Some people hate the winter.
I love it.
I thrive off of the space that this season gives me. I adore this hibernating period to recharge my mind, body, and soul.
It’s often hard to find quiet time when work is pulling me every which way.
But now as the house is still with the kids at school, I’m feeling creativity whispering to me, “come and play.”
A couple months ago, I broke or dislocated my finger. I don’t really know which. To be honest, I just splinted it on my own to save money on a doctor visit and anyway, after a handful (literally and figuratively) of broken fingers over the years, this DIY approach seemed the best route.
Well, looking back on it, I don’t know if it was. I still can’t bend my finger fully. As a result, I haven’t been able to play guitar or rock climb. It has given me an excuse to work on my piano chops.
Let It Be
One of the songs I’m trying to get better at is “Let It Be”.
How appropriate. Let it be. Acceptance of what is. I never even touched the keys with any sort of intention until a dozen years ago when I broke my elbow skateboarding and without an ability to play guitar, I learned some chords on the keys.
These signals from the universe, like the winter, can be a major drag.
However, there is another way to see these seemingly unfortunate situations that we find ourselves in.
Change Your Story, Change Your Life
The stories that we make up in our head dictate how we see the world. In essence, our reality is flexible.
The next time you stub your toe or lose your temper or spill something on your new rug, you have a choice.
You can react and think that life is doing something to you. You can get mad, upset, resentful and tell yourself how this is another bit of proof that things don’t go your way.
Ask Better Questions
OR…
You can take a step back and ask a couple of questions
“What good can I gain from this”?
“What lessons can be learned here”?
“What else could this mean”?
“What’s the move here that would empower me”?
With such acceptance and curiosity, you can see things differently.
Maybe the Universe is trying to tell you something.
Maybe your life was going too fast and you needed to slow down.
Maybe there’s a new direction you’re being led to that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
Maybe this new direction is pointing you to something better.
What if what you were thinking was comfortable and good for you, was actually not bringing you closer to your true purpose.
Be Honest with Yourself
If I’m being honest with myself, even with my broken bones, I can see more subtle clues that I was given, but I ignored them. Even now as I look down at my tweaked finger that’s still recovering, I see some gratitude in the situation.
I have been playing piano more. I realize how I should have appreciated my health and well-being more before it was broken. I have been appreciating my other nine fingers more.
Does this mean that I’m glad that my finger got injured? Nope. But it is what it is. I can either be pissed off, or let it be.
When I’m painting I see this too. Right at the time my inspiration is starting to fade, I’ll usually spill paint, make a dumb mistake or trip over my chair. These little things can be dismissed as random nonsensical things but I see more.
When my brush slips out of my hand and flings paint on my floor, I know to say to myself, “maybe it’s time for a break”….”what if it’s a good moment to step back and see how I’m doing”.
When life shows us clues, we have a moment to choose our reactions. In that space, we regain our power
