Due to the pandemic caused by Covid-19, we have already been in quarantine for almost six months, and for those who have children, it means that we are with the children all this period at home. I have 5-year-old twins, and these days I was recovering from sinusitis, and at the moment it's very difficult to follow this routine with two children and a dog, in which the household chores are almost infinite (food, dishes, clothes, cleaning the house , food again, etc.).
This was exactly a day that could be very “heavy”, which we call “one of those” days! I was out of energy, but who is a mother knows that there is no option to rest! (lol) So I decided (even without physical strength) not to let it affect my mind, and while doing the services I decided to listen to a lot of songs about GRATITUDE! Gratitude for life, gratitude for sustenance and strength in difficult times, giving thanks for the miracles and beauty of life! Thanks! I started to thank for people who were cured, thank for my family, for my problems, yes, for the problems! because they are “an invitation” to change and learning. I listened to songs in Portuguese, English and Spanish with this theme “Gratidão”, and so I continued making lunch, and when I least realized it, I was already flooded by this feeling and the “energy” of the day was already much better! Of course it's not linear… of course I wasn't suddenly zen. Yes, in the midst of the gratitude songs, there were many: mom, help me cut this sulfite, mom helps me draw little pieces of “tetris (game), mom, guy jumped on me, took my toy, until mom said: aaaaaaaa! Stop arguing! It's a mix of feelings (tiredness, desire to be silent and just rest), but we decide if we're going to enter this "hurricane"
and let it dominate us all day and take all our energy or if we are going, despite the difficulties, to breathe and choose to change the route so that things turn out in the best possible way!… These days, we cannot give our 100%, and it's all right, all right! I think that's the first thing we should be aware of. I see it as a “tug of war”, you pull a little more to the positive side, and even if you enter the “loop” of fatigue and negativism, you soon manage to return “to your center”, for a rebalance, and not be all day (or a lifetime) in this chaotic whirlwind. Otherwise, it ends up becoming a habit to complain, to see the half empty glass always! It's not easy! There are days when our “best possible” is just listening to music and being grateful not to get into the tsunami. And everything is ok!
I wanted to share with you, reader, this simple strategy to thank, but so powerful! Changed my day! It can change a lifetime, can't it!? The choice is mine, the choice is yours 😉
change focus
That same day, in the afternoon, I went for a walk with my children on a trail near my house, and Murilo wanted a seed to plant, but we hadn't taken any, so they planted a pink petal that had fallen in floor. They collected dandelions and blew in the wind and presented me with a beautiful flower! And the deal was that tomorrow we will return properly equipped for planting with apple, pear and guava seeds and our gardening kit. From then on, several thoughts began to arise, and I kept thinking about FRUITS, about the cycles of life, about nature, about the enchantment of every detail of the Universe, and so I returned reflective all the way, with a grateful heart. I took off my shoes and walked a bit barefoot, the way I love it, on the earth, and took the following pictures:
I got home just in time for a computer meeting with women from a volunteer group I participate in. There was so much synchronicity that my heart felt even more grateful! All wanting to make a difference, to help more humble people to empower themselves and to feel belonging and useful within the recyclable waste cooperative where they work. How can we help these employees to increase their self-esteem, to feel valued!? Several ideas came up! My heart was filled with gratitude for meeting more and more people who have this dream (which for many people is utopia), but for us it is not utopia! That “dream”, which is called unconditional love, which is called kindness, empathy, hope, etc.!
At night, already taken by this feeling of gratitude and surrounded by an atmosphere of good energies, the biblical verse came to my heart (Romans 12.2), "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” I believe this passage is exactly that! Not conforming is wanting to make a difference, but how to make a difference?! By renewing our minds! Getting out of the box, out of the “collective unconscious”, which leads us to limiting beliefs and religiosity.
Renewal of the mind, for me, is following the path of self-knowledge. Understanding that everything happens “inside” and needs analysis, and everything I see outside is a reflection of what is inside me, as Carl Jung's principle of projection says, which I have already mentioned in several texts.
From that moment, when there is awareness of all the internal processes of the mind, body and spirit, then we can begin to walk our journey of personal, professional and spiritual maturity.
Within this context, I returned to reflect on the FRUITS! Fruits that my children wanted to plant on this walk, but after all the thoughts about my day that I mentioned above, at the end, I was reflecting on our personal “fruits”, which we produce within us!
Do you notice what kind of “fruit” you are producing?
There are several phrases that are “popular sayings” so used that no one pays attention to their essence and meaning anymore: “What you sow, you reap”; "By the fruit you shall know the tree." I reflected a lot! Because in essence we have as humanity several principles and values, regardless of religion or even the country or culture in which we live, we have as universal characteristics, perhaps intrinsic to the human race, very similar feelings and concepts, about the meaning of what are the “good fruits” that we can produce during our lifetime!
The great religions and philosophical schools are based on principles of LOVE, self-control, joy, kindness, kindness, etc.
Budismo
“Love, compassion, joy and equanimity are the very nature of an enlightened person. They are the four aspects of true love within ourselves and within everyone and everything.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
“Practice kindness, don't create suffering, direct your own mind. That is the essence of Buddhism.” – Buddha Krishna
Four are the qualities necessary for the Path:
I. Discernment;
II. Absence of desires (detachment, selflessness);
III. Good conduct;
IV. Love;
Jiddu Krishnamurti
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Christianity
“But the fruit of the spirit produces: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23)
Analyzing these excerpts above, we see that regardless of religion, if we look at the characteristics, everyone talks about the “FRIUE” or the qualities that we must develop!
This verse from Galatians is one of the ones that, for me, best summarizes the characteristics of those who understand what it means to “be in the Presence of the Creator”. And if you pay attention, it says “THE FRUIT”, not “the fruits”, in the plural. That makes all the difference! It means that the fruit of the spirit has all these characteristics in itself! It's so wonderful when you understand that! And at the same time it is so difficult, in practice, to be able to live “bearing” this fruit in our daily lives!
So, I go back to the beginning of the text, and I think how a sinusitis can be the trigger to “take” our attention away from the production of these fruits! But on this particular day, my “excuse” for producing bad attitudes and feelings was an illness. How many other excuses and triggers do we have every day to produce "bad" fruits, right?! If we follow this line of thought, we have, on an infinite scale, reasons to generate bad fruits, which can be translated into a scream, a gesture, a curse, and sometimes, even if it is not expressed, we internally produce anger, guilt, shame, fear. etc.
Indoor garden management
How about starting your own garden management? In general, we spend our entire lives without paying attention to our inner garden. We don't analyze the types of fruits (emotions/feelings/actions) we produce daily and we usually complain about the results, we blame life and others for the fruits generated by us! This is victimism!
“I am not what happened to me. I am what I CHOOSE to become.” (Carl Jung)
Take the reins of your life! Assume the results generated by your attitudes! Be humble to recognize that it has produced toxic fruits and above all be very grateful for the courage and awareness of assuming your vulnerabilities, because when we assume our vulnerability, it is a great indicator that we have become responsible for the “weeds” produced by ourselves! (we are all flawed and that's ok). From there, we see the “roots and trees” that need to be addressed within us! Thus begins the conscious management of our beautiful internal garden and our healing process!
I invite you to observe your garden, water it with the unconditional love of the Creator, with self-forgiveness and self-acceptance, and I am sure that it will soon bear wonderful fruits! Of course, there will always be one or another “bad” fruit, ok, that's all right! Patience with successes and mistakes is also part of handling 😉. The important thing is that, on average, most of the harvest is “good fruit”!
Good harvest!
