Learning Curve

I've been meditating alot lately on how to turn the things in our lives around that we think are "bad" and I think the answer is two fold. First of all, we have to stop thinking of them as bad. But secondly, we have to use them as a learning curve.

The thing is we tend to look at these things as completely negative, we talk bad about ourselves, trash ourselves over them, it is the result that gives us the clues. I had a friend in Germany who was skittish about gas flames, especially pertaining to the stove. She would stand for 15 minutes in the kitchen before leaving the house because it worried her so much. She would run back and check 3-4-5-6 times. And she would do that negative thing - completely belittle herself, trash herself because of this.

But the result of this thing was that she took alot of care around cooking and she really needed it. In every other way - she was a total space cadet in her life. She would start things, walk off, and it was actually a real blessing that when it came to gas and having the stove on, that something in her subconscious went a little OCD. She never left food on the stove, never burnt anything and she probably saved her life thousands of times.

The way to turn the situation into a learning curve is to look at the result. For this woman, the result was the intense energy she needed/had around the gas stove. The learning curve was that she really needed to be grounded and focused around cooking - as a matter of life safety. By recognizing the importance of the result - needing to be fully present and grounded while cooking - she was able to totally let go of the negativity around it, as well at the OCD energy she put into it.

We all have these things - habits, or needs that cause our lives to be a specific way. If we take the time to turn that around in our heads, i.e. if we learn to acknowledge that the result is important and we use the result as a learning instrument, we can stop all the negativity and trashing around it. If your health dictates that you need to rest a lot, stop making it a negative thing and start appreciating it as an opportunity to learn. Give yourself permission (and the time and space) to fully rest instead of trashing yourself for not being able to do more.

There are thousands of examples, but each person's is different. What is yours? And what are you willing to do about it?

Blessings.
- Darshan




© 2010 Darshan F Jessop