Spring has sprung! As I uncover layers of dead leaves and stalks left over from the life that was there last summer, I discover small sprouts of green shoots in the most unlikely and impossible places. It reminds me of a Buddha quote:
“The cracks are where the light shines in “……. No matter what, the life lies dormant, waiting for a crack, however small or painful, to expand.
Most spiritual and psychotherapeutic practices are just that… uncovering, letting go, ‘un-hypnotizing’ ourselves from the many layers of false beliefs and conditioning that we have armoured ourselves with over the years in order to find the true self inside. Tara Brach, a Buddhist therapist tells a story of a Hindu who calls himself an “UNDO”… undoing all the brainwashing that we are subject to from others, media, and our own brains.
In our true selves, the green shoots can grow, flower and thrive. It is never too late to nourish it and start over. With every mindful breath we have a chance to start again, to make a choice, to forgive, to re-take, to face a fear, to change our minds, to follow our bliss. Everything that has been learned can be unlearned. We are never truly stuck, only in our minds. We can discover our cracks through mindfulness.
Take one long, slow mindful breath and in that pause ask yourself what habit you learned that you would like to let go of. Something that doesn’t serve you anymore. Just one. It might be something as seemingly small as judging, criticizing yourself, gossiping. Then do a re-take…..
“Between the stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is the power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
Viktor Frankl
CHOOSE TO GROW YOUR TRUE SELF TODAY!
