Recently, I was prompted to change my email password at work. This happens routinely, as a security measure. I typically bristle against the idea and wait until the very last minute to change it - this time actually missing the deadline and having to call our IT department and beg for forgiveness. "I liked my old password, I'm used to it," I argue in my mind, "Why are they making me change it?"
However, when I changed my password this time, I unthinkingly and automatically changed it to something I am envisioning for my life. I ended up changing my Gmail password to be the same. Since I log into both accounts multiple times a day, I am constantly thinking about my vision throughout the day. It's interesting that something that happened so spontaneously has resulted in a great way to keep my vision in the forefront of my mind. I think you should try it too!
“I have a disability — I can’t see,” says Randy Pierce. “We all have disabilities, things that we can’t do. I think it’s so much more important to put the focus of our lives on things we can do. And if something is important enough to you, I say anything is possible, you’re just going to have to problem-solve and persevere to get there.”
We all have flaws, imperfections, weaknesses...call them what you will. Some of us use our disabilities as an excuse for not living life to the fullest. They hold us back from being our optimal selves. Sometimes our disabilities are physical, but often they are psychological. Previous life circumstances may have scarred us, or we may have received negative messages in our youth that are difficult to undo in our adulthood.
What are the things that are holding you back from living your life to the fullest? Honestly answer this sentence, "I really want to do (your dream), but my (disability) is prohibiting me from doing so. Often our biggest disability is fear. Moving forward from our disabilities may be a challenge for some. If you need some assistance, consider working with a therapist, life or career coach who will be able to help you to address your fears and focus on your abilities. Life is too precious to waste by not living it to our fullest potential.
Read Randy's story below to get the inspiration you might need to move past your disabilities.
http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2015/04/blind-man-mountain-boston-marathon?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20150418
Last Friday night as I was leaving my yoga class, I said to my friend, "Have a good weekend and a Happy Easter!" Then I quickly added, "If you celebrate it, that is" so as not to offend. In reflecting on this brief exchange, I realized that the Easter message is a universal message that can inspire all of us, Christians and non-Christians alike.
Whether you fully believe in all of the details of the Resurrection story, I think we can all relate to the symbolism and themes surrounding the Easter story: hope, joy, new life, rising from the ashes. In many ways, Jesus' way of being mirrored Buddhist principles. Jesus ultimately accepted his suffering as a necessary part of life, despite a brief spell of wishing it were otherwise in the Garden of Gethsemane. For without suffering, could we even have a resurrection story?
Suffering is an integral part of the Easter story, and suffering is an integral part of each of our stories. Sometimes when we're in the midst of our suffering, we feel alone and abandoned, as Jesus did in the garden, thinking we're the only one who is suffering. Inwardly or outwardly, we may be screaming, "Why did this have to happen to me or my loved one?" or "Why did God do this to me!" When we begin to realize that we are not alone in our suffering, that's when peace will settle in. No one is spared from suffering, not even Jesus. One time I remember reading a chain email where everyone had put their heavy crosses, or burdens, in the center of an empty room and people entering the room were asked if they wanted to take up someone else's cross. No one did. This story reminds us that as difficult as our suffering might be, there is always someone else who is bearing an equally heavy, if not heavier, burden than ours.
But the primary message that the Resurrection story brings is one of hope. As painful as our suffering may seem, "a new day will dawn for those who stay long." (Led Zeppelin, Stairway to Heaven) In my earlier life I experienced several major tragedies but, for some reason, I emerged to be a woman who is filled with hope and positivity about life. Where did this come from? I honestly don't know but I believe the concept of grace that M. Scott Peck describes in the last chapter of The Road Less Traveled played a part. Perhaps it is my spirituality that saved me, my strong belief that there is a higher meaning and purpose to this life. I feel that my purpose, in turn, is to inspire hope and joy in the lives of others.
Many people are turned off by religion these days...about the bureaucracy, hypocrisy and rules. Jesus was none of that. He was a truly enlightened being whose primary message was that of love...love of self and love of neighbor. How can anyone argue with that? I used to think that I had to go to a church to connect with Him, but now I know I can experience Him anywhere and everywhere because God is within each of us. How can you find a way to connect to the god within your soul? If you don't like religious institutions, then perhaps meditation, yoga or a walk in nature will be your route.
As you can see, I have integrated ideas from Christianity, Buddhism, a psychiatrist and, yes, even Led Zeppelin. Some people may think this is sacrilegious. I do not. I think the problem with religion is that often its followers become tribal, rigid and defensive. How can the light get in? Yet, true growth in spirituality comes when we realize that we are more the same than we are different and that there are many paths to enlightenment.
Earlier in my life when I was teaching at a small college in Boston, I became good friends with the career counselor there. I was fascinated with her job and expressed that I would love to do what she did someday. I didn't give it too much thought after that and went about living my life, never developing a plan to make that desire happen. But the Universe had taken note of it. About 17 years later I found myself being asked if I wanted to be the Director of Career Services at another small college. And I had no experience in this field! Talk about a leap of faith on their part.
I often wonder, "How did this happen?" Was it the simple act of expressing what I wanted?" As I said, I had no vision board or action plan to achieve this career goal. Did the universe conspire to make this happen as Paulo Coelho proclaims in The Alchemist? Was it pre-destined that it was meant to happen?
A cousin of mine commented to me recently that when she was little she had a scrapbook with pictures of houses that are remarkably similar to the house she now lives in. A former coworker who grew up in upstate New York told me that when she was a little girl she was obsessed with Russia for some reason and had a map of Russia on her bedroom wall. It turned out that many years later she married a man from Russia. Stories like these abound.
Sometimes we get impatient when we wish or pray for things and they don't happen immediately. However, when we look back on our earlier lives and the things we had hoped and prayed for, we often realize that they did eventually happen...not necessarily in our time, but in God's time or the Universe's time. Take a moment to reflect on this idea. Are there things that have manifested in your life that you had wished for long ago? Sometimes we take these things for granted, not realizing that they had once been desires or dreams that have remarkably come true with very little effort on our part. Take a moment to feel thankful for these blessings.
The beautiful thing is that the Universe will continue to conspire on your behalf, as it has for me. I find myself now working in a university environment that is the absolutely perfect place for me. All of my thoughts and desires about what I wanted in a work environment have come to fruition in this place, at this time. Sometimes we despair and abandon our dreams and desires if they don't happen when we want them to. Be patient. It took 17 years for my initial dream to manifest into a reality. When the time is right, the Universe will also conspire on your behalf to make your dreams a reality.
In my last post I wrote that I want to live my life with no regrets. In this article, a hospice nurse shares the top five regrets of those who are dying: http://faithhub.net/regrets-before-dying/#WAOrtcQs8fCA6AYA.01. What are the things that you would regret not having done when you're on your deathbed? Find a way to make them happen.
I just wanted to share two very inspirational videos today. Tao Porchon-Lynch is a 92 year old woman who teaches yoga and lives life to the fullest. The line I love best that she says is, "If you smile at everyone, you'll see how it opens the doors to all sorts of great adventure."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/01/tao-porchon-lynch-yoga_n_790743.html
Second inspirational video is of Willie Murphy, a 77 year old competitive power lifter: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/01/willie-murphy-body-builder-77_n_6250258.html. As you will hear, she never says the words, "I can't."
Both women espouse that life is an amazing adventure that each one of us has been given. Think about the ways you will take this precious gift and live your life to the absolute fullest. Don't let this relatively fleeting opportunity slip through your fingers. As comedienne Lucille Ball once said, "I'd rather regret the things I have done than the things I haven't done." One of the ways I assess life's options is to think, "When I'm lying on my death bed, will I regret not having done X." Is the answer is "yes," I make sure that I do it!
I met Ed on one of those gloriously brilliant days that you want to forever embed in your soul. I was taking a walk along the beach, and the ocean was dazzling, as if jewels were dancing atop its surface. Ed and I exchanged pleasantries and spoke about our small town's current happenings. "What a sweet, elderly gentleman," I thought, as I continued my way in the opposite direction.
Little did I know that Ed would become an integral part of my life in a small, but oh so significant way. It turns out that I now see Ed almost every day as I'm driving to work. Rain or shine, snow or wind, Ed is out there on his daily walk. I beep the horn, and Ed enthusiastically waves back, sometimes offering me a quick thumbs up. He is always smiling despite the hardship of his journey and the fact that age has curved his upper back, causing him to walk with a stoop.
Ed is a daily inspiration to me because of his positive spirit. When I am bemoaning the fact that it's early, or dark, or cold and I'm tired and I have to go to work, Ed is there as a visual reminder that life is good and that I have a lot to be grateful for. Last year I went to a gratitude workshop at Kripalu, and one of the women shared a little trick to foster a thankful mindset. She said, "Instead of saying I have to do this or that, say I get to do this or that." Her advice has stuck with me. When I'm sometimes not so eager to go to work (especially on a Monday morning!), I think about how lucky I am to have a job and that some people don't get to go to work.
The Universe puts people on our path to help us along the journey. They come into our life for a reason, to teach us some lesson. Ed is one of the angels upon my path. Who are yours?
Here in the Northeast we are hunkered down today as blizzard Juno sweeps through the region. Most businesses are closed and life as we typically know it has ground to a halt. All because of Mother Nature. In the 70's there was a very popular margarine commercial in which Mother Nature menacingly proclaims at the end, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature." Although we may not try to fool Mother Nature, we bristle against the idea that she, or the universe, or a higher power has ultimate control over our carefully calculated, down-to-the minute plans. Flights are canceled. Electrical power is lost. Heat is extinguished. Our meticulously crafted plans get tossed and scattered like pieces of debris in the whirling blizzard winds.
A blizzard is a bold reminder to us that we are not in control and that we need to learn to surrender. Not just during the height of a snowstorm, but every day. This is a difficult lesson to live by because our egos want to be in control, but trying to control every aspect of our lives causes us a lot of unnecessary stress. Although surrendering is difficult to do, when we learn to cultivate a habit of surrender, we soon realize that life gets easier and that our stress begins to melt away like snowflakes hitting a warm car windshield.
