Viewing the Difficult as Your Advantage

I receive daily emails from Jeff Kober at Vedic Meditation.

They are all very valuable and applicable to my life, however – the one I received yesterday seemed to speak more loudly.

Around me, I noticed several people struggling more with the difficult things/events in their life.

For them – and those of you dealing with life’s obstacles – this is dedicated to you.

An excerpt from ‘My Eyes So Soft’:

Don't

Surrender

Your loneliness so quickly.

Let it cut more

Deep.

Let it ferment and season you

As few human

Or even divine ingredients can.

Something missing in my heart tonight

Has made my eyes so soft,

My voice so

Tender,

My need of God

Absolutely

Clear.

Hafiz, My Eyes So Soft

Emergency C-section. Baby on ventilator.

Fifteen-year marriage breaking up.

Loved one undergoing extraordinary measures in order to stay alive.

Burying a parent, a grandparent, a lover.

Going home alone. Eating alone. Watching TV alone.

These are things happening in the lives of just a few of the people I know. These experiences and others like them are a given. We all will know death, loss, worry, remorse, loneliness. The facts of our life will at times align to appear frightening and perhaps even hopeless.

This is the nature of the relative world. No matter what is happening, it will change. To seek safety and security here is a guarantee of frustration. It cannot be found but for a moment; for as soon as our idea of perfection is achieved, at that very moment everything begins to move away from that perfection. Whatever that idea of perfection is, it cannot be held. It cannot be frozen. It cannot be kept. For indeed, in the relative world, the only constant is change.

Spiritual masters such as Hafiz show us there is a way to know this truth as our advantage, rather than as a handicap.

Loneliness is not an indication that there is something wrong with me. Loneliness simply tells me that I need to find God. A deeper experience of God. In Vedic terms, I must find what I am, the Self that I am, that is other than my relative world experience. I must find the Self that I am that can allow these relative world things to play themselves out as they may.

The power of the loneliness itself--of the fear, of the sorrow, the sadness, the anxiety--this is the motivation. This is the fuel that can drive me to seek a deeper connectedness and a truer experience of what I am.

When looked at like this, all these challenges in my life suddenly can be seen as opportunities. Can I see the beauty of my sorrow? Can I use this experience of death to appreciate life? Can I find God even in the midst of loss? Can I find a definition of happiness that is large enough to encompass even this depth of sadness?

In the midst of my loneliness, can I feel myself connected to that which is much greater, that which is universal, that which is Totality itself? Can I even imagine how that might feel? In that feeling in my imagination, what happens to this loneliness? How is it transformed?

If consciousness is all that there is, and I can imagine something fully in my own consciousness, does that not make it real?

Today I will imagine that every seeming difficulty is in fact a message from God, from nature, that He/She/It is expecting my call. And so I will call. 

You can sign up for Jeff’s emails here on the left-hand side bar.

A little about Jeff: He has spent the last 30 years studying metaphysics and meditation, traveling extensively in India. In 2007, after a lengthy and intensive period of study, Jeff became a teacher of Vedic meditation, and since has taught from his center in Los Angeles, as well as in Mexico City, Chicago, Montana, Wyoming and regularly in New York.
He has written a daily Vedic Meditation thought for over a year and is currently compiling a 365 Meditation Daily Reader.

Life is Beautiful. Notice It.

I don’t normally do personal posts, (you never know what weirdo’s lurk out there) but I thought I would invite you to have a sneak peak at my family.

We enjoyed an afternoon at the Akron Zoo. We had a beautiful time. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! (Makes it hard to write blog posts AND work on your start-up etsy business on such awesome days)

Life is full of beauty. Notice it.

Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential and live your dreams.



Stroller free!



trying to decide what to check out first

Elizabeth's favorate - on the tiger of course!

not often do I get to capture Mr. Blinded by the Light

Feeding goats is hilarious, I guess ; )

Follow me Papa

Luckily this isnt' a real turtle, I doubt he's like it very much if
I sat on him if he was - not to mention Charlotte in tow.

Silly frog



very serious



This thing was creepy



Checking out the Lama-drama





Elizabeth's favorate





Charlotte passed out afterwards



Words From The Heart

Here is a compilation of poems I have written over the last year. Most of which I have posted in the past-I explain them briefly as well.

Here is a poem about my experience in holding my baby excessively, spoiling her tons, and making others pissed off because I wouldn’t let them hold her – i.e. new mommy syndrome. People would tell me to put her down if she was sleeping and I would never listen to their silly advice. I enjoyed holding her every moment I could, especially when she was sleeping….

In My Arms

Slumber softly…

Your eyes are closed,

But I can still see your world

Even more so.

Your soul drifts to play in another realm,

While I hold on close and tight.

Your warmth imparts a tranquil feeling,

I feel your breath and learn everything this universe has to offer.

A feeling so full,

Every part of my being is joyous.

The harmony starts and seems overwhelming as if I was in front of a firing range,

One shot after another,

Exterminating all hate and pain from the heart.

Sleeping so softy,

Unknowingly releasing the strongest of all storms upon me,

One that leaves only beauty and joy in its wake.

No longer present,

there is only Love which encapsulates this moment.

Then a smile,

She has journeyed back from her peaceful world,

In my arms.

We all have experiences with people in our lives that are critical, harsh and judgmental. This poem, I wrote nearly a year ago, still holds a strong place in my heart. I wanted to write about how the act of condemnation only truly harms the person holding onto such conviction – and freedom and love should still be given unconditionally.

I always try and remember how I would want my daughters to act – even in the case of someone acting cruel towards them; I would want them to be a beacon of light …. Never letting that darkness shadow over them.  

Loved, Infinitely

The frosty smack of condemnation is upon your breath
like the bitter wind blowing at the end of days.
With it comes the absence of faith for your brothers and sisters.

Harboring love and disgust in the same soul,
What a feat, the impossible!
See your brother with conviction,
You shall glimpse the same within yourself.

Treat your brother with fault,
You shall guard yourself with blame.

Judgment blinds the eyes
an arduous canopy of shade.
A zealous thug to all human kind.

Graceful, letting the grasp of ruling loosen
like a slithering snake retreating from its predator.
Blessed with one more day to endure.

Renegade from the sinister eclipse
do not fear to love.
For you are loved, infinitely.



I wrote these two poems when I was dealing with fear. I now make it a genuine habit to make choices not in fear, but in trust, faith and love.

Shine

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure!

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be: brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?”
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are of the Divine.
Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine,
as children do.

We were born to make manifest the Ultimate.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

Birthright: Trust

Fear keeps one from living

living the life we were meant to live.

There’s nothing more important,

seeing this truth.

The degree to which we trust life

is the degree to which we can be happy

be at peace.

None of us are in this Life alone.

Children with natural beliefs, a world full of support. 

Racing downhill on bikes,

no hands.

Hurling on fast sleds,

without a thought. 

Climbing trees,

swinging with one hand

from the highest branches. 

Taking risks,

stretching  limits,

jumping boldly from a high dive.

What happens to this trust,

this confidence,

our certainty in life?

Adults may say they trust in life,

But they cannot recall last time they were consumed completely

with trust in everyday events in life

The ribbon of life is dynamic, a fluid process.

Every day we experience events that are not planned.

We have the ulitimate power to declare

defeat or victory;

trust that every event is there for a reason.

I am an extremely spiritual person. I have not always been, and I don’t regret that – I only embrace it. It allowed me to grow significantly as a mother, a wife, a friend. This poem is about faith as I understand it. Complete surrender, transitioning from resistance in life to full acceptance.

Let It Be

Even within the seemingly most unacceptable, painful situations

concealed is a deeper good.

Within every disaster

contained is a seed of grace.

Surrender.

Give up trying to understand

welcome the easy of not knowing.

Surrender,

the inner transition from resistance to acceptance,

from “no” to “yes”.

Whatever you accept completely

 will take you to peace.

Leave Life alone.

Let it be.

These next three poems I did not write, but they are some of my all time favorites and they inspire me. I hope they inspire you as well…

Reach for the Sun

It's not only children who grow.
Parents do too.
As much as we watch to see what our children
do with their lives, they are watching us to see
what we do with ours.
I can't tell my children to reach for the sun.
All I can do is reach for it, myself.

-Joyce Maynard

Outwitted

He drew a circle that shut me out,

heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.

But Love and I had the wit to win,

We drew a circle that took him in.

-Edwin Markham

Your Children are Not Your Children

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you, they do not belong to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bow from which your children as livings arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,

And He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer’s hands be for gladness;

For even He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

-The Prophet 1951

Death As The Ultimate Teacher

To me, death is a teacher whose wisdom and simplicity can be humbling. It seems humanity, as a whole, fears death, hides it away; however, death is inevitable.

This resistance to an inevitable part of nature brings a certain amount of pain and discomfort. Many people see death as the enemy.

Keeping death as a companion and teacher instead of an enemy may change priority and perspective.

Death can become a great teacher of life.

Petty arguments cease.

Forgiveness comes easy. Seeking forgiveness comes easy.

With death standing close to us we are reminded of what is most precious. 
 

When the five senses are stilled,

that is the enlightening state.

When the timeless Self, beyond all perception, hidden in the cave of the heart,

leaves pain and pleasure far behind...

When the traveler who is intimate with Death but has yet to pass the mountain peak,

To yet experience the soul soar with unbound freedom,

Whispers concluding words,

“Love one another.”

-Amanda