Thich Naht Hahn offers some lovely perspective here, though there is a part of me that wants to take it one step further.
Yes, if we believe tomorrow will be better, we can endure a hardship in our present moment. A couple of my teachings, however, are this:
1. Tomorrow never comes. If we are relying on tomorrow to alleviate the perception of suffering today, we could be in it for a long time.
2. We get back what we put out/our external experience mirrors what’s inside and also comes from past thought/belief.
3. If we continue to hang on to our perpetuated beliefs, we’ll find ourselves repeatedly in the same cycle of hardship and/or things will repeat.
Let’s break these beliefs I hold down a little bit further.
1. Perception. Perception is huge. We have no control on external experiences (other than our ability to manifest things, but let’s face it, most of us are unconscious about a great many things in our lives…we’ll get into this at a later time, and if you want to explore more of this sooner, message me and we can discuss). The only control we have is how we respond to our experience, and a lot of that has to do with how we perceive it. And this is where you have a choice. You can choose to approach a difficult situation from a loving and joyful perception, even if totally horrible - I choose to see everything as a miracle (my ego on the other hand, has a very different thought on this, it’s kind of tsk-tsking me in the background and wants to experience things as though a victim of this reality, not liking not having complete and total control over anything and everything, it wants to feel safe…can’t blame it, but I don’t resonate there). I am often amazed by how things come together, and always ask “Do you know what it took to get you here?” Of course, feel the fear and the worry and the concern, those are valid feelings about things that maybe don’t go as desired, while also taking the time to experience the joy and surrendering to the path, find the light in the dark corners.
2. We get what we have inside and/or our present experience is based on past thought. Not posting blame (ego loves being a victim, remember?), more of a sense of awareness and accountability to what we might be carrying within. The real kicker is that it might not even be yours or could even be something from a past life. What kinds of thoughts and feelings are evoked from within you? And did you know that when you change your thinking, your experience also changes? It may take more work than you desire, however (I have been navigating just such an experience for 4+ years…you’re welcome to ask me about it, or wait until I divulge more in my posts), it is worth it. Baby steps and eventually you’ll be at the top of the mountain. Cultivate awareness to how your thoughts vibrate within you - your feelings are your guideposts to if you are on the “right track” for you - yes, you may have an enormous debt, or you just totaled your car, or you’re late for work or whatever it might be, but obsessing over how you could have done something differently or calling yourself down generally causes harmful feelings within, amiright? There is no harm in thinking a thought about a situation that is empowering. You know exactly what you need to do about a situation, no sense dwelling on it, may as well think things that lift you up in any given moment.
3. Perpetuated beliefs create perpetuated cycles. I’m sure you’ve noticed. And if not, maybe it’s time to notice. Eventually a belief no longer serves and we’re just hanging on to something for our own…comfort? Familiarity? Sense of safety? A lot of times these beliefs are unconscious/subconscious, handed down to us from well-intentioned family (or past lives, there it is again!), or can be so “hardwired” in our brains that we just knee-jerk respond to all moments with the same conditioned way. This is a very winding topic, very personal I find, so if you need some help navigating your own and having a safe place to explore, please do reach out. (I’m actually working on creating a group where we can be safe and vulnerable…I’ve got my own unconscious beliefs about this and so I’m slow as molasses - I’m hoping that by putting it out there, I’ll be forced to hold myself accountable to all that I want to offer the world.)Anyways, I have always believed that we can change our inner and outer world for profound results. And let’s face it - the world literally needs us to do so right now.
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