It’s been a tough few weeks. Life has a way of testing us the hardest when we feel we cannot take anymore.
I have come out the other side of what will be referred to as “hell weeks”, mostly unscathed. I am a little worn, a few new bumps and bruises, with some minor bleeding, but overall, I am “Just” me. Being able to maintain a level head, disconnecting myself from the emotions of the situations and just tackling things with an objective eye, made all the difference.
This weekend, I spent a lazy Sunday morning watching horror movies, drinking green tea and just enjoying the nothingness of it all. I took a leisurely walk along the marina, found a bench in a quiet rarely traveled area and reconvened with nature and myself. I released all my stress from the past weeks, all my worries, all my what ifs, all the shoulda, coulda, wouldas and reset to 0.
I realized that even though things aren’t exactly how I would like them to be, things are exactly how they are supposed to be. I am where I am needed for the moment. Accepting that and relinquishing control of the uncontrollable is refreshing. I can choose a good attitude, I can choose to accept or I can choose to get irritated and angry; the only thing that will change in the situation is my outlook regardless of which I choose.
I have passed my test.
How has your attitude effected the outcome of your situations? Have you passed or failed your tests?
(((HUGS))) I hope your hard weeks are over! You deserve some peacefulness for awhile.
XOXOXO
i practice accepting what is without judgment. i practice releasing expectations. i practice being present NOW and releasing the past.
i fail all the time. but once i realize that i’ve failed, i am available in the present moment to practice again.
peace to you….
what?! i’m sorry….. i was distracted. i was jogging around the block screaming, “i’m beautiful… i’m BEAUTIFUL…” *heh, heh, heh….*
my attitude has greatly affected the outcomes of my lifes challenges. always positively, i’m happy to say.
i encounter as many challenges as the next guy…. i just try really hard to ‘find the joy’. it’s often elsewhere, frankly. i don’t ‘find joy’ in the heartache. i just…. look elsewhere. somewhere else to balance the karma, somewhere else to find joy.
succinctly, that helps me keep the keel even and ship directed.
Hmmm… passing or failing tests…? I have no clue about the ones I’ve failed. I think of it more as a set of actions and subsequent consequences. Some actions produce positive circumstances, some produce negative ones. I’ve experienced and learned from both. The goal is to learn from them, in my opinion, not just to keep having experiences.
I’m so glad you found some tranquility. I know it’s been rough lately, and it just seems to be a constant fight. It’s not the new normal–I promise. It’s just that time to get you to the next as a new more beautiful, wise creation.
“How has your attitude effected the outcome of your situations? Have you passed or failed your tests?”
i’ve come to realize that those around me are the ones not passing *my* tests…even with the extra credit…so, since the old dog seems to only want the ‘new tricks’…i’m solaced enough in knowing, i tried to teach him…now he can deal with the principles office…
i’m just trying to not look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth and just enjoy the ride…the weekend was hell…its monday, i’m brand new…
I’ll let you know once I’m done with my test LOL
In my experience, as soon as I take a bigger picture perspective, the test takes on a new meaning and I find I’m able to take a healthy distance from the emotions-of-the-moment. The trick is to have that distance even as we’re intimately involved.
You have tremendous inner strength and this shows when you are tested.
failed that’s why i’m not working for get it now lol, sorry to hear about your hell week(s) but glad you came out ok
That’s the right attitude to have Jen. I know so many of are in/have been in similar situations. And just when I think I’ve passed the test, another one comes quickly behind it. It helps to have people who love and support you too, which I have been lucky to have.
I’m sending a hug and positive thoughts your way, that it will get better.
Jen, I am a practicing Buddhist myself. I used to live on the shores of Lake Superior, and when I’d hit the end of my rope, I would go the the water and watch the waves.
There is something humbling about it. Perhaps it’s the realization that, for thousands of years before I was here, those waves crashed in. And long after I’m gone, those waves will keep crashing in.
Our drama is just that. Drama. By understanding that we really have no control, but only the ability to seize opportunity, there is calm. Sounds like you found that. And I’m happy for you, friend.
These days, I realize that, if I find a quiet place when things get tough, the universe will usually provide the answers I need.
Best.
Geoff
Tapping Creativity
Attitude is everything. I watched a movie recently, that for all its moral preachiness, rigidity, and cheesiness held a fair amount of insight for me. That movie was “What Dreams May Come” with Robin Williams. Early in the movie, Robin Williams has just passed away and is discussing the “rules” of the afterlife with Cuba Gooding Jr. Cuba Gooding Jr said that the physical was not where the action was, that it was the mind that held all the power. He said this to explain that Robin Williams’s character could build his own world for himself, subject to whatever rules or situations he desired. This explanation was a description for how the rules of death worked (your consciousness remains active and orients itself by projecting a physical world around you). More and more lately I believe that this is how *life* works. I believe the world is the one we make, that we are consciousness driving bodies, shaping matter, manipulating it using the tools at our disposal. Even our own bodies can be manipulated, reshaped, reformed by our behaviors. Nothing is permanent…everything changes. Our attitudes shift…we learn more, experience more, and our reality becomes something new.
How was I able to use this recently to repair myself? I realized that I had focused for too long on what people thought of me…as if it was written in stone. Fortunately, other peoples’ attitudes are as ever-changing as my own…nothing anyone thinks of me is permanent…it can change for better or worse depending on what I do, and also what they do. It’s a shifting perspective, just like all perspectives. It’s what I make of it, and what they make of it. This simple truth is extremely liberating, and allows me to live a life that I’m proud of, without the shackles of others’ judgment holding me down. My fear is necessary…I can never shed it completely…it is a useful instinct. However, I am no longer its prisoner. That, to me, was the final exam in this course, and I passed. =)
P.S. I wish humans were taught meditation in school. It’s a useful tool to have in one’s arsenal.
Gosh, I hope these weeks of struggle are over. I would love for things to be easier Jen. ((hug))
Sounds like you have taken the perfect approach toward dealing with whatever life deals out. My focus techniques are the same as yours, keep a level hand and an objective mind and soldier through. For recharge, just about any naturally running water will do… the bigger the better (bays and oceans count, if you have a tide, you are running
)
Great piece, glad to see you were able to get through it in one piece, and now the rest of us benefit from your experience