“Inner strength comes from understanding the transience of each moment.”
Changing with each experience…
The other day, I planned to go swimming with a friend. It was Friday of an intense week. After unsuccessful booking attempts on the app, I was finally able to pay for a spot at the pool at 8:00am the next morning. I got up still in the dark of the British winter. I prepared myself in the stillness that avoids waking sleeping children. I said goodbye to my husband. I set out on the walk that would take me to the heated waters to dive into the flow of my swimming… 30 minutes later I arrived at the gym for “the” surprise. The on-call lifeguard hadn't shown up. “Without her presence, we cannot open the pool. Ask for a refund of the amount paid!”, they warned. End of swimming!
At the time, anger and frustration. So much for nothing! After all, anyone who wakes up early on a Saturday to go swimming in this cold knows what to expect. And we knew! I looked at my friend who was equally outraged at the whole context. We walked out of the gym. “What would have happened to the lifeguard?”, “How could management have acted?” Questions in vain... After digesting the first feelings, we sat down to have the coffee that would save our previously lost morning and allow us to return to our internal balance through valuable exchanges and relaxed laughter.
A small example but that illustrates the potential of situations that take us out of control and awaken weaknesses common to all of us. Anger, frustration, judgments are less noble feelings that invite us to work on our essences. When something goes “wrong”, it can be difficult to digest inconveniences quickly, and worse, sometimes we carry the results of failures for a lifetime. What to do then?
Do we limit our experiences? We would stop experiencing life in its potential for fear of making mistakes! Suppress reactions? We would get sick! Not creating expectations? Great challenge in a world of so many stimuli! For this impasse, it is urgent that we know how to deal with the unexpected and understand how to transform unpleasant feelings into something constructive. What does Yoga teach?
Being attentive to the present and realizing that we are part of the whole.
Treat yourself and others with empathy, avoiding judgments that only get in the way of our discernment of reality.
Understand that we do not control external events.
Learning to flow in the transience of moments, keeping yourself curious about the next moment.
Meditation is proven to be an effective exercise in observing the impermanence of life. With practice, we mature in the understanding that adversities are what make us internally strong, if we analyze them with self-compassion. After all, for every weakness there will always be a strength to be developed. Let's go together in this transformation?
With love,
For your reflection:
Which weakness would you like to work on? How to turn it into something valuable?
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