{"id":8598,"date":"2025-08-01T10:15:53","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T17:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=8598"},"modified":"2025-08-01T10:19:41","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T17:19:41","slug":"lynn-ungar-the-way-it-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2025\/08\/01\/lynn-ungar-the-way-it-is\/","title":{"rendered":"Lynn Ungar – The Way It Is"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Way It Is
\nby Lynn Ungar<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

One morning you might wake up
\nto realize that the knot in your stomach
\nhad loosened itself and slipped away,
\nand that the pit of unfilled longing in your heart
\nhad gradually, and without your really noticing,
\nbeen filled in \u2014 patched like a pothole, not quite
\nthe same as it was, but good enough.<\/p>\n

And in that moment it might occur to you
\nthat your life, though not the way
\nyou planned it, and maybe not even entirely
\nthe way you wanted it, is nonetheless \u2014
\npersistently, abundantly, miraculously \u2014
\nexactly what it is.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems<\/a>, Edited by Phyllis Cole-Dai \/ Edited by Ruby R. Wilson<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by Dmitry Ganin<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

I love this poem. It speaks from a place of gentle awareness of one\u2019s self and one\u2019s life. <\/p>\n

One morning you might wake up
\nto realize that the knot in your stomach
\nhad loosened itself and slipped away\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

I think there is a tendency toward self dissatisfaction, something feels wrong, incomplete, imperfect. This is especially true for those of us who see ourselves on a spiritual journey. Perhaps we even use that feeling as motivation on our spiritual journey. It can be needed fuel.<\/p>\n

But the years teach us that that feeling becomes a trap, a form of self-cruelty. Our lives can feel like a series of disappointments. Worse, we see ourselves as failures. And no amount of religious or spiritual practice seems to fix that feeling.<\/p>\n

The thing is, there is no perfect \u201cfix\u201d for the feeling. Yes, the way we live in the world, the way we cultivate our inner awareness, these help, but they don\u2019t fully untangle that Gordion knot. You know what does? Restful, non-reactive, non-judgmental self-awareness. Pausing from all our efforts and just noticing who we are, what we are, what our lives are. <\/p>\n

When we do that, a surprising thing happens: We begin to see an underlying wholeness, even when there is no obvious reason for it to be there. <\/p>\n

And in that moment it might occur to you
\nthat your life, though not the way
\nyou planned it, and maybe not even entirely
\nthe way you wanted it, is nonetheless \u2014
\npersistently, abundantly, miraculously \u2014
\nexactly what it is.<\/i><\/p>\n

All the anxieties and harsh judgments we have held in our bodies just somehow dissipate. All the mental projections of what we wanted but didn\u2019t get or what we got but didn\u2019t want, drop like a shadow screen before our eyes and we see things simply as they are. It may not fit the grand heroic story we have held in the mind for so long, but what is actually there is telling its own story, a story of fullness.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s pay attention to that story. Let it bring healing.<\/p>\n

=<\/p>\n

I know there are terrible tragedies unfolding in the world right now. Find some quiet moments \u2014 and radiate love into the world. Don\u2019t try to mentally solve the world\u2019s problems in that moment. Don\u2019t react or tighten up in anger. Just radiate love.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t even \u201cradiate\u201d love, since that might imply that you are pushing love out from some limited personal reservoir. The love is there, already, and in abundance. Allow it through. Step aside in your quiet moments and let the love flood through you into the the parched world. See what magic it can accomplish.<\/p>\n

Sending love to you all!<\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Lynn Ungar<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bread and Other Miracles<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nPoetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nBlessing the Bread: Meditations<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n
\n\"Lynn<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\nLynn Ungar<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

US (Contemporary)
\nChristian<\/a><\/a>
\nSecular or Eclectic<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Lynn Ungar\u2019s first book of poetry, Blessing the Bread, earned her fans around the world. In her professional life she serves as a minister for the Church of the Larger Fellowship, an online congregation for Unitarian Universalists and other religious liberals. In her free time she trains dogs for competition in obedience, agility and canine musical freestyle (dancing with dogs). She is also an avid singer and contra dancer. Lynn lives on the east side of the San Francisco Bay with her wife, teenaged daughter, two dogs and a cat.<\/p>\n

~ from lynnungar.com<\/p>\n

More poetry by Lynn Ungar<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Way It Is by Lynn Ungar One morning you might wake up to realize that the knot in your stomach had loosened itself and slipped away, and that the pit of unfilled longing in your heart had gradually, and without your really noticing, been filled in \u2014 patched like a pothole, not quite the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[543,2174,1694,2597,814],"class_list":["post-8598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-healing","tag-lynn-ungar","tag-release","tag-relief","tag-self-acceptance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8598"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8601,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8598\/revisions\/8601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}