Anything can be hard or easy, it’s really about what perspective and narrative you apply to it. As someone who has a psych background and is pursuing coaching, I now understand and appreciate the way that the mind works. I can understand the traps that it can create and I also know that when you’re not equipped to understand the mechanisms in which your mind comes to be the way it is, it’s easy to relinquish control to it and enable it to lead the way. But there is a lot about our minds that needs deliberate rewiring and purposeful reprogramming. We have the option and the ability to rewire our minds in a way that they serve us instead of lead us. It’s an important distinction because our minds are very powerful and when the ego is in control of that the mind that’s when everything can be experienced as difficult because the ego loves to play victim.
When life happens, we find ourselves on a tightrope of finding the balance between experiencing the events in a way that honours our feelings and what arises whilst also recognising that we are not defined by those feelings and what comes to the surface, therefore, we can choose to shift them with practice and in time. This takes skill, it’s a skill you develop as a result of continuous practice and it’s a skill that you have to maintain by not getting cocky and thinking that you no longer have to put in the effort. It’s a life long practice, something that you have to mindfully apply at any point in your day and life in order to get the balance right. With time, you get faster and better at it and it becomes more effortless, but nonetheless you still have to deliberately apply this approach so that you can walk across the tightrope.
One of the tools which helps me, is the power of perspective. This is a really tricky tool to apply because I have to be conscious that in applying perspective to reframe my thoughts and experiences, that I don’t dismiss my feelings and the things that do come to the surface. With time I’m learning how to get this balance right but it’s something that isn’t easy to me and that I am trying to figure out more and more as I continue to evolve on my Soul Journey.
At the moment lockdown is proving to be a great opportunity to apply this exercise. It’s been a challenging and trying 7 weeks, I live alone and so I’ve not had any interactions for that period of time. My plans to reunite with my partner have been impacted and there is more uncertainty there, my mother is continuing to undergo treatment and recovery for cancer, the lockdown isn’t being managed well by the government and people are starting to get lockdown fatigue, which means they’re less compliant which means that inevitably lockdown will be extended. There is plenty for me to be frustrated and upset about, there are many moments where I find myself falling into the rabbit hole of despair or the panic room of anxiety. But recently I’ve tried to apply the power of perspective so that I can help myself identify what is truly bothering me.
I can shift my focus from all the things that aren’t going right onto the things that are. I can focus on what I’ve learned through this difficult time instead of the things I’ve lost. I can grieve what’s been lost but also recognise that once I’ve felt it what I need to, I need to let it go. This is all part of the spiritual life, shedding the parts of our human suffering so that we can expand into the parts of us that doesn’t suffer and instead basks in beauty and joy. It’s our true essence and it can only be tapped into through practice and letting go. It’s important to remember who we really are and tap into the energy that is there, particularly when we find ourselves in difficult times.
I’m not here to preach, I recognise that everyone has their own unique Soul Journey and that is why we can’t prescribe a certain path to anyone. But what I can share is that when you start practicing to let go, when you start practicing observation instead of identification with thoughts, you start to recognise that you’re not the claims you make about your circumstance, you are not defined by the external and you are not one with the thoughts and feelings that sometimes feel like they’re suffocating you. When you shift your focus from one area to another you can change your perspective on things and empower yourself on your Soul Journey.
This is the Soul Journey we each go on in our own time, in our own way. Pay attention to your journey, pay attention to your true Self, its waiting for you to go home to it.
Love Always,
M
Souloom™ 