What’s that saying about God (the Universe) laughing while we are making plans?! I carefully planned out how my husband and I would go to Colorado to look for our new home on a certain date, approximately when we would move, and all that had to be done here in AZ in between (including dental work I’m in the middle of).
move from CO back to CA 1998
Then we got notice from our landlady that we had to move out in one month! So I got angry, frustrated, scared . . . all of those fun emotions. Then I thought, is this a curve ball I want to catch or can I use the Aikido principle of merging with the energy and as Chuck Pyle would say, “ride the horse in the direction it is going.”
“God is the name by which I designate all things which cross my willful path violently and recklessly, all things which upset my subjective views, plans & intentions and change the course of my life for better or worse.” Carl Jung
Glad I let myself feel everything and glad I can realize that the stimulus is not what creates my feelings. My thoughts and beliefs around the stimulus, and my physical sensations are responsible for my emotions. Geez, staying perturbated doesn’t do much for my digestion, ability to think clearly, or anything else that is helpful.
I can breathe, meditate, and focus in my heart. Understanding what my own needs (and that of my husband) are in this situation (maybe moment to moment) is useful in staying calm and centered. We’ve all been through worse things, right? All I need to do is put one foot in front of the other with consciousness. Just because I feel like my hair is on fire doesn’t mean I can’t be kind and gentle with myself and others, practice being present and continue taking care of myself in the best ways possible.
Yes, I am speaking to myself here, and hopefully reminding you what is possible in your own chaos of the moment. Indeed life throws us curve balls! Use the energy coming at you to move you ahead. Dance with it! It’s fun to actually physically practice this. Find someone who has studied Aikido to show you.
“One must have chaos in oneself in order to give birth to a dancing star.” Frederich Nietzsche
destination: Paonia, CO in the North Fork Valley of the Gunnison River
Okay, rocking and rolling . . . here we go!
Carolyn
PS I am offering Medicine Walks again this Spring. Free intro call on either Thursday, April 21 9am Pacific or Monday, April 25, 6pm Pacific. This is a virtual woman’s circle with you doing the nature walk in your own neck of the woods.
And, for those of you who are local I am offering a workshop at the New Moon Haven in Catalina on Wednesday, April 6 from 6 – 8:30pm. It’s called 3 easy steps to more clarity, ease and compassion. Good test to see if I can indeed walk my talk under any circumstances! Love to see you there.
I have always found you don’t know if something is good or bad until you have a historical perspective. Most things I thought were bad ended up working out for the better or brought another gift into my life.
A friend’s mother had a saying “If you knew tomorrow, you’d choose today!”
I’m excited to know what gifts this new twist will bring to your life.
Take care and good luck with the move!
Thank you Jill. I agree, labeling anything as good or bad only limits our experience of it at the time. Reminds me of that story about the man whose son let his horse out and everyone said, “that’s bad.” Then the horse came back with several wild horses following it into his corral and everyone said, “that’s good.” Then the son broke his leg trying to ride one of the wild horses and everyone said, “that’s bad.” The the gov’t came through town gathering up all the young men to go to war, but the son couldn’t go because he broke his leg. . .