It seems that everything is changing at breakneck speeds. We may look outside and see clear skies, but a few hours later we witness rain. The same thing applies to our personal lives. We may feel on top of the world one moment, but when we open our mailbox, we discover an unpaid bill and that throws our good mood in the gutter.
Even the positive people in the world have bad days.
Why? It is quite simple. Life happens. Life isn’t always a smooth ride. Sometimes our river stumbles across turbulent waters. We know we cannot alter the layout of the river, but we can chose how we react to it. When we react to a situation, we usually overlay a previous experience onto the current encounter.
That is why it is called a re-action.
We are “reacting” to the previous experience as if it is the same encounter. I remember some wise advice that my good friend Julie has shared with me:
If we overreact to a situation, it is about us. If the other person flies off the handle, it is about them. Think about this: Everything happens to us for a reason. There are Life Lessons for us to learn. I have heard that our relationships are like personal mirrors. They let us know what issues we need to work on. For example, if there is a person in our life that is always angry, perhaps this is a clue that we need to work on our own issues of anger. We can also learn a lot about life by studying our friend the Bamboo.
When there is great wind, the Bamboo simply bends. It doesn’t try to fight the wind. Instead, it allows the wind to run its course. This same wisdom can be applied to our lives. Instead of trying to fight and control life, we can allow life to run its course. If we try to fight change, we will only stress ourselves to the grave. If you are feeling a negative emotion, ask yourself why you are experiencing this. What you will discover is that your emotions have stories attached to them, and when you acknowledge your emotional state, you may end up releasing the negative recording. Repressed emotional stories cannot stay repressed forever. They will often come out when triggered. That negative reaction that you are experiencing may not be as negative as you might think. If we look at it from a higher perspective, we may come to understand that the negative experience may offer us gifts. Just as the Bamboo doesn’t fight the wind we could apply the same philosophy to our lives. We need not let the wind (life) try to break us. If we are flexible, we will allow life to be as it is.
Allowing life, not trying to control it, will set us free.
What would happen if the Bamboo didn’t bend? It would break. We would break too if we didn’t bend (Allow).
Thank you, Bamboo, for your wonderful insights.
Reactions and repeating patterns indicate that we are caught up in the dynamics of object relationship with our past/family of origin. It is where we first begin relationships and separate from our true self. Then, we spend a lifetime trying to reenact this first relationship, revealing all of our frustrations when we do not get the recognition we sought as children.
ReplyDeleteFlow, flexibility, understanding, acceptance, openness...ahhh, peace.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful analogy of the bamboo.
Hi Truthseeker. I greatly appreciate your insightful comment. It is interesting how past encounters show up in different people. We could say it is the same story with a different face. If we do not resolve these old issues, they will continue to resurface through different people.
ReplyDeleteAs we work through and release these old energies that rob us of our vitality, we can be like the bamboo and with acceptance and an open heart heal that wounded child. We don't have to live life in a state of reaction.
What is this experience trying to tell me? Why am I seeing repeating patterns.
Thank you for stopping by, Truthseeker.