LIFE LESSONS

I have begun to learn little life lessons in some of the strangest places; the strangest ways. Maybe they have always been there, but I was too busy to take notice. I have been working on a new life philosophy; I call it a year of peace. I am a high strung person who loves to argue and debate and try to save the world. I decided for my own sanity and for a different perspective that I would try to live a peaceful life for one year. After that year I can go back to being high strung and arguing and debating to my hearts content. I have found through this process, which is in its infant stages, that there are many, many things that I do to sabotage a peaceful existence in this world. I am amazed by some of my behaviors and actions that are very anti-peaceful. I hope this journey will lead me to a new perspective on myself as well as this world that I co-exist in.

Life Lesson:

The other day I was getting ready to take a shower and my little one's rubber ducky cover was over the faucet. In order to turn the shower on I have to remove the rubber ducky cover which is not an easy feat. I pulled and struggled, got angry, and pulled some more. I tried to force it to come off and nearly pulled the faucet out of the wall. It was then that I realized I have been doing this same thing my whole life. I stopped for a minute, took a breath, and slowly removed the rubber ducky. During the ensuing shower I contemplated my new revelation. For my entire life I have been trying to make things do what I want them to do through force. This is objects, people, situations, jobs, school work...you name it. I have tried to make everything do what I want it to. Rather than looking at resistance as a sign that I am moving down the wrong path or making the wrong decision, I have forced my way through without ever looking back. Often, it has been the wrong decision. I am not a decision maker because of I have an enormous fear of making the wrong decision and often I did. I can see why now...I never took the time to look at the decisions that I was making. I blindly made decisions while holding my breathe in an attempt to control my life and everything around me or I made no decision at all.

Whether there is a particular plan laid out for me or I am the one who creates my own destiny, stopping and taking a breath is never the wrong thing to do; forcing things into submission is never the right thing to do. Sometimes it is best to do nothing at all, sometimes it is best to proceed with caution, and sometimes it is best to suppress fear and forge ahead. I truly believe that the right option can be chosen by gauging the amount of resistance in any particular situation. If I find that I am forcing something because I think it is the right thing to do but I am facing insurmountable resistance (i.e. brick wall) then it is time to stop, take a breath, and do nothing at all. If I am not doing something, that I feel could be right, but I am frozen into inaction by fear, I stop, take a breath and gauge the amount of resistance...is it the fear or something else that is causing this resistance? Is there any resistance at all? If it is only fear, I move forward, sometimes cautiously. If there is no resistance at all I move forward full speed ahead and I have had amazing results!

I know that "The Secret" has had a lot of criticism, but one thing I learned just by watching the DVD was how much I let fear control my life. When using the teachings of "The Secret" it helps to relieve some of the fear that is involved with making decisions. For example, if you feel that the Universe has heard your request for a new car and that the car is going to be yours, it is much easier to apply for a car loan. Sometimes there are subtle hints that are all around you if you just tune in. I have an extreme fear of rejection that keeps me from doing many things. I needed a new computer and was trying to figure out a way to get one. I followed the guidelines in "The Secret" and even picked out my perfect computer. Though I was extremely fearful I applied for a computer loan through my bank (after being turned down by other financing) and surprisingly there was no problem at all with getting a computer loan. In fact, the loan officer mentioned that she saw that I had a car loan through some other company and asked if I would like to refinance it? I had been trying for a year or so to find a way to refinance my car. I was paying an extremely high interest rate and a very high payment for the car I was driving. Again, I was terrified, but I said sure! I doubted that it would happen, but I went ahead and gave all the information necessary to find out if I could be approved. Sure enough, I was approved and refinanced my car for 5.75% interest!!! I now have my dream computer as well as a dream car loan! This is only one example of the things that have happened to me just in the last few months. I have been rewarded in so many ways that there is no way to list all of them. I truly believe that if I could learn to quiet some of my deep-seated fears that I have a chance of achieving a level of success in my life that I cannot even dream about right now.

Who would have thought that I could learn so much from a rubber ducky faucet cover?