Two interesting viewpoints crossed my path this week, one via a blog and the other a comment on Lift when I was logging a habit. I think it was the habit of gratitude ... but right now I am not 100% sure that is correct. It is far more important that I remembered the phrase.
Monday I read a blog that had a strategy for looking at things that go wrong in a different way. It was simple, ask the question "What good can come from this?" and that is not meant to be tongue in cheek. Seriously consider what good can come from whatever event just knocked the wind out of your sails. Chances are it will not happen easily at first, but the subconscious mind works on searching for answers to the questions we ask. Even while we are sleeping.
Over time I have cultivated the ability to replace "problem" with "challenge" or "opportunity for growth" when shit happens. This has altered my reaction to many of life's speed bumps, however this week I have not been doing very well with that. The speed bumps have been coming a little too close for comfort and now it feels like I am on a highway with a ton of potholes. I feel like I am having a bumpy ride.
The Universe to the rescue. Miraculously there are two new approaches that I can choose. They appeared at a time when I was feeling unmotivated and downright cranky. Asking myself the question "What good can come of this" adds a new direction to rerouting my train of thought.
The real gem though was seeing this post:
My problems happen for me, not to me.
Now that really is a twist. To go from victim to recipient of benefit that is most likely unknown at the time. I personally do not want to consider myself a victim, ever. I am very open to growing and seeing a challenge as an opportunity to do so. Perhaps the pot holes life puts in our way are more to direct us like a GPS would as opposed to some unseen force slinging bad luck like rabid pitcher.
It really is stuck in my mind though, "my problems happen for me, not to me." For me implies a gift, a benefit, something good. I don't necessarily feel like I want to keep the gift I'm getting at this time, I really can visualize returning it for store credit and picking out something else but hey, I'm human and I'm still learning.
I will consider that whatever I am currently creating in my life is more a sign of the work I have left in releasing my own self-doubts and limiting beliefs. It is almost as if I am getting a status report, OK you've made some progress here and some really great gains here, but look there's some icky stuff you have yet to address, time to get cracking!
Maybe they really do happen for me.
-Nicola Byrne
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