Today something happened that hurt and upset me!
How could they do this to me?
How could they lie so blatantly?
This person is mean and spiteful!
I am angry, and I want revenge, and I want it now!
They cannot get away with this!
How dare they do that to 'me'!
The above statements could apply to any situation that any of us have gone through in our relationships with others. We have all gone through situations that have left us feeling overwhelmed and stabbed at the core of our being.
When others mistreat us, all our unresolved issues may get triggered and come up to the surface ready for healing.
It can sometimes take us hours, days, weeks, even years to get over the hurt, pain and suffering when we are impacted by another's unkind actions.
I remember a few years ago when my whole world shattered all around me. I was left feeling betrayed, helpless not sure what the future had in store for me.
I kept playing the record of poor me; how could this happen to me and what would become of me.
One day on awakening I realised that my thoughts were the same thoughts I had yesterday, the same thoughts I had last week. In fact, it had been a year, and I was still harbouring those same old thoughts.
We would not hold on to last year's garbage, would we? Yet we hold on to old stinking thinking allowing it to take up valuable space in our mind, where our Soul's vision should be.
I had had it with those smelly old thoughts. I decided that day, that I would throw out the low-frequency thoughts that were lodged in my mind. I would replace them with new beautiful, uplifting ideas that would empower me to create a new life that was more purposeful.
I had my work cut out for me. I would wake up with these thoughts and go to bed with them. I realised that for things to change, I had to let go of these fearful, sad, unproductive thoughts.
Some years ago, I had purchased a personal development CD box set offering conscious breathing teachings; I was ready to embark on that journey.
I would wake up each day my only focus and companion was my breath, the one thing that was mine that no one could take from me. It didn't matter what anyone thought of me, said about me, or what they did to me; the breath was always there ready to empower me.
I began to feel so much better and could feel a calmness within me that nourished me throughout the day. I began to feel hopeful, and things began to change. I found that the old thoughts were taking up less space in my mind.
'When you change the way, you look at things, the things you look at change.'
When people mistreat us, we have the right to feel bad, sad, hurt and even angry for a while. However, at some point, we will be drawn to the stillness within and know that it is time to let go of past hurts and make space for our purpose.
I believe that life allows us to go through challenging situations that break us at the core, leaving us broken open, ready to fill up on our newfound strength. This strength transforms our inner world, creating more self-awareness.
My Soul's wisdom reminded me why I had made the journey to this earth plane. I had come here to learn, grow and serve.
I flooded my mind with other things that empowered me. I found that walking in nature, reading inspirational books, speaking to inspiring people motivated me to move forward and enjoy my evolving life.
I had been attached to my old life and had stopped growing. What I have found to be true is that everyone has a purpose, and our job is to discover our Soul's purpose.
When we stop moving towards our purpose, we feel unfulfilled, lost in our roles. We stop dreaming and growing when we settle for a life without meaning.
We may confuse our roles with our Soul's goals. Our roles are important and have their place, giving structure to our lives. Our Soul's purpose is about our broader perspective, the invisible journey into eternity.
Life woke me up to the unresolved issues that I had been suppressing for so long. I was now aware of my negative thoughts; the emotions I had been suppressing came to the surface with horrible detox symptoms. I had a lot of cleaning up to do, but I was ready to do the work, as I could not live like this anymore.
Life reminds us that when everything is taken away from us, we still have our breath. When you are in the thick of it, you may feel unable to collect your thoughts, but you can choose to take a conscious breath one breath at a time.
The affirmation 'All I need is within me now,' I believe, is our ability to practice conscious breathing to heal our lives.
If we can sit with ourselves and just feel the warmth and power of our breath, we can transform how we think and feel in the moment, which subsequently will heal and transform our lives.
There is the story of the gods who were trying to think of a suitable hiding place to hide the precious treasure from man. One of the god’s suggested that they should hide it at the top of the highest mountain, but another god said no, man is bound to conquer the mountain and find it there. Another god suggested hiding it at the bottom of the sea; but he too was reminded that man would swim to the bottom of the ocean and eventually find it there. More gods came forward with more suggestions of where to hide the treasure, but each time it would be pointed out that man would soon discover the treasure in each of these places.
Eventually, an esteemed wise god, hearing the other gods arguing amongst themselves, said to them, 'hide the treasure within man himself, because man would never think to look within.'
I believe that the hidden treasure in the story is alluding to the power of the breath. We can transform and empower our lives through conscious breathing. I feel that conscious breathing aligns our body, mind and Soul – it is an elixir for life. Each day make conscious breathing part of your daily life. At first, it might seem awkward, but if you stick with it and practice each morning, it will become a way of life.
You have no control over your external life, but you definitely have the power to transform and enjoy your inner life. You must learn to clean up the home of your Soul with the same enthusiasm you have when cleaning your external home.
Throw out the old musty furnishings of fear, self-pity, self-hate, doubt and despair and replace them with joy, happiness and love. Enjoy the lovely inner fragrance of peace that is with you wherever you go.
It is time to move out of the mind’s attic into the beautiful spacious core of your Soul – the untapped treasure within. Pull back the curtains of your smile so that others can see the joy, happiness and love radiating through you as you go about your day.
Today remember to take a breath and smile!