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Life’s Medicine

Here’s a thought I’d like to share…

The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor the man perfected without trials. ~Chinese Proverb

When we meet challenges, which we inevitably will, we can either allow those challenges to open us and learn what they have to teach us, or we can contract around them, hardening ourselves and our hearts, refusing to learn their lessons and withdrawing from the natural rhythm of life.

Put that way, the choice seems obvious and simple.  However, our natural instinct is to protect and defend — we do this without even thinking.  So how do we change something we do without thinking?  Start thinking!  More accurately — become aware of habitual, patterned reactions and use the amazing human resource – the brain – to decide what your response is going to be.  Be an active participant in your life’s course.

You can’t avoid pain and challenges, but, with patience, practice and compassion, you can avoid the hardened, isolated, angry place that is the result of a defended posture. John Welwood says, “Allowing our challenges to open us is like homeopathic medicine, which works by subtly intensifying symptoms in order to activate the natural healing response.”  If we can trust our own capacity to heal and understand that it is always nature’s intention that we grow, it might be possible to see our challenges as opportunities.  After all, there has never been a challenge in your life that you haven’t been able to survive.  You’re stronger than you know. Open to all your opportunities – even those that present as challenges – and watch yourself heal, grow and deeply connect with this amazing gift of life.

Wishing you the homeopathic medicine of life’s embrace,

Namasté, Augusta

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