Over the past couple of weeks things have seemed a bit gloomy. I’ve found myself in morning meditation trying to come to grips with the suffering in the world. Difficult times seem to go in cycles and then there’s that saying that things happen in threes. Tragic news often seems to cluster, one story about the premature death of someone’s husband, another story about the premature death of a local yoga teacher and then a raging fire sneaking over our local mountains dropping a blanket of ash and smoke.
When the tragic news gets closer to home, I often wonder when it will end. I have moments of being unable to both comprehend and bear stories that just simply seem unfair. I try to look for the lesson within all of it, taking a step back to see the bigger picture of this journey we call life.
I know that everything is in transition with only death and taxes being givens. Yet when sad stories strike home I can’t help but be fully in my human-ness wondering if my spiritual journey can sustain me. I feel sad and at a loss for words for what can seem so senseless. How do I make sense of it all and how do those directly affected do it?
Thus far my process has been to simply be in the feelings that arise. Not to deny, shove down or ignore that I feel loss and am unable to make it feel immediately better. And then as I wade through that heaviness, I begin to reach for the tools that I trust will support me. Gratitude is a solid starting point. Recognizing all that is good in my life and in our collective lives. Realizing how much there is to be thankful for and to once again connect to my purpose.
It all reminds me that life is short. It flies by so very quickly. It reminds me to find my breath and begin again by taking that next step, connecting to purpose, reaching out to those I care about and trusting my yoga practice to be there under each and every footfall.
The first time I started to know this process was after my father died at the young age of 46. I was 19 at the time and had no coping skills to handle such an impact of loss and grief. Before that moment I was skipping through life. His death was an emotional turning point and powerful lesson. Life is short…get on with it. Don’t put off what it is you want to do. Travel and see the world. Go for what it is that lights your fire. Commit to relationships. And simply have those moments where you laugh so hard it takes your breath away.
So begin by finding the breath and all else will flow from that moment. As I experience the suffering, I realize the full impact of all of my life’s cumulative lessons.
Live it…breathe it.
