Here is a short personal (and a bit embarrassing) story that I took a deep message from and wanted to share with all of you.
A few weeks ago I decided to clean my windows, which I hadn’t cleaned since our very rainy season ended this winter. (That’s not the embarrassing part.)
Everything was going well, and the world was, literally, looking brighter when I took th
e windows out and scrubbed and cleaned them squeaky clean. All was going well, that is, until I had to put the windows back into their place on the sill.
These windows were quite heavy and I picked one up and proceeded to put it back into place. The problem was the window would not go back into place no matter how hard I tried to push, shove, and force them back in.
It was incredibly frustrating and exhausting and I could not understand how in the world these windows would ever get back into place. I regretted my choice in cleaning them, even though I hated seeing them dirty.
I was completely stuck. What was I supposed to do without any windows? I was certain that I was putting the windows back in just as I had taken them out. But these windows were extremely stubborn and I was feeling extremely stuck.
That stuck feeling came from me thinking I had NO choice…these windows HAD to go back in. But I had no idea how I was going to get them back in. I felt so hopeless and discouraged.
I refused to give up and looked at the windows again very carefully. Suddenly a new thought came to me: Turn the windows around! (Duh.)
Sure enough – turning the windows AROUND did the trick, and the windows slid in (almost) effortlessly.
So, yes I did feel pretty silly and even took the moment to have a good laugh at myself.
In the end, however, I realized a very deep lesson in this simple and silly mistake.
In my stubbornness, I was blocked and stuck, just like that window.
It was only when I took a moment to stop, breathe and become present with the moment that I was able to open my mind, see things from a new perspective and find a new solution to my problem.
When the mind is clear, choices become clearer to. Turning things around and taking a look at the very same situation from a different and new perspective can help us find solutions we could not think of or see before.
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