It’s not what happens to you that makes up your life. It’s what you do with it
Struggle never lives outside you. It doesn’t matter, if you are the rightest of right. It doesn’t matter, if your case is irrefutable and the world wholeheartedly agrees, you’ve been wronged.
Because no matter the issue, suffering over any issue doesn’t serve YOU. Of course, there is nothing wrong with feeling hurt, frustration, anger or sadness. Whatever you feel can serve, actually–as long as it’s a stepping stone from feeling whatever it is to feeling a little better. That’s the secret, right there. Whatever feelings you’ve got, embrace them with the idea they are one step on a path to feeling better.
The caveat, though? The act of feeling better cannot be contingent upon the external circumstances, over which you have no control. Which leaves you with nothing but your own perspective to work with.
Because what if all those stubborn “others” won’t cooperate? If you NEED others to do something in order to feel better, you’re screwed, plain and simple. You can only control YOU (and sometimes, that’s a challenge unto itself). Now, one’s own emotions can be managed for sure, but it takes practice. It takes intention. Mostly? It takes a dedication to focus in a way that brings relief irrespective of anything external.
You can focus on what’s wrong and how wrong it is. Nobody would blame you for it. But it gets old after a while and it tends to feel pretty terrible, at least in my experience.
Or you can do your best to tune in to what works–on the topic or an entirely different one, for that matter–and count the rest as “not so interesting.”You don’t have to fight your way through a problem to improve it. You have to improve your vibration. There are infinite ways to raise your vibration and leave your energy brighter and it doesn’t matter which one you opt for. Just pick one, whichever is easiest, and run with that!
This is using the power of focus to your advantage.
This Week in Tarot
[bctt tweet=”He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe. -Marcus Aurelius #Quotes” via=”no”]
Much like joy, I consider harmony to be an inside job. But then again, I consider everything to be an inside job!
These cards do create a quite harmonious pairing. We have the Chariot from the Good Tarot, and one of my favorite flowers, Phlox–Unanimity and Harmony–from the Botanical Inspirations deck.
It’s a good week to use your power of focus. The Chariot suggests intentional direction–the driver steers both her light and shadow powers (white and black horse) consciously. The different parts of who she is are harnessed to work together in making progress towards a singular destination.
Often with the Chariot, people will reach a goal through indirect routes. They may go around an obstacle or take a side path, but they don’t lose the way because they retain solid focus on the end goal. The roadblocks are a non-issue to the Chariot driver. Because the Chariot is never about HOW or WHEN or WHY we get to wherever we’re going. The Chariot is about continuing on towards the goal, regardless.
As I write this, a mess of grackles appeared, clamoring at the feeder outside my window. Grackles (for me, at least) are a reminder look at how emotions color thinking. Their iridescence surrounds their head, where all the important stuff is going on. Grackles don’t require perfect conditions to thrive–they are highly adaptable. They are also known for dipping their food in water to soften it. We can deal with tough issues the same way, consciously guiding our thoughts to “soften” the harshness, making it all easier to go down.
To “do” Grackle, make the best of where you are. Acknowledge the importance of your emotions. Be flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstance and soften up any harshness wherever you can. Make the best of what you’ve got.
While struggle doesn’t lie outside you, it’s good to remember: neither does the harmony. Generate your harmony within. The outer harmony follows.
Hook up with Dix to get a leg up in reclaiming your inner harmony.
Didn’t see this til today (Tuesday) read it and giggled my little head off because following advice is exactly how I managed to survive the last two days. Thanks Dix great stuff as always!