I Had Help
Our focus this week — Oct 29-Nov 4: “Humility”
Today’s MotD: I Had Help. We are encouraged to acknowledge when we’ve had help along the way of achieving any of our goals, tasks, projects, etc. Even if it seemed like we accomplished something all on our lonesome, somewhere along the line we had help, whether we realized it or not.
I’m thinking about when I ran the L.A. Marathon in 1989. (I know, I know…I keep bringing this up and yet it seems to offer many valuable lessons for me that I feel compelled to share). Yes, I trained for nine months to be ready for it. Six out of the seven days a week, I was out there someplace in the neighborhood running; sometimes two miles, sometimes 15 miles. AND I didn’t do it alone. My neighbor and I trained together.
I also happened to be seeing a therapist at that time for personal issues. So along with helping me in general they also helped me prepare for the race. About two weeks before the race, I had a panic attack about it. They helped me see the race from a whole different perspective.
While I was worried about not being able to finish the race, they reminded me that “crossing the finish line only takes seconds, what are you going to do for yourself to help you run the 26.2 miles it’s going to take to get to that finish line.” In other words, they helped remind me to focus on the journey. That perspective made a huge difference in my mindset and how I ran the race.
From the veiwpoint of the race itself: in order to be able to run that marathon, someone had to create it and a bunch of people (mostly volunteers) did a lot of work behind the scenes as well as on the front lines. Things like getting people registered, assigning our numbers, putting together swag bags, designing the t-shirts, getting the necessary permits to allow the race to essentially take over the whole of downtown L.A. for a day…along with all the other things that needed to happen to make that race possible.
Plus all the volunteers along the route handing out fruit and cups of water to all of us runners, along with teams of medical people to help out in cases of emergencies. And then there were the thousands and thousands of spectators all along the route cheering us on. Even in the last mile of my 5.5 hour run, there were still people there on the sidelines lending their support, helping us keep up our morale. Yes, I ran the marathon but…I had help.
How about you ? Have you ever thought about what needs to happen or exist in order for you to do what you ? Have you ever thought about all that goes into making something you use everyday ? Thinking about some of your past accomplishments, what help did you receive, directly or indirectly, that made it possible for you to achieve them ?
BTW…Here’s the before…the front and back view of today’s puzzle piece and the pretty ceramic box that holds all my numbers from which I randomly choose each day’s puzzle piece number:
Peace & Blessings,
Maureen
The Mandala Lady
Creating Mandalas 🔆 Awakening Inner Harmony
ABOUT THE 2025 Mandalas of the Day
Throughout the year, I’ll be building one large (48”x48”) Tibetan-styled Mandala one piece at a time…one puzzle piece at a time, that is. The mandala design and the reversed puzzle side were printed on artist-quality watercolor paper. The forward facing puzzle side was printed on a 48”x48” wood panel.
Each day, at random, I’ll be painting in watercolors one of the 365 watercolor puzzle pieces, that by the end of the year will become Archangel Mandala #4. Read more about the Archangel Series. The word/message for each piece will be inspired by Melody Beattie’s book “52 Weeks of Conscious Contact”.
Ultimately, the message of this mandala is about how we are all uniquely part of the one.
Mandala of the Day 