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| Jacqueline Sferra Rada," Solitude," pastel on paper, image courtesy of the artist. |
Play the podcast here -- Music and car illustration by Scotto Mycklebust
Listen to "The Puddle's Tale" on Spreaker.
True at a certain level of contemplation, but too many wannabe gurus out there will contend that whatever is bothering you is your fault because you acknowledge perceiving it, and what they end up advising is pretending it’s not there. Going to use an example to show why this is not your best move, so, close your eyes, and pretend it’s a rainy day…
You are driving. The rain is heavy on a narrow road, and suddenly before you is a car sized puddle of water. You know the weather people say NEVER to drive through those, so you signal, check your mirrors, and go around to your right, out of the way of oncoming traffic.
Easy-Peasy, right?
Of course, so we’re going to change it up. A spiritual adviser (not me!) is in the passenger seat, so you ask if you are clear to swerve right…
“I don’t see why you have to,” they say, “Obstacles aren’t real. Drive right through…”
“Don’t even think of driving through!” says the Weather Guy on the radio.”We see this all the time, drivers don’t know how deep the water is, and they end up in trouble!”
And you know, he’s looking out for your safety.
“But that’s your comfort zone,” your passenger points out, “You need to leave your comfort zone.”
“Now?”
Another useful trope when properly timed and applied...but it’s really all in the timing...
At this point traffic is a bit congested behind you, and people are honking and navigating around your car. Why aren’t you moving too?
You stopped yourself to question something you already knew, because you were trying to apply broad, abstracted guidance to a situation that did not require any. Deciding a barrier isn’t real can create an even bigger barrier if YOU were not the creator of the obstacle in the first place.
So just don’t create your own barriers any more!
And if I say that without giving you some technique behind it I am just another idiot giving you advice from the dust jacket of someone else’s book. Even this is too simple, but since the best solutions have to be honed with you for your specific life path, what I am going to say for this purpose is that we definitely get stuck when we fall into thinking about our own thoughts.
Huh?
OK, this time I am in your passenger seat. And here is the puddle. And you ask me what to do. I open my window, get a little wet looking around, and say, “You’re clear!” And we drive around it…
To this great little coffee bar, perfect place to shake off the weather. Over steaming lattes, watching the rain from a tiny table near the window and I ask, “Why did you hesitate?”
“Because the person who was there last time said that I would remain blocked if I saw things as problems.”
“Not all things. You only got stuck because you were thinking about a metaphor instead of your driving. Which one, in that moment, was going to get you where you want to be?”
The Weather Man pulls up a chair and sits down. “Good thing you drove around,” he says. “There’s a car stuck in the water right now!”
And we all take a long, thoughtful sip, still pondering the rain...
You can always keep going forward if you can really see what is in front of you. And you can do it without consulting a Book of Rules. Paraphrasing “The Elements of Style,” when you are really good at what you are doing, which in the case of this teaching is, being you, you can make good things happen by breaking the rules once you are a Master of them.
Readiness is all…
Again, I am not going to strand you with a maxim without a method.
And no, not another New Age truism, it’s actually Shakespeare, who we all know was ahead of his time. In this case Hamlet is addressing life without fear no matter the circumstances. Which does not mean denying what is or could be dangerous, but the realization that the emotional and physical states that come from thinking about that are not helpful to us.
Yet there is no thought that is wrong! Self criticism is another form of fear. If we substitute awareness or mindfulness -- results of preparation -- for readiness, we put ourselves in a position to step back a bit and discern between thoughts that help us and those that prevent progress. We all go there, and what’s important is not to dwell on how or why, but to shift gears and move on in the direction of our real, best outcomes.
#newthought #lifecoaching #newage #spiritualadviser #choices #meditation #personalgrowth #gurus #comfortzone
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