Understanding Your Power
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Hi Reader, A very good friend of mine works in the education sector. She is perfectly suited to the work as she is extremely wise and patient. They are both traits I have associated with her since I first met her, and she embodied them even then, during our misspent youth! One of the wisdoms she shares with her students is that you can’t control what happens to you, but you can control how you react to it. I have always loved that counsel. It is attributed to the renowned Stoic, Epictetus. It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
― Epictetus
At first, it offers comfort through an acknowledgement of damage inflicted or bad luck. But on deeper analysis, the wisdom of those words frees you from hurt from any event that occurs, no matter how severe. You alone are responsible for your thoughts, words and deeds. So you may choose the person you want to be. Choose how you respond and how the event impacts you. No matter what has happened to you. In his book, How to Practice, The Way to a Meaningful Life, His Holiness the Dalai Lama gives an example of just this. He recalls a conversation with a monk who had spent 18 years in a Chinese Communist gulag. The monk said he had faced danger on a few occasions. But the danger he referred to was not any ill treatment he had endured, it was the danger of losing compassion towards the Chinese people, as a result of his incarceration. Losing his compassion towards others was his greatest concern. Don’t mirror your hurt and inflict harm on yourself or others. You alone are responsible for your thoughts, words and deeds. While others may have power over your circumstance, you alone have power over you. Focus on the light, always, Natalie Attenborough |
Focus on the Light
Hi Reader, It has been a very challenging couple of weeks. Watching the events of the world unfold. And escalate beyond comprehension. My energy has been directed elsewhere. As a result I find myself with little to say. Which is most unusual for me. I like to have several articles ready, or in progress pending further consideration. But this week, none seem to be appropriate. Instead I have chosen to share a brief interchange I had on social media. A journalist I follow created a post...
Hi Reader, The poet Robert Frost said ‘the best way out is always through’ in his 1915 poem, A Servant to Servants. This is often quoted as ‘the only way out is through.’ I am unsure if he actually said the second version, but it is a more succinct way of sharing an important truth. And is attributed to Frost. Human beings are capable of incredible mental strength. But we have all at times fostered a reluctance to face the truth of our situation head on. Instead, we sometimes use our energy...
Hi Reader, I watched a stand up show the other night. It was the latest offering on Netflix from Ricky Gervais. During the show he commented on the likelihood of humanity destroying itself in one of many ways. It disturbed me because it was delivered in a matter of fact way. Like it's inevitable and almost preferable. And that kind of attitude is gaining traction. It's as if we have given up, accepted our inability to affect change, and are just plodding on to oblivion. He went on to say the...