How I traveled within myself in a time of transformation. And how you can too.
January 1, 2020. An unexpected event invades my life and asks me to stop, leave everything behind and focus on one priority: to be there, for love. And flow.
So by the time the coronavirus lockdown came in March, I had been stationary for a while.
You, who are usually always on the road, do you stop? I didn’t stop: I stayed still.
I remained on a journey within myself, present in myself.
Rumi writes, “O man, travel from yourself into yourself, for by such a journey the earth becomes purest gold.”
I had already wondered at that point whether I wanted to be the prisoner in the situation, looking at the bars, or the one looking at the stars in the corner of the sky between the bars.
I had already wondered, in the midst of the hurricane, whether I wanted to be swept away or find the balance point in the eye of the storm.
Jon Tennant says it well, in an article he bequeathed to us: adversity is strange. We can let it destroy us, make us victims. Or we can let it make us strong.
I am reminded of Wayne Dyer’s words that have been with me for a long time, but since January they have even more force within me: “You cannot control what happens around you, but you are always in control of what happens within you.”
How is it done?
I do not pretend to give pre-packaged solutions for everyone; each person is unique and special. I see this every day.
However, I can share who my “companions” have been and are on the journey within me, and I hope it can be helpful to you if you find yourself at a time when it feels like everything has been overwhelmed and turned upside down. They have been daily travel companions for a long time; I have found that they are even more valuable at times when you feel like everything is spinning so whirling around that you can’t figure it out.
And it is as if I have chosen them anew.
In their simplicity, that is the source of their strength and power.
CHOOSING is an act of deep awareness. And awareness leads to living experiences in presence, without the distortion of “doing at all costs.”
GRATITUDE
In the morning when I open my eyes my first word is thank you. Thank you for life. Thank you because I opened my eyes and I am next to the one I love.
It is not triviality. It is gratitude. It is realizing that it is so much more what we can be thankful for than what we can complain about: gratitude is strength; complaining wears down from within and is not helpful.
CONSCIOUS BREATHING
Emotions and distorted thoughts cause the rhythm of thinking to change and make it harried. But it is precisely with thought that you can transform them so that you don’t get overwhelmed.
It is only through awareness of the power of the breath that you turn sadness into gratitude and fear into love.
MEDITATION
I am not talking about meditation as a fad of the period or a way to pass the time of isolation. Meditation, says Daniel Lumera, is a state of being. And it is a way of life, not just a practice.
It is only with perseverance, patience, welcoming even the thoughts that try to take you away to the past or the future, that you find light and silence.
If you want to meditate every day and want to learn more, you can follow me by subscribing to my newsletter or join a path and workshops where you can find out what meditation is and how to bring it into your life’s journey.
LAUGH
Laughter changes the chemistry of the body and the frequency of thoughts.
Can one laugh when there is nothing to laugh about? Yes, one can.
Even when you don’t feel so much like laughing and don’t have so many reasons to do so. That is precisely why it is even more useful. It’s a way of life, it’s mental attitude.
Stephen and I continued to lead people to laugh online even during Covid, despite his illness.
“It is not what happens that makes the difference, but what you make of what happens” com says Daniel Lumera, an expert in meditation and wellness science.
I could not have imagined that I would be in the situations I was in; if I had thought about it before, that it would happen, I would have been shocked.
When the hurricane came, I chose to make a difference by deciding what to do with it: travel from myself into myself.
If you, too, are going through a period that seems too difficult for you to cope with, whether for personal, relational, problems at work or health reasons, I am sure you can begin to put one of these ways of being into practice.
Do you want to go deeper? Please contact me if you have any questions, if you would like to go deeper into some topics
and have suggestions. I will gladly answer you.
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I recommend you read“Flowing a Sea in the Ocean,” the book that Stephen Colombari wrote during his last stint on this earth. I think it can help you see a way to deal with very difficult situations with a life-changing attitude.
I suggest some books I have selected on these topics:
MEDITATION
In the book 21 Days to Rebirth, by Franco Berrino, Daniel Lumera and David Mariani you find ample space devoted to meditation.
GRATITUDE
I recommend three books by Assunta Corbo:
Say, do … thank you: We always have a reason to be thankful
The Gratitude Diary in 21 Days: Practical Path to Train the Habit of Gratitude
Every day is a good day to be grateful: 40 inspirations to train your gratitude
Now you can read them for free in ebook if you subscribe to the Kindle Unlimited service
THERAPEUTIC LAUGHTER – UNCONDITIONAL LAUGHTER
I recommend that you read Happygenetics, a book written by Prof. Pier Mario Biava and Richard Romagnoli in 4 hands, to realize that laughter-as Prof. Biava says-is a real therapeutic act.
If you want to know what unconditional laughter is and why it is very useful for you to make a habit of it to bring into your life, watch the 7-minute video in which Stephen, myself and the whole Happyfulness group explain it to you in 7 points.
