Shake Off That Cloud

I have been on a self-imposed blogging hiatus recently...in other words, I've had writer's block and a lot of stress, lol. Over the past 3 weeks I've had a multitude of events take place in my personal life that had me feeling down in the doldrums. (No it's nothing juicy people). I felt a cloud of negativity over me, was constantly feeling stressed out, and found myself getting angry and frustrated over other small things that came up along the way. I had allowed the course of events to push me off my axis, and away from the positive space I had found within. A lot of times when one thing is going wrong for me, it seems as if everything is going wrong, and I tend to take on a fatalistic mentality. Although in this case, everything that could wrong, really was going wrong. Lol.

Thankfully somewhere during that time I met a nice Indian gentleman and had a wonderful conversation about spirituality. He recommended a few books to me and invited me to his home to meet his guru. The whole incident really struck me because he happened to be the grandfather of one of my patients, and I often try to keep things on an impersonal level. But I felt as if he could see into my soul somehow, and so the conversation opened up and immediately traveled into the spiritual realm. I could feel his wisdom and tranquility, and felt the deep caring and generosity of his spirit. I believe that there is no such thing as simple coincidence, and as we spoke I knew that our discussion would have an impact on my life in some way.

I was perusing my local bookstore a few weeks later, and as I stood to leave, one of the books he mentioned was there staring me in the face and I had to buy it. The book is called "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari" by Robin Sharma. I felt as if I was destined to read the book, and as I turned it's pages I realized that it was exactly what I needed in that moment. It is written as a fable and tells the story is of a high profile lawyer who has a heart attack and gives up everything in search of enlightenment. After living amongst a group of sages in the Himalayas, he comes back to America to share the wisdom that was passed along to him with a close colleague. The "monk" passes along many lessons he learned with the sages, and suggests practices you can incorporate into your life to become more centered. It echoed the words of some books I have read in the past, and helped to renew my spirit. I ended up with a fresh perspective on my current situation. One quote in particular was very timely - "Thoughts are bundles of energy and the quality of your thoughts determines the quality of your life." Very simple, but apparently I had left my common sense behind. I recommend this book to anyone who has just begun their journey or someone who may have gone off a bit off course.

Even though the universe may throw negative circumstances our way, the way in which we handle the events can make a big difference in the way we experience those situations. If we look at things as if there is nothing we can do to change the conditions in our lives, we end up feeling helpless sometimes. I believe in fate and destiny, but my belief is that fate is interactive. I feel that within our fate is a series of forked roads and how our lives unfold depends on which course of action we take in dealing with a particular problem. There is always choice. Just like a "Choose Your Own Adventure Book", it is up to each individual to select their path. And we can choose to deal with unfortunate situations in a happy way or in an upset and depressed way. I would definitely say that the former option feels much better. I have come across poor, homeless, and sick, cancer ridden individuals who walk around with a pleasant and hopeful disposition. So I too should be able to carry my burdens with a smile on my face. And while it may seem that there is nothing to smile about, simply being alive is enough, isn't it. Maybe those people who are riding out the bad times with a smile, have found fortune in their misfortune. By this I mean, maybe they have found the lesson in the midst of what they are going through, maybe they have found joy in the other things that are going right for them. Maybe just to be alive, and to breathe and to bring the best of themselves to every day is enough. We cannot let fate rule us; we rule our fate. And how we handle what the universe gives us can further determine what will come our way. "The only limits on your life are those that you set yourself" -The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari