Let it Begin With Me

Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXFeeJ6LSMc&list=RDvXFeeJ6LSMc

Ah this song. So Angelic it almost feels likeit lifts you up to the clouds just by listening.

The other day I was speaking with a client about the saying “Let it Begin with Me.”  It has always felt like such a beautiful sentiment.  One that resonates on a deep level.

Why you ask?

Well maybe because it’s so incredibly easy for us all to focus on what is not going right with the world, or with our boss, our coworkers, clients, friends, bf, gf, wifey, hubby not to mention what is not going right for US.  Right?  You don’t have to try hard these days to get into a conversation about what is WRONG with everything.

We always know JUST what others in our lives or in the world need to start doing right but what about us?  Is there anything we need to be doing a better job at? It is REALLY hard to turn the attention inward when there is constant mindless chatter about everything and everyone else.

I am sure right now you are all smiling and laughing…or maybe that is my projection, no?  We generally tend to overlook our own shortcomings unless we are in the business of beating up on ourselves.  In that case we are ALL OVER OUR ASS!

But unless we are taking that proverbial bat to our heads, we tend to be pretty clueless to our own issues.  Even when we have a practice of being curious within, things can hide like cobwebs in the closet so to speak.

This all can be the case until someone or something reflects back at us just what we need to see. People and circumstances can be like a mirror giving us an opportunity to tune in in a way that we otherwise would not be able to.

The Dali Lama spoke of this concept in his book “The Art of Happiness.”  He shared that people in our lives that are adversaries or situations that are challenging are presenting an opportunity for us to learn patience and tolerance.  They are our teachers.  Without these two virtues, it is very difficult to move through the world without suffering.  These people or situations happen to provide opportunities for us to learn and grow.

Let it begin with me.

For me these observations into my sh*t so to speak have most often come in times when I am being challenged in a way that triggers some dark place within.  Circumstances that have evoked the most pain have also been some of my greatest teachers about myself and the ways in which I needed to grow.

If we turn life’s challenges inside out and flip the script on that old story, we will find that generally things happen to us for our own transformation.  The challenges, the people who piss you the F off, they are there to evoke that fire inside of you.  They are there to help you grow.

2016 was possibly the most difficult year of my life.  It was also the most transformative.  It was a year that has been incredibly hard to shake off until more recently.  It broke up the foundation of what I thought my life was.  Who I thought myself to be. In return, 2016 gave me a new way of understanding myself and a sense of freedom that I didn’t possess before.

Let it begin with me has been about walking through the rubble and seeing that it is the foundation for new ground.  It is the beautiful earth that has been turned up waiting for the new bulbs to be planted.

What beautiful perennials will I put down in the earth?

What do I want to do with the earth that has been dug up and overturned?

The sun has been shining here in Boston and the weather has become warm then chilly and then warm again.  It’s Spring.  The season of blossoming and blooming.  Life feels like it’s definitely begun a new chapter.  There are new characters coming into the book.  Their roles not yet defined which is always what gives any rich book it’s flavor.

Let it begin with me….

because that is the ONLY way that happiness grows.  It blooms from within each one of us.  It lies dormant until we turn the earth up and deal with the dark spaces and then, only then can happiness begin to reside in the new spring cleaned home.

So open up those windows.  Clean out the cobwebs…take out the old clothes and get rid of the old stuff that no longer fits the new you.  It’s time to begin with you

As the idea for this post was forming over the past couple of weeks…this popped up in the oddest of places….

 

Yeah….LET IT BEGIN WITH YOU AND YOU DO YOU!

Cheers!

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1 Comments

  1. Mary Bartnikowski on April 24, 2017 at 10:22 pm

    Thank you this is so helpful to remember that peace starts with us

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