Ever been in a place where all of life’s standard issue strain has literally hit the fan and you sink into a place of believing that Oprah, Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle, your Yoga or meditation teacher, and countless others are so much more qualified, prepared, capable of getting through this life smoothly, and you wish you could too?
We all sink there sometimes. That quagmire pulls you farther down into the depths as each event happens. Your best friend’s dog dies, you get the flu and writers block at the same time, and then your internet goes out for six days… Sometimes life is not easy.
But it’s not easy for Oprah and Deepak either. It is easy, when we are suffering, to look at someone we admire and think that they never let themselves get down like this, but, in reality, we’re all human. And being human means that sometimes, despite our best efforts, life gets very, very difficult, and we can feel weak, sad, or angry.
That was me last week. Trying to run a business is near to impossible when you have no internet for six days!!!!! And that was just the tip of my iceberg, so to speak. Life on this planet is chock full of adventures and disasters at times.
When times like this hit, I force myself to meditate more – even though there are a thousand things my mind thinks I should be doing instead. Even if I only take a ten minute self Reiki break, I do it anyway; every little bit helps. And, since we are all human, what also helps, is remembering a story my brother shared with me several years ago. I’ll share it with you now to make my point.
This brother has lived in New York City for many years. He, like most people in the city, rides the subway to get everywhere. It’s crowded, people are often unfriendly, angry, in a hurry, late for an appointment, etc. On one particular day, my brother was attempting to share positive emotions with those around him, which is his habit, by making eye contact or saying hello, but it was really, really difficult. There was lots of angry energy around and he was getting down on himself for not being able to keep his own positivity up.
He thought he recognized a man standing on the platform near him, and was wracking his brain to remember who it was. This man also looked pretty angry, which, it occurred to him later was one of the reasons my brother, at first, didn’t recognize him. When it hit him who it was, he felt much better about his own situation. It was Deepak Chopra.
If Deepak, with his four hours of daily meditation, his Yoga practice, and everything that he does for himself and others can fall into that quagmire once in a while, then we needn’t beat ourselves up about sometimes being in the same position!
So, smile, think of this story when you feel overwhelmed by life’s ups and downs, and take care of you!
Here’s a little video of a calming eye massage. It only takes a few minutes and can help you come back to your sane, centered self.
Best of Health,
Kathi
