As 2016 comes to an end, it’s good to pause and reflect on what this year meant for you in terms of emotional and spiritual growth, as well as worldly accomplishments. This year was a year of closing circles, tying up loose ends, and cleaning house (and/or life) in preparation for something new.
It was also a year of healing the wounded child archetype to be reborn into a better version of yourself this coming year. I hope you got to accomplish as much as possible in these two areas, for the New Year comes with the challenges of a rather gray political landscape for the world, but also new opportunities to grow and reinvent yourself within your personal life-movie.
I will be receiving the New Year on retreat, which means you won’t hear from me next week, so first of all, I want to wish you and yours Happy Holidays and send my Best Wishes for 2017! May this year be filled with love and blessings of all kinds!
Then I’d like to leave you with a story to ponder upon—and a cute (silly) horse picture to help you remember it:
An old, poor Chinese man had a beautiful white stallion that many kings coveted. They offered him much money for the horse, but the man would not sell it, since he considered this animal his friend. But one morning the horse was gone. As soon as the villagers heard about it, they gathered around him saying, “How foolish you were! You could have sold the horse and now it has been stolen. What bad luck!”
The old man simply stated, “Just say that the horse is not in the stable. This is the fact, everything else is a judgment. You cannot know whether it’s a misfortune or a blessing, because it’s just a piece of the puzzle; who knows what will come of it?” People laughed at him, thinking he was crazy.
After two weeks, the horse returned to the stable accompanied by a dozen wild horses. The villagers gathered again and exclaimed, “You were right! This was not a misfortune but a blessing in disguise!”
“You’re going too far,” the old man replied. “Just say that the horse is back. Who knows whether it’s a blessing or not? It’s only a fragment.” People didn’t say anything, but they all thought he was wrong.
Soon after, the old man’s only son started training the wild horses, fell off one of them, and broke both legs. The villagers gathered, judging what had happened, “You were right again. This was a misfortune! Your only son has lost his legs. Now you have no support and you’re poorer than ever!”
The old man said, “You’re obsessed with judgment. Just say that my son broke his legs; this is nothing but a fragment of life and you can’t tell whether it’s a misfortune or a blessing!” People thought he just didn’t want to see his misfortune, but it so happened that after a few weeks the country went to war and all the young men were taken for the military. Only the old man’s son was left because he was crippled. Once more, the villagers came to see him saying, “You were right again, old man! Your son may be crippled, but he is with you; our sons are all gone!”
To which the man replied, “You are judging again and taking one piece for the whole. We get only fragments of life. Only God knows whether it’s a blessing or not. Nobody else knows!”
Keep this in mind as the year unfolds. Do not lose hope or get discouraged if things don’t appear to go the way you want; fixating on one aspect when you can’t see the whole picture simply disconnects you from yourself and your divine creative potential. But this is what the ego-mind does: like a pair of scissors, it cuts and separates and compartmentalizes things to block a global view of yourself and your life.
Until you connect your puzzle pieces, it controls which ones to push forth—that is, which ones you tend to identify with—to keep you trapped in the past, repeating familiar dynamics that prevent you from reclaiming the power to redesign your life. So contact me today to start putting your life puzzle together, to discover who you really are and what you’re meant to experience and contribute to the world, as you develop emotional and spiritual freedom!
Till next year! ;-)
Love,
© 2016 Yol Swan. All rights reserved.
