I think we don't often realize our strength until circumstances force us to find out. The days that follow the diagnosis, job loss, divorce, death of a loved one - those events that bring us to our knees and send us on a journey from which we emerge not the same version of ourselves as when we began. đ©”
I remember entering a 10 week spiritual development class in 2014. I was so excited to be there. I'd been feeling the pull to enroll and finally said "yes" to myself. I didn't realize it then how I would later be so grateful that I did, putting myself in the best possible environment for the upcoming path I didn't count on taking.
On the first day the teacher told us to open to a fresh page in our notebook, put the date on the top, and write ourselves a letter describing where we see ourselves at the conclusion of class. She had individual envelopes for each of us to seal our note in and address. She collected them and let us know there wasn't an exact timeframe but they'd be mailed to us at some point down the road.
Six months later, my letter to myself arrived. I was confused for a moment - I recognized my handwriting but had completely forgotten about it.
Reading the letter I swear I felt my world stop for a moment. When I wrote it on that first day of class, I had no idea that in two and a half week's time everything would change, and life as I knew it would never be the same. Reading it now, to my own ears I sounded so innocent, maybe even a bit naive.
I had been living through hell, but through this letter I could see how much I had grown, much more depth and wisdom I had. I recognized my inner strength, resilience, courage and the confidence I was building every day.
I began viewing life's biggest challenges differently, and what I was able to see in myself, I was now also seeing in others. In my friend who was dealing with cancer. Another who was a single mom of three and had lost her job. My yoga student and her husband, he having lost both his legs in an accident. I could literally see the transformations that were happening and crazy as it sounds - how much more enhanced everyone's life was becoming.
I believe there's tremendous value in reflecting on those times. Not to dwell in the pain, but to be proud and acknowledge who we became when we allowed the pain to move us.
If you'd like to be gently guided within to a space of empowering reflection, click below for this week's Five Minute Fix meditation: Embrace your inner strength.
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