LESSONS IN SURRENDER AND ACCEPT
Creating balance is a never-ending process
It requires constant awareness and listening to what is going on in our lives and how it makes us feel. Believe me, I too know how difficult this is in our fast-paced world. With all the distractions that come from outside.
And even if I write about it and most of the time I'm aware of what's going on in my life... I'm not perfect at keeping it either.
I've experienced this myself in the past few weeks. Within seconds all my plans were thrown out of whack because life had other plans.
In general, I'm pretty good at listening to my body and mind's needs. I've learned not to overexert myself, get enough rest, and stick to my daily routine. So most of the time I feel in a very balanced and peaceful state.
When live gets soooo exciting
And then there are situations and moments in my life that just inspire me so much. I am Aries in Astrology, Pitta in Ayurveda and a Projector in Human Design. This means that I am very driven by my passion, the joy of creating things and turning new ideas into reality, and I love movement very much. I'm super efficient at getting 3 things done at once and perfect at filling my schedule as efficiently as possible. That's why I've learned to consciously schedule time for rest and activities that bring me balance.
And that's exactly what I've forgotten over the past few weeks because I've been looking forward so much to being back in my happy place in Sri Lanka.
The weeks before that I prepared everything at home to be away for another month. I put as many appointments on my calendar as possible and worked 3 weeks straight without a weekend to rest.
Back in Sri Lanka, of course, my working hours stayed the same as at home. I forgot that adapting to the different time zone is always a challenge, ie. H. to work until late in the evening and that this takes time to get used to.
I surfed 1-2 hours every day, wanted to see my friends I hadn't seen for a long time as often as possible, I wanted to enjoy the time on the beach, do beach runs and so on.
My mind was telling me even before leaving, rest, take it slow, I'm very honest...many times.
And even Universe tied to make me listen, with strange situations happening, that should have make me aware to stop.
Well, yes, I often heard it whisper BUT I didn’t take an action and just kept on going, as I was sooooo excited about being back to a place I love so much.
Hustle brings more failure than success
And then the hustle brings more failure than success.... In a second, the universe forced me to stop when a surfing accident happened. It should be a day that I prefer to do yoga in the mornings instead of surfing for 2 hours for the 5th day in a row.
When I dove under a wave and was holding my board by the end, my finger kind of got pinched by the leash.
My finger was broken and my fingernail was torn out of the nail bed. They had to remove my fingernail and fix the bone of my finger. I better not tell you the details. Many hours of doctor visits and hospital stays followed. And I had to stop and slow down, completely!
Every movement in the heat led to crazy pain, mainly because of the missing fingernail.
I'll be honest, the last 1.5 weeks have been the hardest in a long time. With a mixture of constant pain, fear and constant concern that the open wound will get infected from the heat and the dirt and of course the realization that all the plans I made... just flew away.
What to do? Breathe in, breathe out.... life happens while you're busy making other plans.
A crazy emotional rollercoaster followed.
What did I learn?
It was the best reminder to take things slow and listen more carefully to what my body and mind are trying to tell me again!
It is important to be aware of our thoughts because they become our reality. I've told myself many times that I need a real break and just do nothing! The universe delivered.
Sitting there feeling sad and angry about what happened wouldn't have changed the situation. So there was nothing left to do but surrender and accept. This gave me the opportunity to focus on all the other beautiful things around me that I had overlooked in the weeks before. I mean I was still in one of the most beautiful places I know.
It got me back into my Self Reiki routine and I gave my morning routine, early morning (slow) walks on the beach and meditation routine a lot more time again, to allow my mind come to a rest.
I think without all my self care tools I would have gone insane and really sad, overwhelmed and scared within that intense days. I once more realized myself how much power we have to work on ourselves and our mindest. And, how much this influences our healing.
BalanCe needs awareness AND conscious action
What else is there to say about ....? You see, creating balance takes constant awareness AND conscious action.
Even if you have reached this state, it does not mean that it will last forever.
Be careful. Be aware of and embrace the duality of life. I don't think anyone is perfect at being balanced.
There must be ups and downs to find our center.
Mindfulness helps us stay in control of how extreme these waves become, and to follow our intuition :)
Last but not least, the biggest thank you on earth to all people around who took care of me within those days.
My wonderful friends around, the medical centre in welligama, my guesthouse owners and even Tuk Tuk drivers and all local neighbors around asking me every day how I am doing and if I need support.
And of course already counting days to be back end of the year, with my surfboard of course ;)
AWARENESS & ACTION
creating balance takes constant awareness AND conscious action.
Even if you have reached this state, it does not mean that it will last forever.
Be careful. Be aware of and embrace the duality of life. I don't think anyone is perfect at being balanced.
There must be ups and downs to find our center.
Mindfulness helps us stay in control of how extreme these waves become, and to follow our intuition.
Listen!