Have you ever looked at people who are extremely calm under the most stressful circumstances and wondered – “How do they do that?”
Well I have. And this week I turned to Winnie the Pooh for answers, specifically the book “The Tao of Pooh” by Benjamin Hoff.
The basic Taoism principle I want to share with you is the concept of appreciating, learning from and working with whatever happens in everyday life. From the Taoist point of view, when we are in harmony with what is going on around us, the result is happiness.
So what does this mean practically for you?
When something doesn’t ‘seem’ to go as planned (such as launching my revised website by the beginning of October so that I could get some awesome goodies into your hands!), you can either get angry, frustrated, and try and ‘force’ it to happen (enter hair loss and high blood pressure!) OR you can choose the Taoist perspective and realize that there must be a reason for it and see it as something positive. If you really looked for something positive in your challenges, what would you find? What is the gift?
I received a message this week from The Daily Flame that underlines this concept beautifully:
“Most of the suffering you experience stems not so much from the bad things that happen, but from your resistance to it. What if you could just stop resisting what is? What if you could just accept everything just as it is, right in this moment? What if you could trust that actually, it’s perfect just as it is, that there’s nothing to change, no upgrade necessary, no outcome to attach to, no goal to meet, no self-improvement required.”
There you have it. What if??
Your mission this week: Think, breath and speak Taoism. When something isn’t going your way or as planned, ask yourself “What is the reason for this?” and go on your way creating a new plan. No fuss, no getting stuck…and no hair falling out.
This is absolutely perfect timing for me! No more hair falling out! :)
What really helps me when something ‘negative’ is happening, is forcing my self to write down 10 positive reasons that this is happening to me right now. Try this out and you will be surprised by the effect!