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Today's
Meditation:
Some
things come disguised as gifts, while others come as
something that doesn't look in the least to be a gift, but
that bring new elements to our lives that will turn out to be very
important to us. Sometimes, occurrences that look to be
awful turn out to be the best things that could possible
happen to us-- but it's up to us to accept them and learn
from them if they're going to bring us any benefit at all.
The world is full of stories of people who have lost their
homes, only to find that their new-found freedom from the
bonds of the home has been a great gift, or of people who
have lost a spouse and have thrived in their new
situations. Yes, some things are painful and some
things are tragic, but if we do learn from them we will
find that they bring to us lessons and growth that could
come only through such means. And Elisabeth's
assertion that everything is a gift is a very
strong set of words indeed, and if they're true, they
should open up our eyes to many, many things that we need
to learn.
I'm reminded of the story of a woman who lost her sight
when she used a bottle of eyedrops that someone had filled
with drain cleaner. For the first year after her
tragic loss, she didn't grow at all. Then she
decided that she still had to live, though, and she
started learning some of the lessons that her blindness
had to teach her, and she started living her life fully
even without sight. In no way would I say that
losing her sight was best for her, but since lose it she
did, at least she was able to learn and grow from the
experience and look for the gifts in her new situation.
Of course, it's much more pleasant to learn in ways that
don't involve tragedy and grieving. And learning
from the tragedies of life often takes much longer,
especially if we have to pass through our grieving process
first. But it is up to us whether we recognize the
gifts in such situations-- if we keep our eyes and our
hearts and our souls open to possibilities instead of
closing them off, then we can help our spirits to grow and
expand into a state of stronger love and awareness and
compassion.
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