Here’s a little quote I keep above my desk that I wanted to share with you…it’s from the very end of Mira Nair’s film, Kama Sutra and it’s stood by me through some big challenges in the past…gladly I haven’t needed to read it much lately.
‘Knowing love I will allow all things to come and go
To be as supple as the wind and take everything with great courage
Life is right in any case ~ My heart is as open as the sky’
Pretty deep huh,,,,But, speaking of challenges I was reading through the dozens of responses I received from the “What’s your no.1 problem at the moment” email. It was fascinating that there were so many ‘shared‘ problems…I’ll go into more detail later but want to begin our journey with them in a broader sense first.
Looking back on the last 9 years of parenting I have to say that I suppose there aren’t really any ‘problems’ in life, only challenges yet to be met. And I KNOW that it is the challenge that gives us our growth and causes us to evolve, to develop wisdom and in my personal experience a deeper sense of peace within myself.
Take a look at the Rose, the Lotus Flower or the best example are grapes for making wine – they require the most challenging soil and harsh environment in order to grow into the best Pinot Noir!
The most powerful way for us to meet any challenge in life is to look at something from not just a practical and pragmatic angle but also in a creative way. This means not just being list and goal focused but also aware of your mind, belief systems and state of consciousness.
When I look around the city I would say that without a doubt we all need to relax and expand our minds a little more – to shift our beliefs around our personal issues and embrace them wholeheartedly. (The most effective way I know to do this is through yoga and meditation and with a little help from acupuncture and a great massage.)
A girlfriend shared the other day that she was working with a buddy to transform her greatest challenge of the moment into her greatest joy. She was dealing with sexual frustration and the cold temperatures in Sydney after living up north with her boyfriend.
They decided that she is only allowed to say she’s cold once a day and began to change her thoughts to ‘wow, the air is so fresh and clean and enlivening in sydney’. Sounds ridiculous at first doesn’t it, but she was finding it incredibly fun after a little while. Re: her sexual frustration she chose to relax about it and see it with a sense of humour, as well as being practical and doing more exercise to channel the surplus of energy, which ultimately got her warmer and stopped her from experiencing the cold so much !! A hilarious double winner it seems !!
I reckon this is a fantastic practice to apply to any problem; sleep deprivation, lack of time for yourself, or not feeling ready to put your bub into day care. (The biggest problems within our community at the moment.)
Let me know how you go with your challenge’s and we can get into more of the nitty gritty problem solving soon.