Become Peace. Do it now!

A mind at peace, a mind centered and not focused on harming others, is stronger than any physical force in the universe.
Wayne Dyer

There's nothing quite like the calm that follows the storm. This morning's stillness is perfect. Beautiful. This weather as of late is a perfect metaphor for life. The calm, like the storms, is to be respected and honored. All things change. All the time. Nothing is the same as it was yesterday, last week, last year. It's impossible. Even our bodies themselves undergo a complete renewal every seven years. Every single cell after seven years is completely different, changed. It's simply the nature of things.

If something isn't going the way you've planned - embrace it. Fully. If you're elated at the bliss of your life - embrace it. Fully. But don't hold too tightly. Because it's already changing. It's just the nature of things. Our job, as far as I can tell, is to retain equanimity amidst all the changes. To be the calm at the eye of the storm, and the peace that follows the storm. To let it all happen, all the changes, without resisting or clinging too tightly. To honor all the ups, and the downs, with the same respect. Knowing, that this too shall change. The same is true if you are viewing a situation with eyes of the past. Give your head a shake. The past is gone. It's finished. Open your eyes and see the truth of what is now.

Winds Of Change

Gale force hurricane-like winds struck our tiny village here in Southern Ontario. Crazy banshee - like winds!

There's been a creepy eeriness to the whole day.

No power since 8 this morning! Everything in town shut down, no stores or banks or coffee shops open. It's funny to see people wandering around irate and confused. Me, all I really wanted to do was ride my bike, practice hills and get lost listening to KOL. Bummer. I could really use a few grinds up DQ and F-ingham. But, instead I settled for an indoor workout while the winds whipped around, stirrin' up all kinds of trouble.

Blow winds blow! Bring on the spring changes! Bring. It. On. Hurry,hurry.

Here you go - soundtrack of my life...

Being Right.

Human being's need to be right creates a lot of suffering.

Truth is - I'm starting to realize that sometimes there is no "right". It used to annoy me so much when people would use that cliche saying - "Well, it is what it is." Ugh. I would roll my eyes almost every time. But, now, I'm starting to truly understand that sometimes it really IS just what IT IS. No right, no wrong, just perception. Two people can be having what looks like the exact same experience, yet they both come away with totally different re-counts of what should be the "same" thing. Totally different... because each person is seeing it through their own eyes. We are each viewing our lives through our own beliefs, views and  perspectives. So 'Reality' is totally subjective.

A few years ago I went through a very painful time. It was a time of a lot of turmoil and much distress. A true "dark night of the soul". I felt at that time deeply disappointed in a couple of important people in my life. People that I always thought would "be there" for me and that I considered my support system. People who, in retrospect, taught me tremendous lessons by not being there when I needed them and by betraying me in ways I imagined at that time to be "unforgivable". But time heals all wounds and with much reflection I began to realize that I was actually holding on to a lot of stories. Most of which were completely fictitious. I was allowing other people's abusiveness, and need to victimize, dictate how I was feeling. Not only that but I was allowing other people's lack of integrity to affect how I viewed myself. When, in reality much of the situation actually had very little to do with me and more in fact to do with other people's (warped) perceptions of the world and of life.

The moment I actually started to feel detachment for "what happened" was the moment Forgiveness started to percolate and I actually began to feel a million times better. Almost like the poison that was coursing through my veins in the form of: resentment, anger, anguish and depression was suddenly released and I could see clearly again. It was like a heavy heavy burden being lifted off my shoulders. Forgiveness is really like a magic antidote.

The fact is: Human Beings Make Mistakes. They just do. And not just a few of us - ALL of us.

The other fact is: Being Right is simply not always necessary or important. Being happy is. To me, it's the most important thing in life.

Every single ounce of non-forgiveness destroys your body, your health, your mood and  your life. There are a lot of  people who go to incredibly great lengths, wasting colossal amounts of time and energy, and sometimes destroying themselves and their lives, just to be "right". I know a person who is so deeply entrenched in their need to be right about how people from the past have "wronged" them, that that's all they ever talk about. In fact, every time I hear from this person it's more stories about how wrong everyone else is and how right and justified they are. It's positively exhausting. And I've seen how it has depleted them in every way. I've seen how this person would rather engage in fighting and negativity than find ways to release the past and move on. It is so important to be right that it actually seems to run their life! They would rather abuse others than simply forgive. Even though their "rightness" harms themselves and others, they can't seem to (or don't want to) choose to stop. Or perhaps, they simply don't know how. Either way, it is very sad.

So we can beat ourselves and others down by proclaiming "you're nothing...you had no right....you are this or that (horrible thing)....I'm gonna get you back....I'm gonna find a way to win this...." blah blah blah. Or another choice is that if someone is nasty - we simply ignore it. Or, even more radically, we actually send them love. Whoa. Now there's a notion!! That is a choice we are free to make. I mean, really. Ultimately other's need for nastiness is nothing more than their view, their opinion, the result of their "story". Nothing more. At times, of course, protecting ourselves is absolutely necessary. As I've said in the past - being spiritual or forgiving does NOT mean being a doormat. But, engaging in the drama of another's negativity is always a choice.

The path and practice of Yoga is often described as the way to "Enlightenment". To me, enlightenment means a healthy, love-filled way of thinking and living. It means imaging yourself , lovingly, as you wish to be. It is becoming detached, practicing sending love to nasty people, and allowing life to be a joyful adventure. And there's a reason why they call it "a practice" of becoming this way. Because there are times when it requires exactly that - practice, practice, practice. I see things now that used to upset me and I wonder - "how the heck did I ever let that ridiculousness affect me?!". As we learn more about ourselves and our connection to each other , I believe Life and the mysterious universal "Powers That Be" will continuously send us tests. Just to help us see where we're really at, how far we've come, and to give us an opportunity to put into practice all that we are learning. After all - the definition of Insanity has been stated as " Doing the same things over and over and expecting a different result". One day, we're eventually gonna have to let it go!

Enlightenment, or simply learning to live happily, is about practicing new ways of thinking and acting until it becomes habitual. Until it becomes no longer a practice but who we are. Gradually as we learn to send out more love, angry behaviours become less and less natural, less habitual and (hopefully) just disappear altogether.

Because at the end of the day you can be "right"...or you can be happy. The choice is always ours.

 

Blast From The Past....

So after a long and rather arduous weekend in Toronto I passed by a friend's house on my way home to take her up on her offer for a yummy green curry dinner with fresh coriander and a few good laughs.....(mmmm...this girl definitely knows what I like! Thanks Kat & Jonny!)

And this very good friend of mine has been my friend since we were in Grade 9. We've had many adventures together and seen each other through many changes, many challenges, many dark and twisty tunnels and many incredibly enlightening moments of soul sisterhood....  Including living in Banff Alberta when we were just barely the ripe ol' ages of 18 & 19 (just barely "legal" in the province of Alberta). Plus - the numerous mildly rebellious and sometimes not-so-discuss-able situations we seemed to often find ourselves in! Lol! Whoa.

So we pulled out a few of her old photos from the days when we were all so happy, so free. It's like we didn't have a care in the world! (not to mention how long my hair was!! Weird.) And we laughed and we laughed over the ridiculousness of our outfits - mostly our pants to be honest. And how wise we thought we were! Gosh! We honestly believed we had ALL the answers. How unbelievably on top of the world we all seemed to be. Even though in retrospect, those days were full of a lot of confusion.

But amidst all the photos that she had saved was also a few quotes that she collected of the apparently hilarious things I was often saying. I've been smiling all day over this one in particular:

"Even though nothing matters, these things have been proven to: Vacuuming." Heather Jones Circa 1990-something.

It's just so ridiculous and yet funny at the same time because if you only knew how much that cracked us up, it would probably make you smile to!

Ah, Life. 

It's good to laugh at the hilarity sometimes. The grass is never really "greener". Ever. Nothing is ever really as it seems. This moment is all we have. And so this moment is what I celebrate today. I have NO IDEA what's coming next. No idea what twists and turns life has in store for any of us. But I do know that right now, it feels pretty great to look back on how far we've all come. Despite the mild rebelliousness, and the REALLY BAD pants - we all turned out ok! Awesome actually.

I love you guys. xxox