I read an interview with Stephen Colbert, some time ago. And there was a part that really stuck with me.
He ended up as a comedian because of a tragedy. And he says of that, “You’ve got to learn to love the bomb.” The bomb is whatever blew your life up.
You can be grateful for what a bomb gave you, without having wanted it to happen. Those are two different things. They can and do coexist.
It’s Eclipse season, folks. Which you already know, if you’ve not been too “eclisped out” to notice. Big, bold shifts of energy everywhere you look.
And I’m thinking of BIG changes, big shifts. All those big shifts we ride through the years. Some of them are bombs, without question.
How they never turn out to be what you think they are going to be, at the time. How some of the most challenging turn out to define you, help you hone in on who you really want to be, at a depth you’d never found, nor would have been driven to find, outside the experience that spurred it.
And you can’t go back. Not that you’d want to. Not really. But it doesn’t matter, because there is no “back.”
There is only forward. And it’s your choice, what you do with that.
The Nine of Cups is often called “the wish card” and often read as a wish granted (including by me). But today, I want to call it “contentment” instead. And contentment isn’t contingent on any outside condition.
You don’t have to get your wish, to be content. In fact, it has nothing to do with what you have at all, and everything to do with how you’re thinking about it.
[bctt tweet=”Contentment is a perspective, not an outcome. #OnMyRadar” via=”no”]
So many times, people try to refill their spirit from the outside. Who loves me? Who agrees with me? Who reassures me? Who validates me?
When the conditions of my life better, I’ll be better! When I find someone who will give me what I want, I’ll be happy.
Those kinds of refills are only temporary at best, because the hole is constantly recreated by the doubts that spawned the questions. Of course it feels good when other people shine their love on you! And it feels good when you shine your love on them. But the only way for that love to flow freely is if you are shining on yourself, first.
Stay centered, my friends. Don’t worry about what others think of you, because it’s impossible for that to be about you anyway. And how you feel about it is always and only a translation of how you feel about you. All roads lead home, always. Always, always, always. There is no other way it can be.
Whatever bombs you have, do your best to appreciate them. Tap into the best of everything it gave you, through your appreciation and loving energy. And in doing so, you get access to the power of it.
Contentment isn’t a destination. It’s a perspective, and it’s accessed entirely by choice. Choosing what you focus on in any given experience, what vein you tap. It’s all there but you can mine what you choose from it.
Be well.
This week’s forecast features Osho Zen deck and man, is it pretty! Holler at me if you wanna go for a one-on-one session.