This Too Shall Pass

 

Life is a mixed blend of experiences. Everything takes turn in life. We will neither receive 100% good experiences nor 100% bad experiences. Everything is temporary in this temporary world.  One magic word to keep in mind is  “This too shall pass”. If we keep this thought fixed in our minds, we will not have ego attached to us. We will not lose ourselves when we succeed and we will not be extremely depressed when facing set-backs.

 

There is a folk tale which goes as follows. Once, there lived a king and he called all his ministers for a meeting and told them “You need to give me only one piece of advice but it should be applicable for all walks of life”. Many ministers came with few ideas but none of them could shrink it to one piece which applies to all situations. Then a wise minister came and handed over a folded piece of paper and gave it to the king. “Oh King! I have written only one piece of advice in this paper. But you should not open it now. Open it when you taste ultimate success and when you face your deadliest set-back. Then you will understand how this one piece of advice applies to all situations”

 

The king agreed and time passed. After few years, the king conquered many nations and expanded his kingdom to a great extent. He was feeling ecstatic about his achievement but then he remembered the paper his minister gave him. He took it out and read the words “This too shall pass”. The king realized that his success is not permanent and he shut off his ego. He stayed humble. Then after few months another king came with a massive army and conquered this king and his kingdom. He felt very frustrated then remembered the old paper and took it out and read “This too shall pass”. Immediately calmness filled his mind. After few years, he fought his way back and got hold of his kingdom. This is how the story goes.

 

The moral that we learn from this is, We are consistently moving in our life to experience different emotions. But nothing stays permanent. The journey begins with birth and ends with death. Why should we feel stuck? Why should we dwell in the same thoughts and emotions when the experience is already over? Things happen only once in life but it happens hundred times again in our mind. We are the ones who relive those phases again and again in our memories. Let us learn to let go. Let us learn to accept and move on.  Program your mind to accept the pain. If you accept and acknowledge, it will be much easier to let go. Say to yourself “This too shall pass”. Let peace be with you. Cheers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Healing Takes Time – But Our Target Is “Now”

 

Life is filled with disappointments, hurts and hear breaks. No one is immune to that. Just close your eyes and imagine your past! How many such incidents have you overcome? In your childhood, adulthood and so on. How did you feel at that time? How are you feeling now? Do you still have the same pain? Do you still have the same emotions? The answer to this question would be mostly no. The reason is none other than “Time”. Yes! Time is the best healer. Nothing is permanent in this temporary world. Emotions pass, feelings pass, happiness pass and sadness too pass. Everything passes in its own pace.

 

But the target for us is to accelerate the healing process. If we have to wait for time to heal, we will have to undergo the pain, emotions, anxiety and frustration till the time the healing process is complete. So how do we avoid it?

 

The best practice here is to take one hour at a time, keep the emotions aside. If you succeed, take one day at a time and practice. Devote your mind completely in this process until your mind pushes the thought as soon as it arises. Let’s see a simple method to practice this.

 

§     Choose a calm place either in your house or outdoors

§     Close your eyes and breathe gently for few seconds

§     Visualize that your brain is divided into three parts

§     One part is filled with pain, one with gratitude and last is empty

§     Now the painful thought will automatically start to show up

§     Pick up one item from your gratitude part and start analysing that

§     What are you thankful for? How it has impacted your life?

§     When you finish the first item, take up the second one and proceed

§     Don’t do anything with the painful thought. It will slowly dissipate

§     Now visualize the empty area in your brain

§     Try to connect your brain to the massive universe

§     Where I have been before I was born? Where I will be in 100 years?

§     The stay in Earth is temporary for me. It’s temporary for everyone

§     This pain happened for a reason. It is going to make me grow

§     I will move on. I will forgive the person who caused this pain

§     This episode is now over. I will start a fresh chapter

§     I see myself healed. I will heal myself every time this thought comes

 

Now open your eyes. You will surely feel relieved at least a bit. Do this thought practice as soon as you get the painful thought and finally your mind itself will work in auto pilot mode without your effort. Trust me! Your mind is your best friend. You need to talk to your mind as if you do to a person and it will do the magic for you. You can do your own sequence, positive affirmations of your choice and even can try and list out why this episode has  happened and in what ways it’s going to help you grow.

 

Accept the pain and analyse it. Validate that with other items in your gratitude list and then finally connect with universe and gently move the painful thought. Visualise the pain is going out of your body into far, far away. Mindfully practice this and see the difference. Cheers!

 

 

 

 

 

Adversity ~~~> Acceptance ~~~> Positive Turnaround

Let's assume that we have an uncontrollable situation now. It's hard to avoid such situations but it is in our hands to accept that and move on. So, let's analyze one such situation and also possible exits out of it.

The situation - You just had a break-up

 

Common symptoms include :

 

·       Stress

·       Depression

·       Societal pressure

·       Emotional imbalance

·       Anger

·       Feeling lost

·       Feeling stuck

·       Doubting your worth

 

Now ask yourself

 

ü    Did I try to sort it out?

ü    Did I find the possible cause and rectify that?

ü    Was I at fault?

ü    Is a compromise possible?

ü    Will it work out if I give way?

 

You answered yes for all the above questions (except the middle one which is a no, obviously).  But sadly, the situation is still the same.

 

Now let us apply the positive turnaround

 

Cry – Honour your emotions, but say to yourself :  Yes! The situation is now uncontrollable. I can’t change it but I can change myself. I will accept this.

 

Breathe – In hale acceptance and ex hale the love and attachment.

 

Think big – Earth is a tiny spec of dust from space. Then where am I? Where are my worries? Let it go

 

Drink water – Take every sip mindfully saying “This is how I am diluting my anxiety, worry and stress over this uncontrollable event. This too shall pass”

 

Walk – Say to your feet “crush my worries, my stress and the societal pressure. I am strong to crush this. I will accept this and move on”

 

What ever you do, say a positive affirmation that you accept this and will get over it. It is tough in the beginning, but trust me! You can bring it to practice if you sincerely follow it. Your mind can do the magic for you. Instead of asking “Why me?” say “I am glad it’s me” because you are strong enough to get over it. Get over anything. Only give your acceptance to the situation. Cheers!

 

 

 

 

Acceptance is Magical

Life is good. But life is also unpredictable. As there are two sides for a coin, life is also a double-sided platform. Only thing is we can’t predict which side flips when!

 

There are many motivational books, videos which claim that you can change anything provided you give your best, do your 100% and so on. But the sad reality is, in some situations, how much ever you try, you can’t change the situation even 1%. Have been there? Experienced the frustration? If yes, then you are in the right place and this blog is for you!

 

In a fast-paced world, no one has the time to sit and read a lengthy article. Agreed right!!!!! Hence I have tried to make this intro article as short and crisp as possible.

 

Here comes a short note about me. I tend to complicate even the smallest things. In many uncontrollable situations in my life. I always get caught in trap with even tiniest of disappointments, financial worries, relationship issues,  handling tantrums thrown from kid, mounting health issues as you age and so on… The sad truth????? You can’t change the situation how much ever you try, at least not immediately! I have stressed, cried, panicked, felt lost and even stood there directionless plenty of times

 

But then I realized! Trying to change things doesn’t work. Then what works? It is trying to change you!!! Yes…. But that’s not easy. Those who tried could tell you why it is not easy. Motivational people might not accept this, but this is the only way in which you can make peace with the present situation. Accept that the situation won’t change! But, you can still be at peace with the positive turnaround. Yes, you can change yourself to accept this”

 

It will help you pass the stressful minute in a calm fashion, then a day, then a week and until then things turn out better or until you heal. So, the magic word is…

 

“The situation won’t change but I can still be at peace with the positive turnaround. Yes! I can change myself to accept this”