Friday 16 March 2012

March 16, 2012 Chautauqua

From the Editor's Computer     


   I'm sure most of you have heard the expression: "Life is a mirror."  Now that simple phrase can be, and has been, interpreted in many different ways.  The most familiar explanation is that whatever irks you about someone or something is an issue that you need to deal with yourself.  What we put out into the world is what is reflected back at us.

  I find that not only is life a mirror, but sometimes what is reflected back to us, as in a real mirror, is the reverse/opposite of what we want to see.  Which brings to mind another expression: "What you resist, persists."

   It should be obvious to us that whatever we focus on, and invest our energies into, is what is going to be front and centre in our lives.  So why are we surprised when what we don't want keeps showing up in our lives?

   If you invest all your time and effort - physical, mental, and emotional - into complaining and fighting the government, it should be no surprise that there will always be more issues to complain about and fight.

   If you invest all your energy into wishing your miserable life was different, nothing will change and you'll have many more miserable days to spend wishing. 

   Until you focus on what you want in your life, and actively make the changes you want to see, what will be mirrored back to you is what you don't want.  Strongly resisting something doesn't make it go away and disappear, it just makes it a bigger issue to consume all your time and energy.

   Accept that whatever is bothering you is in your life for a reason.  If you don't want it in your world, don't resist it.  Find a way to make any changes you can make, and then make them!  And if it turns out that you can't make any outward changes, then change your attitude and stop investing your emotions into whatever it is.

   When you step back, you may end up pleasantly surprised to discover that what you have resisted wasn't that bad after all, and you begin to welcome its presence in your life. 

Beth

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