Patience, Tolerance & Understanding
We live in a world where we believe we need to be right, correct, and perfect. We have this idea of how we want to be perceived by people and this gives us a sense of security. When we face situations that don’t align with that idea in our head, we tend to become angry, triggered, upset, we feel like we are losing control of the situation and start behaving in ways that are quite the opposite (without even realizing).
It’s like a switch flips within us and we start imposing our beliefs and thoughts to regain control. When this doesn’t work, things escalate, and we feel a sense of hurt and defeat as we get locked in that vicious cycle.
Let’s take a step back. Take a deep breath and look at what is really going on here.
The first question to ask is why do I need to be so perfect? What am I insecure about? What is this ‘trigger’? Is it even possible to be perfect or is it something we are conditioned to believe so we are loved and accepted?
Most of these triggers come from our childhood, where we were told to behave or excel and then we were loved and praised (i.e. false sense of security). Anything opposite that your mind reads as unloved and criticized (i.e. false sense of insecurity).
The root cause is deep feelings of insecurity and then a loss of control. It’s time to heal that inner child in you. It’s time to love him/her and give that child in you the understanding, patience and tolerance he/she requires. It’s alright, you are always doing the best you can. It’s not about being perfect. It’s about being human and being human means experiencing everything and not identifying it as who you are.
Of Course, you are loved! Of Course, you matter! and of course, you are fully capable of having all that you desire, because that’s who you are. Anything else is not you. It’s just how you see yourself and maybe now is the time to change that.
The Overview:
- Taking a step back and looking at the whole picture brings back a sense of control, if I lack understanding I lose my patience and in turn have no tolerance. I end up getting upset and act at an impulse, the repercussion of which are clearly not healthy in the long run.
- Why am I scared of being judged?
- Why do I get so aggressive & provoked? – loss of control
- Why am I trying to please people?
- PUT (Patience, Understanding & Tolerance) perspectives for a happy life
By: Rashmi Seth
Meditation for Wellness
Meditation and its benefits
The goal of meditation is to connect your mind & body, resulting in more inner peace, balance of mind and body, focus and clarity of plan and action (achieve high levels of consciousness).
Benefits of Meditation:
- less stress
- deeper relaxation
- improved sleep patterns
- improved data retention and focus
- lower blood pressure
- improved blood circulation
- lower heart rate
- less perspiration
- slower respiratory rate
- less anxiety
- lower blood cortisol levels
- more feelings of well-being
How to start:
- Begin in small sets (up to 2-3 minutes, or 10-20 breaths)
- Be yourself
- Focus on your breathing pattern
- Tip 1: 100 breaths meditation (count your breath to 100)
- Tip 2: Timer meditation (use stopwatch on phone for a set of 2-5 minutes and more as you get used to)
Simple types of meditation styles:
Standing Meditation: Standing instead of sitting to meditate can relieve lower back pain and promote a greater sense of internal stability. Stand in a comfortable, straight posture with the feet pointing straight forward, about shoulder width apart. After settling into the position, do a quick full-body “scan,” releasing tension and bringing awareness to every part of the body.
Walking Meditation: In walking meditation, called kinhin in the Zen tradition, practitioners move slowly and continuously while staying aware of the body and mind. For this form of meditation, use good posture (just like seated meditation), take deep breaths, and experience the motions of the body. The walking movement should be continuous, so pick a safe place with space to roam around, like a large park or field.
Dance Meditation: Get ready to boogie—meditation just got a soundtrack! Most people, at one time or another, have put on some tunes and cut the rug to chill out after a tough day. Dance or kundalini meditation takes that release one step farther by asking participants to let go of the ego and surrender to the rhythms and ecstasies of movement. Some classes encourage yelling, jumping, and even hooting like an owl! Dance meditation may not be for the faint of heart—or arm or leg—but it can be a great way to release tension and get in touch with our instincts.
Daily Life Practice Meditation: Does high-energy dance sound a bit too wacky? Bring meditation back to a more reasonable pace with daily life practice meditation, which is also called Samu work meditation in the Buddhist Zen tradition. In this style of meditation, practitioners slow down daily activities to half-speed and use the extra time to be mindful and focus on thoughts. There’s no need to sign up for a class when it’s possible to meditate while washing dishes, taking a shower, walking down the subway steps…
Breathing Meditation: This technique takes those pre-yoga class “Oms” to the next level. Also called yogic breathing or Pranayama, this meditation style is all about controlling the inhales and exhales. Dr. Jeffrey Rubin explains, “Longer exhales tend to be calming, while longer inhales are energizing. For meditative purposes either the ratio of exhale to inhale is even or the exhale is longer than the inhale for a calming effect.” This type of meditation can be done anywhere, anytime (except underwater… for obvious reasons). Other types (there are MANY more; find what works for you):
Concentration meditation: A concentrative meditation technique involves focusing on a single point. This could entail watching the breath, repeating a single word or mantra, staring at a candle flame, listening to a repetitive gong or counting beads on a rosary.
Mindfulness meditation: Mindfulness meditation technique encourages the practitioner to observe wandering thoughts as they drift through the mind. The intention is not to get involved with the thoughts or to judge them, but simply to be aware of each mental note as it arises.
Contact Miracles Wellness Dubai for more details on various meditation courses, classes and workshops.
Overcome Fear & Anxiety
Fear is a natural feeling that occurs when someone assumes they that are emotionally, mentally or physically unsafe or under some kind of threat. Anxiety on the other hand is a sub-conscious feeling that amounts from awaiting something which the person anticipates, during an anxiety attack the body switches into fight mode which causes the system to release stress hormone cortisol as a natural reaction. The fear may or may not correspond to the actual event that may be happening at the time.
The body starts to experience symptoms such as blushing, blank mind, heart racing, tongue tied, dry mouth, sweating, short breath, heaviness and ringing in the ears to name a few. The reason why people may get anxiety or panic attacks may be varied depending on the
individual and their socio-economic conditions or any other psychological issues.
Our sessions at Miracles, offer tools and therapeutic techniques where we explore the root cause of the fear within the system that is causing the anxiety and panic attacks, and resolve it at the core level ensuring that it is completely healed and integrated in a way where it decreases immensely or completely disappears from an individual’s life forever.
Some highly effective modalities used in treating fear, panic attacks and anxiety are:
- Hypnotherapy
- Theta Healing
- Reiki Healing
- Access Bars
- Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)
- Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)
Click for more information about the facilitator, Mirna Iwaza
Womb Regression
Womb regression is quite similar to a Past Life Regression session. The client is guided into a relaxed internalized state with hypnotherapy techniques, guided imagery and visualization.
Usually the client is guided through a couple of happy/neutral memories of his/her childhood and then guided into the mother’s womb.
Based on the multiple cases done and clients’ feedbacks, it’s noted that the fetus does have a memory of all that it absorbs and experiences while in the mother’s womb. It also absorbs the energies and emotions of the mother and what is of significance in the mother’s environment.
Many of our beliefs due to parental and ancestral imprints are created before birth. Thus one comes into the world with certain beliefs and patterns which work as filters through life. In therapy, while going through the womb regression, the client discovers that what he/she believed as his belief and Life Rule does not belong to him/her but something they may have picked up unknowingly or knowingly from the parent and/or the environment.
In innumerable cases, after such a session, clients have reported smooth transitions, changes and shifts in various aspects of their lives. Memories and any birth trauma or pre-birth trauma can be addressed in such a session. Many of our personality traits and physical and emotional patterns and issues can be traced to experiences that we had while in the mother’s womb and also during the process of birth. Many emotional and physical issues, such as feelings of loss, alienation, betrayal, rejection, loneliness, isolation, grief, relationship issues, separation anxiety, panic attacks, depression, claustrophobia, paranoia, asthma, headaches, and sinus problems, and many others can be traced back to the traumas surrounding birth and pre-birth times.
The memories of traumatic experiences in past lives can be triggered by experiences and traumas from conception till birth. These are often the patterns and issues that we need to resolve in this life. As a result of this, birth trauma may be of more than one lifetime. Birth traumas can be carried from all the previous lives stretching back to the very beginning of the soul when it started its journey of incarnation cycles. Womb regression and past life regression sessions enable a person to overcome many repetitive controlling patterns and detrimental issues that maybe hampering progress and growth in their current lives and help them create well-being, balance, closure, peace and harmony and open doors for many positive possibilities.
Indrani Sinha Seth
Integrated Clinical Hypnotherapist ,Trans-Personal Regression Therapist.
Past Life Regression Therapist, Life Between Lives Hypnotherapist.
Meditation: An Inward Journey
All that is acquired to break through a reality that we have come to be acquainted with is already within, and consciously willing to take that step is what meditation is all about.
It’s not a matter of knowing or not knowing, we know and we confirm that “everything is within” Often when we encounter it in a conversation, or in an article; we nod our head as a sign of approval. But knowing without understanding and finally without consciously practicing is not any different than not knowing.
The dilemma yet to surface, if all that is needed is within and often we affirm that and pass over it lightly in any given text, what is it that won’t allow us to pursuit or practice that paradigm?
Within dwells all the open pages, all that we have buried so deep, and the projection for that has become our outmost present self, that lingers in the past and the future but rarely in the present, once it comes to experience present overwhelmed with all that is to surface it seeks refuge back to where it attains comfort and that is anywhere but present.
To tap in within, is first to encounter Our so called present, defensive self, that we cling on too defensively and in a protective manner, ready to take defensive stand at any given time. To see a self as to be just an outcome of causality, a learned process where at some point we have allowed others to contribute to its growth and determine our life long trajectory and predictable patterns.
As we adhere deeper within, a threatened self that foresees the end of its service, tries to victimize us by taking us through a journey using guilt as its vehicle, the sum of all the voices, sometimes greater than the whole itself. Persuading us to acknowledge that same self that operates within us, has led us here where we are, we are pretty content, for it has brought us to where we are now, so why bother to question it. A self that has no concrete grounding, but a root of chords attached to situations and individuals that not only predict outcome, but also trigger a certain behavioural response, where a mind that has created a problem tries to solve the problem.
Hence a self to hold on to the intellect to come to break through the reasoning by reasoning itself, and here to finally encounter the illusion of fear disguised as fear itself. For the sole catalyst in the first place has been feared that has contributed in the conditioning of pattern that has constructed this untrue self.
As we let go of these conditioned patterns that no longer serve any purpose, we encounter not fear but an illusion of fear, for our mind had been conditioned to growth and evolve by fear instinct rather than love.
To discover love within is to overcome fear. There’s no journey through the self, but a journey towards the self, only to find a selfless self. For one holds so strong to whatever one is afraid of losing, and thus when there is absence of fear, one never holds on to a self for the self is everywhere, as though projects, energy follows in an infinite abundance, those who evolve through love never limit a self to a situation or an outcome.
A self finally comes to no longer practice meditation, but is always in a meditative state, is always present.
Our journey through the mind of the self is only to discover the heart of the self, our journey from seeing to believe only to realize that we need to believe to see.
Healing with Spiritual Response Therapy
Spiritual Response Therapy is a magnificent method used to heal a variety of issues ranging from anxiety, unhealthy relationship patterns, blocks to abundance and prosperity and disturbing health concerns. It works by researching and clearing programs in an individual at a core (beliefs from this lifetime), ancestral (beliefs passed down from generations), history (unhealthy beliefs from past lives), and soul level.
It is a method born from using a combination of hypnotherapy (dowsing method) and response therapy (identifying and clearing subconscious fears). It was created by a unity minister named Robert Detzler in the late 1980’s, who integrated his spiritual understanding with response therapy and discovered a powerful method that can clear challenges for individuals at a mental, emotional, physical level and spiritual level.
In SRT, we use a series of charts and a pendulum to research and clear programs and negative energies held in the Akashic Records. We identify the root cause of the issues, research their origin and go ahead and clear the unresolved emotional energy, reprogramming the soul and the subconscious to experience life with greater ease and positivity.
As an SRT Consultant, I have worked with SRT to help many clients in successfully clearing suppressed resentment, anxiety, depression, sexual abuse, narcissism, unhappy relationship patterns, low self-worth, confusion towards life purpose and self-limiting beliefs towards abundance, to name a few. The transformation in their behavior within a few sessions has been astonishing. Not only do the discordant thoughts forms they were holding on to no longer disturb them, but by sharing insights into how these behaviors came about in their lives, my clients have empowered themselves on many levels as well. They have become more mindful of their thoughts, enjoy the beats of life with a lot more ease and grace and move forward confidently towards their goals and aspirations. Hence, they attract more positive outcomes in their life as they come to understand that their subconscious and conscious mind need to work harmoniously together in order to attract the abundance they so desire!
Spiritual Response Therapy has transformed my life in many ways than one and aligned me to my life-purpose where I use my intuitive gifts and talents to serve humanity. And I now offer this gift to everyone by holding sessions at Miracles so that you all can enjoy abundance and most importantly come to reconnect with their Higher Self and become magnificent co-creators who bring forth divine blessings in this world.
The Telltale Signs Your Chakras Are Out of Balance
We have 7 main energy centers in our body known as chakras. These are multi-colored powerhouses of energy located in different points of our body. Each chakra correlates to specific emotional, physical and mental ailments that we may experience. When one or more of these chakras go out of balance, we may encounter certain emotional or physical symptoms.
Clearing your energy and balancing your chakras can increase your vibration and bring in a healthy emotional and physical body. Here are some insights on how to know if your chakras are out of balance and what you can do bring them back into balance.
Root Chakra – This chakr
a or energy point is located at the base of your spine, at your tailbone and represents feelings of safety and security.
If your Root chakra is out of balance you may experience physical symptoms such as cold hands and feet, problems with your hips, legs, knees and feet, digestion problems and even arthritis.
Emotionally, if this chakra is out of balance you may feel fear or worry regarding money, security and basic survival needs such as food and shelter. This chakra focuses on material possessions. Issues such as paranoia, fear and defensiveness may also manifest when this chakra is out of balance.
When this chakra is perfectly balanced, you feel connected, safe and grounded.
Sacral Chakra – Located 
two inches below your navel, the sacral chakra correlates with creativity, sex and your ability to accept situations.
Physical imbalances in this chakra may result in menstrual and hormonal problems, lower back pain, kidney, sexual and reproductive issues.
Emotional imbalances include, inability to seek pleasure from life and sex, suppression of emotions, lack of passion, creativity, joy and obsessive behaviour and guilt.
When this chakra is balanced, we feel passionate, outgoing, have courage to take risks and are able to freely express our emotions. A balanced sacral chakra also creates a sense of connection with others.
Solar Plexus – This chakra is
located three inches above the naval and represents feelings of confidence, as well as acceptance towards ourselves and others.
Some physical ailments related to this chakra include: gallstones, liver and pancreatic disease, diabetes, colon problems and high blood pressure.
Emotional problems such as low self-esteem, lack of personal power, fear of rejection and criticism, lack of direction may manifest if this chakra is out of balance
When this chakra is balanced we feel: confident, have compassion for self and others, calm, a sense of acceptance, joyful etc. This chakra is your emotional control panel.
Heart Chakra – The heart
chakra is located at the heart and is associated with unconditional love, and compassion.
Physically, symptoms may show up as asthma, heart problems, lung diseases, breast issues, upper back and shoulder problems.
Emotionally, if this chakra is blocked you may feel anger, jealousy, inability to love, detached, unforgiving, fear of commitment and loneliness.
If perfectly balanced you may feel compassionate, joyful, forgiving and can easily give and receive love.
Throat Chakra – This chakra 
located at the throat is responsible for communication and expression.
Physical imbalances include thyroid problems, throat and ear issues, jaw pain, sinuses, neck and shoulder pain.
Emotional problems include issues with self-expression and communication, creative blocks, anxiety and fear.
When perfectly balanced, you are honest and truthful; you can express yourself easily and effortlessly. You find ease in speaking up and being heard.
Third Eye Chakra – is locat
ed right between your eyebrows, in the center of your forehead and is related to intuition, psychic abilities and thoughts.
Physical imbalances include eye and ear problems, hair and scalp issues, headaches and migraines, neurological personality disorders and hallucinations.
When this chakra goes out of balance we feel rigid, moody, and closed off to new ideas and views.
Clearing the energy of this chakra promotes clarity, enhances our spiritual connection and psychic abilities, and we become open to wisdom and guidance.
Crown chakra – Located a
t the top of your head or crown of the head, this chakra is associated with spirituality and divine wisdom.
When out of balance we may experience physical ailments such as depression, light sensitivity, headaches, dementia and neurological disorders.
Emotionally if this chakra is out of balance we may feel incomplete, have lack of direction and purpose along with constant confusion. If the crown chakra is blocked, it can affect the other six chakras as well.
When in balance we start living mindfully, start trusting our inner guidance and are in the flow of life. We also develop a deep relationship with ourselves, and the spiritual world.
An effective way to balance our chakras is by healing our chakras through energy healing techniques and crystals. Crystals resonate with our energy centers and help enhance the vibrational frequency of the chakras. Meditation and aromatherapy are also a great way to balance our chakras.
It is important for us to take action and change our lives.
At Miracles, we provide chakra balancing through reiki, crystal therapy and other modalities to help empower you and bring inner happiness. Call us at 043639307 if you have any questions.
Crystal Healing for Your Home
Crystals have been known for centuries to have healing properties and benefits. Various crystals are used for different ailments, imbalances, and remedies for the mind, body, and soul.
Home is where the heart is – having said that it is very important to ensure that the energies in our home are balanced, positive and harmonious and its inhabitants are healthy and happy. Crystals can ensure that children sleep better, harmony in the marriage, good health and happiness and so much more.
Here are some suggestions on how crystals can be used at home.
Silent Noisy Neighbors with Moonstone
You may be amazed at what crystals can do in even the most difficult situations. Hold a moonstone in your hand and ask it to silence unwanted noise or disturbance. Place the stone outside your house by your neighbors’ boundary, let it rest on the edge or bury it in the earth next to the partition. If you are in an apartment, place the crystal next to the adjoining wall and the noise will slowly start to lessen and stop completely. On a full moon, bathe the crystal in the moonlight and repeat 3 times, requesting for peace and calm in the house.
Alternative Crystals that can be used are: Sugilite, Snowflake Obsidian, Chrysoprase.
Create and Protect Your Boundaries with Agate
Agate works as a brilliant security guard for your home. Whether you call upon Agate’s powers for protection or to keep away unwanted visitors, agate is known to keep boundaries intact. It’s a grounding stone that creates a sense of safety and security. You can place an Agate at the boundary of your apartment, or if you live in a home you can bury it in the earth surrounding your home or on either side of your door. This will bring a sense of stability and calm within the home.
Alternative Crystals that can be used are: Hematite, Black Jet, Smokey Quartz
Increasing Luck and Good Fortune with Jade
Jade is a stone of prosperity, luck and draws money and good things into your life. Jade bestows tranquility and provides a sense of wellbeing that welcomes people and positivity into your home. It is also a protective stone so will act as a deterrent to burglars or unwanted visitors. This stone can be placed in the mailbox to receive good news, by the entrance or in the center of your home.
Harmonizing the Hallway with Black Obsidian
Black Obsidian has a beautiful way of deflecting any negative or mixed emotions that people may bring in with them when they walk into your home. Place a Black Obsidian (rough, raw or tumbled) in your hallway or by the front door. Please keep in mind that poor lighting and clutter can inhibit your crystal’s abilities, so it is suggested to keep your hall’s surfaces clear and the whole space bright.
Alternative Crystals that can be used are: Citrine, Clear Topaz, Brown Jasper
Stimulating Dead Energy with Clear Quartz
Clear Quartz is a crystal that can increase energy or transmute any negative influences and can be easily programmed to suit your needs. You can lighten up the energy of your home by placing this crystal on the sides of the stairs or under banisters to have the energy moving in your space or anywhere you feel the energy needs to be stimulated.
Love in the Home with Rose Quartz
You can place a Rose Quartz anywhere in your home where you would to 
encourage and create more loving energy. A great way to cleanse using Rose quartz is to soak in a spray bottle filled with water for at least 24-hours and then spray the water all over the house. Set the intention for the water to cleanse and harmonize the energies. Can be used on bed covers, around doors, and after any upsets or disruptions.
Alternative Crystals that can be used are: Ruby
Revive House Plants with Green Tourmaline
Green Tourmaline is directly connected to the element Earth. It is a beautiful grounding stone and can be used for plants in the home. Bury the plant in the soil in the plant pot and notice how the plant comes back to life. Set the intention for the plants to be healed and revived. Ensure you pull out any dead leaves and give the plant sufficient water. Cleanse the Green Tourmaline regularly and place back in the pot till the plant is healthy again.
You can also prolong cut flowers by putting clear or smokey quartz in the water. You can use tumbles or a wand that is placed facing upwards.
Alternative Crystals that can be used are: Green Aventurine, Clear Quartz, Turquoise
Improving Study Habits with Gold Calcite
Gold Calcite is an incredible mind boosting crystal. It is great for mental empowerment and may amplify children’s efforts towards academic success. It is known to help with focus, concentration, and creativity, this will enable them to do well in projects, assignments, and tests. Place a Gold Calcite on the study table or anywhere where homework/schoolwork is done. It will help keep the mind alert and also improve memory.
Alternative Crystals that can be used are: Flourite, Howlite, Lapis Lazuli
Allow yourself to open up to the healing powers of crystals – meditate, put them in your bath, place them by your bedside or wear them as jewelry, have fun and enjoy the energies of your home.
What will it take?
My daughter and I started a diary titled ‘What will it Take…?’ We started writing fun things like What will it take for us to go to Disneyland? And the serious things like What will it take for Dolphins to be more aware so they can save themselves from becoming extinct?
The other night, before I tucked her in bed, she said What will it take for us to have no arguments while playing Basket ball at school ? Because it’s no fun anymore. So we talked about what was happening at school and why her friends were arguing and we changed the question to ..What will it take for me to have fun and play basket ball with ease with my friends?
The next day, when I picked her up, the first thing she said was that, Mum it worked like magic !! And me the ” grown up ” asked how??? (because my ” logical mind ” could not believe that the troublemakers straightened up, just like that…). It seemed like there was a different possibility! It turned out that two boys were absent, and the other two (who were the argumentative ones) chose to play cricket instead, so basketball turned out to be one hour of FUN after all !!
It just made me realize that in Access Consciousness , we say that we can change things by asking questions without having a “point of view” about how it would happen and it did for my daughter. Just as if by magic !!
As adults when we ask for something , we always tend to get caught up in the how of things.. the logical side of it , the reasoning, analyzing and the rationale. Whether it’s about what will it take for me to have a million dollars or 10,000 dollars or what will it take for me to have a partner who can be a contribution to my life?
The trick is to stay in question and not get into how will it happen or worst..how it cannot happen.. I’m not smart enough / good enough / beautiful enough / attractive enough…..What if all that was a lie?
What if you being you is ENOUGH? What if you being you is a contribution and gift to the world? What will it take for you to chose you without having a point of view?
By Aastha Dhawan
The harvest of the year. A time for reflection and gratitude.
Traditionally in the United States the third Thursday in the month of November is Thanks Giving. This is a celebration to honour the first pilgrims that settled there. They give thanks for the provisions and food that helped their ancestors to survive and establish their life in the New World.
Other societies and cultures also give thanks during the season of Autumn/Fall and are thankful of the bounty of their Harvest, the culmination of a full year’s work. From the dormancy of winter, the sowing of the seeds in spring, the growth during summer and the harvest of the autumn.
For me, every year, I take the month of November to reflect on the past year. I look back to the beginning of the year and the dreams, goals and plans that I had, then I look at each month consecutively to see how much effort and sowing I put in to those goals, in order to see the prosperity of the growth throughout the year until November, nearly year’s end, where I can acknowledge my harvest, the accomplishment of my year’s goal.
But just as with all crops some will flourish and some will fail. This time of reflection allows me to gain insight into what has worked for me and what has not. It also allows me the opportunity to see if some crops are worth replanting and if some would just not grow in fallow ground.
I love this time of reflection, it can be both encouraging and sobering. Yet know matter what the truth of the reality, I have total gratitude. Gratitude is very easy when life flows as we would like it and we are able to reap our rewards, our harvest, our goals. But it can be a more bitter pill to swallow when we look back and see which of our dreams, goals and crops have failed.
It can be more difficult to understand how to have gratitude for perceived than successes. So how can I call it perceived failure, when we downright didn’t achieve our objective, or we didn’t get the job that we wanted that would have allowed us more time to travel, buy a better home, give us more freedom etc. or the relationship that we didn’t get or that ended, the one that we had invested so much time and energy into. Or on another level the loss of a loved one that maybe we didn’t spend enough time with?
Years ago I decided to embark on a quest to study the main 5 religions of the world. I remember reading a book on Buddhism and it saying that we should have gratitude to all experiences in life. Not too long before reading this, my life was in turmoil the aftermath of the sudden death of my father. As I read the passage, I thought to myself, how can I have gratitude for the pain and suffering I have endured, how can I have gratitude for trying hard to reach my goals, only to have the doors slam firmly in my face? All I had was an empty tank and it was too full to have gratitude for the experiences that brought me pain.
A lot of time has passed since then, and there is only a fragment of the old self inside me now. I am ever evolving and changing, becoming stronger, more peaceful and complete because of the experiences of my past. This is why I give gratitude, as I would never have learned how to evolve, to accept, to reflect and adapt if I had not had pain, suffering, loss and failure.
So as clichéd as it might sound, “There is no such thing as failure, there is only the opportunity to learn.” Every year end, I reflect on what I have accomplished, this helps me to set new goals for the coming new year. I also hasten to add, I give myself a big pat on the back for having had the commitment and persistency to have achieved those goals. Also, I reflect on what didn’t work out. I don’t beat myself up about it nor judge myself harshly. I look at the situation and goal objectively and without judgment. I ask myself, what worked, what could I have done better, what are the internal components of me that I could give more of for my future goals. I also ask myself again, why was this goal important to me? Is it still important to me? Does it still fit with my values and beliefs intrinsic to me? Then, I look at the external factors, no matter how hard I tried, what were the elements and factors that were out of my control that made it so that I could not accomplish my objective? Is there anything in my behaviour that I could change to allow me to reach a different conclusion?
Once I have concluded my own self investigation, and have reflected, the irony is that nine times out of ten, I am more grateful of my ‘failures’ as I truly see that they have given me greater insight into myself, my strengths, my weaknesses, my values, my beliefs and my self-worth. I have gratitude for the resilience of my being, the inner self that always finds the reserve tank of strength to drive us forward and keep us going when the storm clouds are overhead. I love this inner self, the true essence of myself. It is in every one of us, yet the beauty of this resilience is only found through tougher times.
So, now that I turn to the dormancy of winter, I start to plan the new goals and crops that I will plant in the new year, but this time I have greater wisdom, insight and resilience and know that all my goals are already one step closer. My harvest will be more bountiful next year because of my learning, reflection and gratitude of this year’s harvest.
– By Malle