The Challenge Is Opening to the Good
The difficulties, the pain that we meet in life, has the ability to crack us open. It wakes us up, shakes up our hearts, as though part of its job is to help us see life from a completely different perspective. In a way, our troubles help us welcome ourselves back to the strengths we may have forgotten we have. As Elizabeth Lesser puts it in her book Broken Open, “And how ironic that the difficult times we fear might ruin us are the very ones that can break us open and help us blossom into who we were meant to be.”
So, open yourself.
Look for the gifts, the wisdom, the lessons that the struggles and wounds of life might offer you. This is where our growth lays, where we’ll find our new qualities of being alive to life. Our difficulties come with permission, permission to explore new approaches, to open ourselves up to an understanding heart, know a quietness within, and to find the courage to re-evaluate what’s most important to us our lives. We only need to agree.
Every moment brings the opportunity to begin again; to ask ourselves, “Who am I now? And how shall I live in this world from this moment?” It's part of the gift of struggling through what we’re unsure of, questioning who we’ll be when we come out the end. Our task is to explore our choices, to explore what good this opportunity to begin again might hold for us.
Please share:
Share your journey, help others to see what gifts can be found in life, even in difficult times. Often, our personal example can serve as the source of inspiration for others to do the same.
What kind of changes have you seen or made inside your own world for the better? As one friend put it, she’s “enjoying the peaceful rhythm of living slowly.”
For me:
This struggle with COVID-19 has been a huge reset for my appreciation of life. It's helped me redefine what's most important. Obviously, I’ve slowed down, and with that comes a greater attention to seeing the need for being quiet, meditating, hearing the challenge to become who I wish myself to be. It’s a time of going deeper, healing pain of the past, of learning the deeper lessons of forgiveness, and giving attention to the profound importance of caring for others.
I see it as a time of intentionally choosing a healthier inner stance, a time to reinforce something better within myself. I’m allowing calm acceptance, not allowing fear to drive me; cultivating an understanding that this is a difficult time, but only a temporary time, and it will change.
It’s a time of to see what's true of my life, and to see what may have been an illusion. This moment is a huge opportunity to grow, and also to help others grow into who they wish to be.
Even with the lack of toilet paper, I have a deep appreciation of the abundance in this world; a sense of respect for it, and a want to do my part to protect this world. It leaves me asking how I can be of better service not only to those in need but to the needs of the world.
And I find myself spending more time wishing others well. Not simply the people immediately in my life but everyone, all around the world. I’m doing more meta-meditation, trying to touch as many people as I can with good intention. (Below, I have posted two YouTube presentations for meta-meditation. There are many more, but I do like these.)
This time holds many realizations and lessons for all of us, it can seem like there's just too many to mention. If it helps, just share the top three, or maybe just the most profound and important lessons.
So…
What’s your reset? Your beginning-again realization? Have you chosen to come out of this for the better? If so, how? These ideas might help you find the words to describe your journey;
Do you find yourself…
Realizing in a very real way that we’re all part of a much bigger world?
Asking what we can gain from this hardship on a higher level?
Caring for yourself and others better?
Finding more appreciation, compassion, patience, and kindness for family, friends, and coworkers, as well as strangers?
Choosing to value your time differently? Spending more time in nature? Gently spending more time by yourself? Thinking of more heartfelt ways you can spend quality time with friends and family?
Exploring more of what it is to live in gratitude?
Exploring being more awake and alive to your life?
Choosing patience more often?
Seeing the love from others? From yourself? From the world?
Reconnecting with new or old ideas of love that live within your own heart?
Becoming more aware of gifts discovered and treasures learned in life?
Yearning to become part of a more unified world?
Allowing relationships that don’t create or require fear?
Truly giving yourself permission to begin again in your life as you strive for a better world?
I invite everyone to share their growth.
Before we forget the wisdom that we’ve touched, I encourage you to tell others what you’ve found. Share the treasures you’ve uncovered within and now want to hold close. Can we all be courageous enough to share our experiences, our hearts, and our journeys with the world?
To support you on your journey - Metta-Meditation:
Below is a handy simplified version of a metta-meditation to have around.
In the quiet of your meditation, allow your mind to move through these phrases:
May you know peace.
May your heart remain open.
May you know the beauty of your own true nature.
May you be healed.
And may you be a source of healing for others.
Quietly repeat each of the phrases below for:
Yourself
Someone you love
Someone you have difficulty or are in conflict with
For all beings
For the world