Look back on your life. Have there been events that you classified as adversities, terrible disruptions, which you now recognise as blessings in disguise? Life is full of blessings; we just have to learn to recognize them as such. If you cannot do this yet, simply acknowledge that you don't really know if any situation would end well or not.
In the same way that oceans shape our beaches and rivers shape their banks, our lives are shaped by events that we label as adversities, which we may one day recognise as blessings in disguise. Can you recall some personal examples of such blessings? I have had plenty of them...
"Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit." ~ Napoleon Hill
Instead of labeling any event as good or bad, why not just accept its role in shaping your life? That is just the way it is. The same way oceans shape our beaches and rivers shape their banks.
There are unique beauty to be appreciated in the very crookedness of a tree, the unevenness of a mountain, the randomness of a beach and the chaos of the ocean. These are the perfectness of Nature's imperfections. This is natural and this is the perfection and divinity of the Universe. What might initially appear to be random or chaotic probably follow a pattern or cycle we are not yet aware of...
Life is full of blessings, we just have to learn to recognize them as such... and if we are not yet ready to do so... maybe it is better to simply acknowledge that we don't really know if any situation would end well or not... Instead of labeling any event as good or bad, why not just accept its role in shaping our lives?
When we recognise, respect and appreciate this divine perfection that is inherent in nature, of which we are a perfect part of, we find the happiness and bliss that we seek.
There is an ancient Chinese story of a farmer who owned an old horse that till his fields. One day, the horse escaped into the hills and when the farmer's neighbors sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?"
A week later, the horse returned with a herd of horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, "Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?"
Then, when the farmer's son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?"
Some weeks later, the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer's son with his broken leg, they let him off. Once again, the farmer's only reaction was, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?"
There are no misfortunes in life. There are only missed fortunes... missed only because we fail to recognise and appreciate them as they truely are... fortunes, experiences, learning opportunities, seeds of wisdom...
"Faith is the courage to live as if everything that happens is for our highest good and learning." ~ Dan Millman
We don't always get what we want because what we want is not always what we need. But the lesson we need to learn is exactly what we would get at exactly the moment we need it. Ultimately, life will teach us all that we need to learn. Relationships reveal our true Self to us. All we need is the Clarity to see the lessons & the Wisdom to learn them. Life can teach us nothing until we are ready to learn... an open mind & heart is what we need.
Our imperfections are what make us perfectly unique... each of us a special and necessary piece of the puzzle that complete the lives of those around us... or to expand from my recent email (An Expression of Gratitude & A Tribute to Interdependence) to my Friends@zaadz, we are all a point on someone else's Web of Life. We inadvertently and invariably shape the lives of those we come into contact with...
"The humblest individual exerts some influence, either for good or evil, upon others." ~ Henry Ward Beecher
In what ways are you influencing the people you come into contact with today?
"The person who meets the problems of human life successfully acts as if he recognized, fully and spontaneously, that the fundamental meaning of life is interest in and co-operation with other people. Everything he does seems to be guided by the interests of his fellow beings, and where he encounters difficulties he tries to overcome them in ways that do not impinge on the welfare of others... " ~ Alfred Adler
All the resources we need are made available to us at the precise moment that is appropriate. The people who come into our lives are the ones we need at that moment in time. Everything is perfect. We only need to recognise this tune in to the flow.
"A human being is part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. The true value of a human being is determined by the measure and the sense in which they have obtained liberation from the self. We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive." ~ Albert Einstein
You Are
In the Right Place,
At the Right Time,
Doing the Right Thing,
With the Right People,
For the Right Reason,
Everything is Perfect.
You Can Have the Right Results!
All you need is a Right Heart & Mind...
an Open Heart & Mind.
I was asked this question recently, "Is it better to join human depravity to prove reality, or is it better to lift others up to follow higher standards and good values?"
"Men seek retreats for themselves, houses in the country, sea-shores, and mountains; and thou too are wont to desire such things very much. But this is altogether a mark of the common sort of men, for it is in thy power whenever thou shalt choose to retire into thyself. For nowhere either with more quiet or more freedom from trouble does a man retire than into his own soul, particularly when he has within him such thoughts that by looking into them he is immediately in perfect tranquillity...above all do not distract or strain thyself, but be free, and look at things as a man, as a human being, as a citizen, as a mortal. But among the things readiest to thy hand to which thou shalt turn, let there be these, which are two. One is that things do not touch the soul, for they are external and remain immovable; but our perturbations come only from the opinion which is within. The other is that all these things, which thou seest, change immediately and will no longer be; and constantly bear in mind how many of these changes thou hast already witnessed. The universe is transformation: life is opinion." ~ Marcus Aurelius
Help
Sign In
Art
August 2008 
Alex Chua
Access: Public
