Monday, July 13, 2020

Four Lessons Life Has Taught Me

My inspiration for this post came from my dear, longtime blogging friend, Debbie @ Musings by an ND Domer's Mom, who is not only a gifted writer, but also a published author. Last week Debbie shared a very interesting post in which she shared ten things she learned since her third decade. And at the end of the post, she invited her readers to do the same on their blogs, which I immediately knew I wanted to do. However, I didn't use the same post title, nor am I sharing ten things. I'm sharing four. And I titled my post, "Four Lessons Life Has Taught Me."

I'm a believer that life itself is the greatest teacher because it will very often take you down roads you didn't plan on traveling. And ironically enough, those roads end up having the most impact because it's where we seem to acquire the most valuable education on how life works.

My Four Lessons

Honoring your body 

Sometimes when I think about how our bodies are designed, it's mind-blowing to me. And I'm not only referring to its exterior, I'm talking more about its inner workings. To think that we are born with a heart that continues to beat for however long we live is just amazing. I'm 64. So, the heart I was born with has been beating for 64 years. And that's like WOW when you really, truly think about it.

It wasn't until I got very ill in 2015 and spent two weeks in a hospital, did I realize how much I took my body for granted. I've never been abusive to my body, however, I know that I have always assumed that nothing would ever go wrong because I was born with such a strong and healthy body. Illness was something that happened to someone else, but not to me. I felt almost arrogantly invincible.

Boy, did I ever need to learn a lesson. 

Since my illness, my whole attitude about my body has changed. I've become much more conscious of it; appreciating how everything within it has a purpose and that it's all interconnected. For as scary as that experience was, it's something I look back on with tremendous gratitude because it gave me awareness.

In fact, when I do my weekly yoga practice and meditations, I finish by vocally thanking my body for all the incredible things it does that allows me to physically move through life. 

I know that may sound silly. Yet, when I thank my body, I can actually feel it responding back to me with love and gratitude. And it's gotten to a point where not only am I more aware of my body, I communicate with it because it tells me exactly what it needs.

It's so true what they say about life. When you've got your health, you've got everything. 

Live Now

Have you ever noticed how so often your thoughts are either in the past, or they're projecting into the future? You think, "Coulda Woulda Shoulda" or "I'm so worried about what's going to happen three months from now."

This is a lesson I have to stay consciously on top of because my thoughts can sometimes wander from the past to the future.

But I have to say, I'm getting much better at staying focused on the now.

Yes, the past has great value because it taught me what I've learned up until now.

And the future has great value as well because it gives me something to plan for.

However, it is only in the present do I receive my inspiration for what's best right now; giving me what I need for the future.

So, whenever I feel my thoughts rolling backwards or projecting forward, I take a moment to bring my thoughts to the moment at hand. And I say to myself, "Shut the hell up Ron, and stop thinking.

And start feeling...

...the now."

Trust yourself

I am so grateful that I've developed a strong sense of trusting myself because I was born at a time when you were taught to always listen to the opinions of others (particularly your elders) because they knew better. Yet, I always felt that it was more important to trust myself because when it comes right down to it, I'm the one who has to make the choices. No one else can do that for me.

I have a pretty keen sense of intuition, which I've learned to read and respect.

It took me a while to trust it. But I found out that whenever I second guessed it, I eventually realized that I should have followed it.

Intuition and trusting go hand in hand.

And that also goes for the times in my life when I'm frightened about something and need to trust that I'll be okay.

Which brings me to my fourth lesson that connects with my first lesson.

Suffering is the resistance to what is

This is a lesson that pretty much goes against everything we're taught. Which is that if we don't like what is, we can just change it because we have complete control over our lives.

But I've learned that's not always the case because regardless of how deliberate I am in designing my ideal life, life will sometimes throw me a pop-quiz. Just to see if I'm paying attention.

For instance. When I got ill and had to spend time in the hospital, I was scared beyond shitless.

Now, was that part of my intentional design?

Hell no, that was not something I would ever design for myself.

Yet, I intuitively knew while I was sitting in the emergency room that my stay in the hospital was going to teach me something I needed to learn. I could just feel it.

The reality was, yes, I was suffering physically.

But I knew that I didn't need to suffer mentally and emotionally as well.

So, I began to change my way of looking at the experience. I altered my perspective. Because really, what other choice did I have?

And when I finally allowed myself to fully accept it, I was given all the clarity I needed to move through it. I felt as if I was both the observer and the participant of my experience.

I remember my brother talking with me on the phone while I was still in the hospital and asked, "How are you not freaking out about all this? Are you scared?"

I said, "Yes, I'm scared. But freaking out is not going to help, it's only going to make it worse. I can't do anything to change this other than looking at it differently."

Suffering of any kind is a bitch. But we are not ever going to escape the things that cause us to suffer because suffering will always play a role in our lives.

Nevertheless, I discovered that if I don't resist those things, it defuses the suffering by giving way to what is of value.

As I shared in my first lesson, I look back on this experience with tremendous gratitude because it softened me and toughened me at the same time.

Have a fantabulous week, y'all!

💗

And thanks for the inspiration, Debbie!