Category Archives: Life & living

Mar4

Words to inspire

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Today I’ve been reading, researching and immersing myself in the theory and practice of Satyananda yoga, as part of my yoga studies. These exquisite words from Swami Satyananda Saraswati were lying quietly, awaiting my discovery. After losing myself in their poetic beauty, I would like to share a small extract with you.  I hope they inspire and lift you as much as they have me.

I am an invisible child of a thousand faces of love,
That floats over the swirling sea of life,
Surrounded by the meadows of the winged shepherds,
Where divine love and beauty,
The stillness of midnight summer’s warmth pervades.

Life often cuts at my body and mind
And though blood may be seen passing,
And a cry might be heard,
Do not be deceived that sorrow could dwell within my being
Or suffering within my soul.
There will never be a storm
That can wash the path from my feet,
The direction from my heart,
The light from my eyes,
Or the purpose from this life.

I know that I am untouchable to the forces
As long as I have a direction, an aim, a goal:
To serve, to love, and to give.
Strength lies in the magnification of the secret qualities
Of my own personality, my own character
And though I am only a messenger,
I am me.

Let me decorate many hearts
And paint a thousand faces with colours of inspiration
And soft, silent sounds of value.
Let me be like a child,
Run barefoot through the forest
Of laughing and crying people,
Giving flowers of imagination and wonder,
That God gives free.
Shall I fall on bended knees,
And wait for someone to bless me
With happiness and a life of golden dreams?

No, I shall run into the desert of life with my arms open,
Sometimes falling, sometimes stumbling,
But always picking myself up,
A thousand times if necessary,
Sometimes happy.
Often life will burn me,
Often life will caress me tenderly
And many of my days will be haunted
With complications and obstacles,
And there will be moments so beautiful
That my soul will weep in ecstasy.

I shall be a witness,
But never shall I run
Or turn from life, from me.

Never shall I forsake myself
Or the timeless lessons I have taught myself,
Nor shall I let the value
Of divine inspiration and being be lost.
My rainbow-covered bubble will carry me
Further than beyond the horizon’s settings,
Forever to serve, to love, and to live
As a sannyasin.

~Swami Satyananda Saraswati (Saraswati, S., 1993, p.29)

Feb20

Life is a gift

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Just came across this powerful YouTube and felt it needed to be shared as widely as possible. This young man has been touched deeply by suicide, and has had the wisdom and courage to share his story. Please be warned it contains explicit language.

 

Uploaded by 3ree6ixty on Feb 18, 2012

please watch.. if something like suicide crosses ur mind, contact a loved one and tell them. do not be afraid. if u feel you have no loves ones, go to a dr or and organisation like beyong blue – suicide is not the answer, as i said in the video like a million times,,]

life is a gift, try and make it an amazing gift

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpqYPQdpDNw&feature=g-u-u&context=G201ac80FUAAAAAAAAAA

 

 

 

Feb16

Don’t take it personally … but do make it personal.

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“If you make it personal, all things are possible.” Michael Henderson

We were speaking about the challenges of living an authentic life; of living our truth as we go about the daily business of work; of making each moment of each day count. Michael, one of my wonderful colleagues, reminded me to make the personal count … that through making it personal, all things are possible. In the midst of business targets and action plans, KPIs and seemingly incompatible physical, mental and emotional demands on our time and energy, our higher selves call us to live authentically.

Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements (http://www.miguelruiz.com) frame this rather beautifully I think, and encourage us to consider the simplicity of authentic living, both personally and professionally:

Agreement 1

Be impeccable with your word – Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

Agreement 2

Don’t take anything personally – Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

Agreement 3

Don’t make assumptions – Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

Agreement 4

Always do your best – Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements. Accessed on 16/2/12 at Business Balls http://www.businessballs.com/thefouragreementsdonmiguelruiz.html

You’ll notice the second Agreement speaks of ‘Don’t take anything personally’, and yet my colleague Michael and I are discussing the truth of making it personal.

But it makes perfect sense to me. The way people respond to us is more to do with them than us, and the way we choose to respond to them is everything to do with us, our humanity and our higher self.

As those we come in contact with each day deal with the complexities and challenges of their own internal and external environments, we can give them a serve of our disapproval when they ‘collide’ with us, or we can choose not to take it personally.

And then we can make another choice. We can choose to make a difference, and to make it personal between us and them. We can choose to speak and act from an open heart.

So my ‘note to self’ at the moment is

 Don’t take it personally … but do make it personal

Because then all things are possible!