At my age I can look back on a variety of situations that I would never have picked off a menu. At the time I saw them as bad luck, a conspiracy of life against little old me, or at times catastrophic. Now I see them as glimmering opportunities that mark transitions from one state of awareness to another.
I’m still not deliberately choosing what most of us would label as “trouble,” but I can honestly say that when trouble comes along I don’t get hysterical. In fact I go to a place of stillness and try my best not to muddy the water thrashing around. If the silt can settle, maybe I’ll see my own feet sooner, planted firmly in the earth and trying to learn to be a better version of myself.
There is no fighting against the tides of life. When the tide comes in, it can deposit abundance on the shore. When it recedes, it can take precious items with it. It can never take consciousness unless we lose faith.
When the Buddhists define suffering as “resistance,” they aren’t whistling Dixie. The sooner we arrive at what is and make peace with it, the less we suffer. On the other end of the dark tunnel is always the breakthrough of light. We will come to that place unless we tell ourselves stories of doubt and victimization.
The Saints and Holy Ones are represented by halos of light around their heads, “crowns” reflecting enlightenment. If there were jewels in the crown of enlightenment, they would be the difficulties in life. Those jewels of difficulty would be embedded in the golden grace of how we handle them.
With love,
Rosanne