'Changes': David Bowie ...
It struck me earlier, looking at the ups and downs of the times and moments of people here on facebook, that it is very easy to become seduced into expecting things to exist in a state of non-changing permanence.
‘Disappointment requires adequate planning’, Richard Bandler is apt to point out, meaning that when an individual has expectations about life, or people, that mis-match the reality, the gap between the reality and the expectation can sometimes be difficult to endure. Disappointment can be so painful for some people that they seek to escape from it in various ways and may possibly harm themselves or others in the process.
‘Some things cannot be healed, they can merely be outgrown, ‘C. G. Jung; sometimes we cannot change the external world in the time frame we might like; make the job different, change the world in an instant, wish away life’s inconveniences; often we have to learn the process of change and equip ourselves sufficiently to undertake the task. Sometimes it takes great skill and dedication to bring changes into society or healing into a person's heart. We cannot erase the past, for it has gone. In once sense, the past truly exists no more, it is as dust on the wind - and the future is nothing more than a set of possibilities and/or expectations; the present is all that exists – here … now …
However, the past does exist in our memories, and it has an affect on the present in the way we choose to allow it to colour our perception of this present experience. We cannot change the facts of what has occurred, but we can choose to decide what past events mean for us; what we draw from them or how we choose to describe them to ourselves.
One might say that every person’s reality is shaped by the narrative with which we choose to describe it; ‘Thoughts are the hands with which we shape the Soul’.
We can learn to change the narrative and broaden our emotional vocabulary; no matter what has occurred in the past, our very presence here informs us we have survived, and even if all the sorrows of the past have no meaning at all, then we can find solace in that we too have found the inner strength to hold on to life, 'That which does not kill me makes me stronger'. All we need to do now is learn how to thrive …
The Pagan Wheel of the Year, with its ritualistic framework of seasonal festivals imbue those who participate in its celebrations with a deep inner security; a peacefulness of knowing that light is ever dawning and summer is always on its way towards you. Viewing life, not as a series of snapshots, like a collage of random events, but instead, as a series of steps in a cycle; an eternally flowing circle of moments that are the development of those before them and the foundations of those to come …
Spring flows into summer … which passes into autumn … which transitions into winter … which dies and give birth to spring … which unfolds into summer …
Each step has a beauty of its own; a wisdom, a lesson, a quality of life bursting to expresses itself and teach those who have the sensitivity and wisdom to hear its ancient call. We too, flow through life on an undulating wave; rising and falling through tears of despair which ascend into tears of joy and …
This dynamic process enables us to develop an enduring inner strength that provides us with the ability to accept the troughs and dips, along with the peaks and highs, and to ask, not, ‘Why is this happening to me ?’, or ,’What can I do to make life happy forever ?’, but rather to ask, ‘What can I learn from this ?’, ‘What can I change within myself that means similar circumstances will be easier to manage in the future, if they ever recur at all’ …
By taking the responsibility to accept the part that we play in creating the circumstances in which we find ourselves, we place ourselves at the helm of our own destiny. We are no longer buffeted around like a leaf on the winds of life, hurtling to an unknown destiny like a passenger at the back on a runaway bus with no one driving. Instead, we become the driver; selecting our destiny/destination and choosing the route and the timetable of how to get there.
All of our journeys will have moments of ease and dis-ease, contraction and expansion, warmth and cold, summer and winter, optimism and pessimism because every path we take is an expression of the human condition. Paradox is a part of human nature, which is great to know because it is to paradox we can turn in times of great distress to re-orient our perception - and begin to turn ourselves around. No matter what paths we take or whatever we do, they all lead to the one great destination; the transition from this Earthly sentient and temporal realm to the greatest journey of all …
Since all roads lead home, it is less of an issue for us to insist that life is always bright, never cloudy and constantly upbeat, than it is to draw something we can learn from the shadows of life and do what we can to radiate sunshine - into others lives, as well as our own.
It is no easy task, aspiring to attain a sense of spiritual consciousness; it requires a sense of reverence, of purpose, sensitivity and humour, of compassion for oneself and all life and an awareness of the sometimes harsh realities of being humane in world that holds both beauty and malice in its promise.
Rather than being overwhelmed by the storms of life; we can learn how to surf …
Can we not … ?
It struck me earlier, looking at the ups and downs of the times and moments of people here on facebook, that it is very easy to become seduced into expecting things to exist in a state of non-changing permanence.
‘Disappointment requires adequate planning’, Richard Bandler is apt to point out, meaning that when an individual has expectations about life, or people, that mis-match the reality, the gap between the reality and the expectation can sometimes be difficult to endure. Disappointment can be so painful for some people that they seek to escape from it in various ways and may possibly harm themselves or others in the process.
‘Some things cannot be healed, they can merely be outgrown, ‘C. G. Jung; sometimes we cannot change the external world in the time frame we might like; make the job different, change the world in an instant, wish away life’s inconveniences; often we have to learn the process of change and equip ourselves sufficiently to undertake the task. Sometimes it takes great skill and dedication to bring changes into society or healing into a person's heart. We cannot erase the past, for it has gone. In once sense, the past truly exists no more, it is as dust on the wind - and the future is nothing more than a set of possibilities and/or expectations; the present is all that exists – here … now …
However, the past does exist in our memories, and it has an affect on the present in the way we choose to allow it to colour our perception of this present experience. We cannot change the facts of what has occurred, but we can choose to decide what past events mean for us; what we draw from them or how we choose to describe them to ourselves.
One might say that every person’s reality is shaped by the narrative with which we choose to describe it; ‘Thoughts are the hands with which we shape the Soul’.
We can learn to change the narrative and broaden our emotional vocabulary; no matter what has occurred in the past, our very presence here informs us we have survived, and even if all the sorrows of the past have no meaning at all, then we can find solace in that we too have found the inner strength to hold on to life, 'That which does not kill me makes me stronger'. All we need to do now is learn how to thrive …
The Pagan Wheel of the Year, with its ritualistic framework of seasonal festivals imbue those who participate in its celebrations with a deep inner security; a peacefulness of knowing that light is ever dawning and summer is always on its way towards you. Viewing life, not as a series of snapshots, like a collage of random events, but instead, as a series of steps in a cycle; an eternally flowing circle of moments that are the development of those before them and the foundations of those to come …
Spring flows into summer … which passes into autumn … which transitions into winter … which dies and give birth to spring … which unfolds into summer …
Each step has a beauty of its own; a wisdom, a lesson, a quality of life bursting to expresses itself and teach those who have the sensitivity and wisdom to hear its ancient call. We too, flow through life on an undulating wave; rising and falling through tears of despair which ascend into tears of joy and …
This dynamic process enables us to develop an enduring inner strength that provides us with the ability to accept the troughs and dips, along with the peaks and highs, and to ask, not, ‘Why is this happening to me ?’, or ,’What can I do to make life happy forever ?’, but rather to ask, ‘What can I learn from this ?’, ‘What can I change within myself that means similar circumstances will be easier to manage in the future, if they ever recur at all’ …
By taking the responsibility to accept the part that we play in creating the circumstances in which we find ourselves, we place ourselves at the helm of our own destiny. We are no longer buffeted around like a leaf on the winds of life, hurtling to an unknown destiny like a passenger at the back on a runaway bus with no one driving. Instead, we become the driver; selecting our destiny/destination and choosing the route and the timetable of how to get there.
All of our journeys will have moments of ease and dis-ease, contraction and expansion, warmth and cold, summer and winter, optimism and pessimism because every path we take is an expression of the human condition. Paradox is a part of human nature, which is great to know because it is to paradox we can turn in times of great distress to re-orient our perception - and begin to turn ourselves around. No matter what paths we take or whatever we do, they all lead to the one great destination; the transition from this Earthly sentient and temporal realm to the greatest journey of all …
Since all roads lead home, it is less of an issue for us to insist that life is always bright, never cloudy and constantly upbeat, than it is to draw something we can learn from the shadows of life and do what we can to radiate sunshine - into others lives, as well as our own.
It is no easy task, aspiring to attain a sense of spiritual consciousness; it requires a sense of reverence, of purpose, sensitivity and humour, of compassion for oneself and all life and an awareness of the sometimes harsh realities of being humane in world that holds both beauty and malice in its promise.
Rather than being overwhelmed by the storms of life; we can learn how to surf …
Can we not … ?
© David Rowan, May 2009
‘A human being is part of the whole, called by us 'universe,' a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest -- a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself part of the liberation, and a foundation for inner security’.
Albert Einstein
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