Thoughts at the Coffee Shop

Waiting for a friend to arrive at Folklore Café in Elizabethtown this morning, I sipped my coffee near the reading section. A book on one of the shelves caught my eye: My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor. Looking inside, I realized the writer had suffered a catastrophic stroke in her 30's. As a scientist who studied anatomy and nervous systems, Taylor was keenly interested in what had physically occurred in her brain—and, even more importantly, how to recover from it.

One bit of narrative resonated so clearly with me, I wrote it down. Taylor wrote: “I allow myself to remember that all thoughts are merely fleeting physiology.” Therefore, by the very nature of how the brain works, she continued, “the feeling of peace is something that happens in the present moment. It is not something we bring with us from the past or project into the future.”

These words seemed to echo a thread of Facebook comments I’d read the day before. A friend asked what would make someone happy. The person responded that if Jesus took away all his problems, he could be happy. My friend responded with a Biblical reference of a time when Jesus slept through a storm that filled everyone else with terror. She asked if he thought he would ever be able to learn how to sleep in a “storm.”

Both writers seemed to be making a similar point—that is, within us, we have the ability to experience peace in the here and now. In the midst of recovery. At the height of the storm. In the corner of a coffee shop.  

With that in mind, whatever journey has brought you to these pages today, I hope you discover a DBT skill or two that will help you soothe, quiet, and turn your mind toward peaceful thoughts. As best as you can, let go of anger, blame, resentment, guilt, and fear. Even if it is just for a moment. I have found that when I do this, the feeling of peace often comes with my very next positive thought..