Spending time in the biggest flower garden in the world – Keukenhof is always a major source of inspiration. And sometimes a picture can speak much louder than words – so that`s how I am going to leave it for today.
For those of you who are in the Netherlands and have never visited I can only recommend it! For info, tips and pictures have a look at my post here 🙂
Today during my yoga class the teacher shared a wonderful parable by dr. Wayne Dyer called “A conversation in the womb”:
” In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery? “The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”
“Nonsense” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?”
The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.”
The first replied, “That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.”
The second insisted, “Well I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.”
The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover if there is life, then why has no one has ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere.”
“Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.”
The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?”
The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her this world would not and could not exist.”
Said the first: “Well I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist.”
To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and you really listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above.””
Seeing things from a different perspective can be super insightful. Maybe we are just like the babies in the story- some of us have faith and believe that there is something bigger and divine that protects us and there is life after “delivery” (in our case “death”) even when there is no concrete proof. And some others will always need hard-written facts to believe. Which one is right or wrong is difficult to say. In the baby story it is pretty clear 🙂 In reality it is much less straightforward and we won`t really find out until it is over. I choose to be a believer. Others might not. And that is perfectly fine. As long as we respect each other and the perspectives we bring.
The quote is from the this lovely parable is from the book Your Sacred Self Dr. Wayne Dyer. You can find more about it here.
While reading the “Happiness Hypothesis” today I stumbled upon a quote by Aristotle:
“Whatever we learn to do, we learn by actually doing it; men come to be builders, for instance, by building, and harp players by playing the harp. In the same way, by doing just acts we come to be just; by doing self-controlled acts, we come to be self-controlled; and by doing brave acts, we become brave.”
It sounds very logical that we learn skills by practicing them, but somehow in our minds that doesn’t transcend to developing qualities in ourselves. Very often when we react in a way that is not the best we say”that’s how I am”, ” can’t change” but that is completely not true. We are alive and a part of this is our bodies changing constantly. Our thoughts as well. That means that our behavours, attitudes and qualities can change. And just how empowering is that!
So next time when you are not happy with yourself, instead of feelings bad and hopeless- remember that you can always improve and become a better version of you. And give it a try 🙂
For more insights from the ‘Happiness Hypothesis” – have a look here 🙂
Did you know that you have an inner tutor whom you could consult for anything? Someone who can wake you up in the morning, remind you not to forget something and very importantly- guide you in difficult times.
This inner tutor is always with you- it is your intuition.
The challenge is to get to talk to this tutor. For that you need piece and quiet as its voice is very subtle and soft. Spending time alone is the way to get there.
And all of us know how rewarding this connection is- the insight you got under the shower, the great plan that revealed itself during that walk in the park.. Being aware of this is very important, as it will help us nourish these moments and get the best out of them. So.. go for it and connect to your inner tutor.
The 21 day meditation challenges by Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra have always been very uplifting and inspirational for me. That is why when the newest challenge called “The power of Hope” started I got super excited to give a try and to share it with you 🙂
For me hope is something that I personally need to reinforce in my life as sometimes I have the tendency to forget about its power. And it truly has powers. We all know that hope is a precious commodity to use in difficult situation. But Hope is even more than that – it also has also the power to help us deal with uncertainty. The truth is that change is the only constant in life and we have two ways to respond to it. We can be fearful and try to control everything around us or we can embrace uncertainty for its creative potential and live with faith and hope. Hope is therefore not just a wish-fulfillment but an intention to accept things as they are- without fear or judgment.
More about the 21 day Meditation challenge can be found here.
Easter is one of the biggest and most magical Christian holidays which I always associate with traditions, rituals and spending time with your closest people.
It’s Ortodox Easter today and I am very happy to celebrate it with my family – something that I haven`t done for many many years.
For me such holidays are really about sharing and caring, eating good food and showing appreciation to the people who are there for you.
Something else that Easter represents to me is to have faith that life unfolds in divine order and we are being taken care of. A beautiful story that depicts this and that I want to share with you today is called ” Footsteps in the sand”:
One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.
After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.
This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
“Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You’d walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.”
He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.”
Happy Easter!
This morning I had a great beginning of the weekend with a story by Socrates’s called ” The three Sieves”. It is a super wise short narrative about the information that we are often sharing in our daily conversations with others. In our desire to participate and be heard we are very eager to say a lot of things, but does it all add value? Can you imagine living in a world where we only say and hear things that are true, good and necessary? Wouldn’t`t that be just great? If that resonates with you, and you would like to make a change, the best place to start is yourself 🙂
One day, the old wise Socrates walks down the streets, when all of the sudden a man runs up to him “Socrates I have to tell you something about your friend who…”
“Hold up” Socrates interrupts him “About the story you’re about to tell me, did you put it trough the three sieves?”
“Three sieves?” The man asks “What three sieves?”
“Let’s try it” Socrates says.
“The first sieve is the one of truth, did you examine what you were about to tell me if it is true?” Socrates asks.
“Well no, I just overheard it” The man says.
“Ah, well then you have used the second sieve, the sieve of good?” Socrates asks “Is it something good what you’re about to tell me?”
“Ehm no, on the contrary” the man answers.
“Hmmm” The wise man says “Let’s use the third sieve then, is it necessary to tell me what you’re so exited about?”
“No not necessary” the man says.
“Well” Socrates says with a smile “If the story you’re about to tell me isn’t true, good or necessary, just forget it and don’t bother me with it.”
