Feel The Power

It's amazing how great or how terrible you can feel after spending time with another person, even when very few words are exchanged. Just being in the presence of a person, different energies are being exchanged either leaving you energized and feeling wonderful or drained and negative. There are a few folks in my life in which I have to mentally prepare myself for, I have to coach myself and get in the right mind set before a visit. It took a lot of work and it could be tiring, but now I have found that I have to change my perspective on these occasions, when I am about to visit someone where I know there may be tension I have to tell myself: "You are just going to check in on them, no commitments, no anticipation, no worries." I have found that after I have prepared myself for these visits, once the it is over the after effects are not so bad.

I was fortunate enough to have spent some time with an old yoga teacher of mine the other day, I was so excited about the visit that I thought I would burst into tears as soon as I laid eyes on her (I didn't but I came close). We spent some time chatting and catching up, explored some ideas about teaching together and then did a yoga practice. I was in extreme bliss being in her presence, she recharged my batteries and inspired me and I felt almost high when I left. How amazing it will be to hopefully make a living by teaching something that brings peace and health to people, to work side by side with one of the women who helped me to find the path of yoga. I know that I cannot feel that great everyday of my life, the days you run into people who can recharge you that way are few and far between though I would like to help those who are not in a good place to find peace.

As I sit here typing I am thinking to myself, perhaps I should be the source of positive energy to those who have drained me in the past. Life is not always lollipops and roses, but it's the point of view in which you choose to look at things, I choose to (try) welcome all situations as an opportunity to learn. To not dismiss my feelings, but sit with conflict and sadness, explore it and learn. There is a saying: "If you cry over burnt toast, what will you do when your house burns down?" If you can change a situation then change it, if you cannot then there is nothing you can do, accept it for what it is, learn from it and move on. This outlook has helped to bring me peace, I learned this from several Pema Chodron books which are life changing and I highly recommend them to everyone.

We don't have to be miserable or a source of misery to others, we seem to want to impose ourselves and our beliefs onto others - to want to change them into our own image. It seems to me that this misery / negativity is a result for the constant striving to obtain objects, people, status, money when in fact once these have been achieved there will always be something else to want. We do not have to suffer, be happy with what you have and where you are, allow others to be who they are, welcome difficult situations and others as an opportunity to learn and increase your patience and love ~ be the source of love and peace, embrace it and share it.

We work on ourselves in order to help others, but also we help others in order to work on ourselves. ~ Pema Chodron