience.
I celebrate all this, with all of you, with a big warm mug of Gusto!
Cheers!

~ ~ ~
An email response from a friend: 10/18/09
I can relate to this writing - my external life is in total upheaval and chaos... about the only major challenge I haven't experienced within the last 6 months is a death of somebody close to me, or a major health issue.

Deep down, I know this 'deconstruction' is just getting rid of the old elements of my life that don't work, to make room and transformation for new and amazing opportunities for growth and expansion.

So even though I am going through a time which includes great pain and challenge, I'm grateful for it at the same time. In a manner of speaking, all the challenges in my life right now are little miracles hidden in the dregs just waiting to be brought out and polished so they can glimmer in my life and the lives of those who know me.

My response: 10/18/09
I was in my 50s before I began to appreciate deconstruction, and it took a good bit of Buddhist Psychology to ground me to the point where I could bear the pain and appreciate that I was paying forward and backward to begin to clear a space for peace and harmony to grow.

Now, several years down this road, with a number of beautiful fellowships with others, there are fewer bumps in the road, and what comes up is welcomed with considerable more grace.

So as others "wig out" around me, I can see myself in past relative vibrational episodes and say "this too shall pass".

We never know "how", but by holding fast to intent and remembering to keep that torch lit, and held high, it is only a matter of time.

Much love and compassion to everyone on this journey.

Howard

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Why is it valuable to feel into the expansiveness of emotional vocabularies?
I do this not to just define a word, but to bring it deep inside my chest so the heart can be activated and so that new qualities of feelings can arise. These feelings emanate from the heart vibrational center, and like champaign bubbles rising, pass through the emotional-mental-physical layers of our human operating system, bringing fresh energy to stuck places. Our whole being becomes filled in with the deeply mystical and mysterious process of inner transformation. - Howard@mcq.com