There is a time and season for everything; a time to rest and rejuvenate and a time to take action to bring our dreams into reality. Balance is something most Americans strive for. Why? because Our society tells us, to get good grades, build our intellectual and physical gifts. that can lead to the misbelief of "not good enough". We are not taught to meditate in school, we are not taught to listen to our bodies, simply put we are not taught how to live a life of balance. Living a life of balance, means living a life of happiness. We are taught to "keep on swimming" no matter what the circumstance, to push beyond. We are taught to push our bodies, minds, and spirit.
How do we change our lives from striving to thriving? What are some skills we can learn to help us to slow down. relax, and be happy just because we know how.
The very first thing I had to learn was patience. We live in a world of instant gratification. Technology allows us to do a lot of things instantly. We don't even have to leave the comfort of our homes to go shopping. We simply go to our computers and "search" for that latest hot item everyone is talking about. I have big dreams and I don't want to wait. I want what I want NOW, or do I?
Patience is synonymous with acceptance and trust. When are you in need of patience? Usually when things are not going as planned, or when we are feeling sorry for ourselves. I know when I am haivng a woWe first must accept the situation as it is, and then trust everything is in divine order.
Acceptance, is the baseline emotion of heart centered living. In order to be patient, you must be in a place of heart. When you are in a place of acceptance, you are able to be present within yourself. When we don't accept our circumstances we are unable to let go and that is when resistance starts to form. When we can let go of what's not working for us, then we are in a place to find the solution.
Wow, patience is a lot more important than I realized!
Trust is the opposite of control. When we trust there is a divine order to everything, again we are able to let go. Trying to control a situation is madding. "Trust" me, I've been there. The tricky thing is about control, is we often don't recognize it. So let's go there for a moment, what is control:
How to recognize control:
First off, the only thing we are in control of is our thought, our own reality and if your can change your thought patterns, you can change your circumstances, your patterns, and your life.
Upon thinking about it further, I realize, no I really don't want what I want now. What I really want is to be happy in the moment, to be present in the moment. What I really want is to enjoy the journey. I want to be proud of myself for everything I am learning. I want to look at my mistakes with a positive view. I want to change my point of view from, "I can't believe I did it again! Aren't I ever going to learn" to a much more compassionate view which brings me to the second thing I had to learn in order to slow down.
