I think relationships are the tricky obstacle course on the journey to enlightenment. They provide the fertile ground for massive growth and delightful harvests. This is where we are truly tested to determine if our ego or our spirit gets to flourish.
Hard to believe sometimes when you are in the middle of an extreme emotional situation that wonderful things can indeed sprout from the mud, mulch and fertilizer. That’s literally poop, for you non-gardening types. (You know how I love me a good metaphor).
To truly blossom I must accept that the raking and weeding, as well as the gray skies are there to assist me, not to sabotage. We all have a tendency to focus on the uncomfortable poking, yanking and gloom, thinking that is the whole story. But there’s so much more. There’s an immense gathering and reaping to come. Our lives are filled with juiciness, color, beauty, taste, freshness, and shade from these gardens of our own making.
Reading and listening are the main growth medium for me. This is the rich soil that provides the opportunity to spread my roots, which means my higher-self or inner divine. That calm place inside me that is always connected to the truth. Strong roots = strength in the strange & beautiful journey. And my compost is meditation and yoga, both of which help ground me in my body and heart.
In addition, the fountain of counseling and coaching is the needed moisture because, as Maya Angelou says, “we need each other like we need the earth we share.”
And the secret sunshine for my ultimate oasis of beauty and color is the love of my family and friends. I close my eyes and feel that blessed warmth on my face. ☀️
The truth?
We are all love. We are all one. Everyone is our brother or sister, each trying to make their own way in this crazy world. Easy to forget when we are the target of any amount of poo-flinging. My ego wants to defend, to explain, to be right. But my soul wants to be seen, known and loved. My spirit wants to see the light and goodness in the other. I can, at any moment of conflict, choose a return to love as author Marianne Williamson’s most popular book is titled.
When things are touchy, difficult or I am simply stuck in the muck, I try and think of this prayer that Marianne shared:
Dear God [universe, goddesses, higher self or whatever floats your boat]
I place in your hands my relationship with this person. May I see only the innocence and the love within them and may they see only the innocence and love within me. May our relationship be lifted above and beyond conflict and separation as well as the past. Melt all walls between us. Uplift our relationship to divine right order that it may take the form in both our lives that serves best. And so it is.
This prayer helps me focus on what is MOST important to me. Letting go of fear and holding on to LOVE.
“There are only two emotions: love and fear. All positive emotions come from love, all negative emotions from fear. From love flows happiness, contentment, peace, and joy. From fear comes anger, hate, anxiety and guilt. It’s true that there are only two primary emotions, love and fear. But it’s more accurate to say that there is only love or fear, for we cannot feel these two emotions together, at exactly the same time. They’re opposites. If we’re in fear, we are not in a place of love. When we’re in a place of love, we cannot be in a place of fear.” ~ Elisabeth Kubler Ross, Author & psychiatrist
Let me be love,
Shelly Dax
The Fierce Pollyanna
Create-Illuminate-Connect
