When the student is ready, the teacher will come…
Such was the case for me yesterday. I got my feelings hurt BIG time…and I must admit it took me several, several hours till I got my boat turned around. Anger, resentment, silent treatment, projection onto others…I worked it with the best of them.
Finally, a couple of hours into it, I asked myself, “What is the lesson in this?”
Just an hour or so prior to my fiasco, I received the following message from someone who is also currently trying to turn his boat around. Maybe the message was a heads-up for what I was about to experience?
“We only have one life, and we don’t know how long we’ll be here. We might as well live it up and be happy. Forget the worries and sorrows. That’s why you run with it.”
After going out for a jog to release the anger, followed by going into silence to reflect on the situation, I started to really take an introspective look into the target of my anger. Was this a mirror reflecting me back to me? Are the challenging situations occurring in your life a mirror reflecting back to you?
When you look at it this way, what follows? Perhaps empathy, then understanding, then love. Yeah, love. What is there to do in a case like this? Shine love into the darkness. Take the high road. Be the example, no matter how difficult. Learn the lesson.
Curious that this morning the following statement appears in my inbox from oprah.com: “Many Buddhists consider huge difficulties to be a sign you’re an old soul—the bigger your misfortunes, the closer you are to enlightenment. Whether you believe this or not, it’s certainly cheery to reframe all your life’s bad events as tests of your character. If you feel particularly tested right now, ask yourself what the heck you’re being tested for! Patience? Compassion? Resilience? Forgiveness? Open-mindedness? What strengths must you develop further? Now consciously go out there and develop them!”
Ouch! If you read a little further, there’s the R word:
Let Go of Resentment
Keep in mind a fabulous Carrie Fisher quote: ‘Resentment is the poison you swallow hoping the other person will die.’ Recognize that when you resent someone, you are not only hurting yourself, you’re also giving this person control of your emotions—and you don’t want to give this person bubkes!
Stay Centered
Recognize that when you respond with hate to hate, anger to anger, bitterness to bitterness, you are ironically becoming part of the problem. Choose to resist becoming like them and instead put in the conscious effort to remain a loving, soulful, happy person.
Get Revenge Positively
Contemplating revenge? The best kind of revenge is living a successful, happy life. If you train yourself to consistently be more loving in thoughts and actions, your energy will attract more positive people and positive results. As Albert Einstein said, ‘You can’t solve a problem by staying in the same energy in which it was created.’ To stay focused on highly positive thoughts, repeat this meditation ritual throughout the day: ‘Love, forgiveness, letting go, peace.’
Whew, it would you agree that it does take conscious effort to remain a loving, soulful, happy person?
Love, forgiveness, letting go, peace…perhaps that is the lesson.
