Feeding the Wolf

Remember When… Our development depends on both pleasant and unpleasant experiences. But painful experiences can cause us to lose our way. Failure, tragedy or a broken relationship can bury our capacity for enjoyment and leave us with a pessimistic outlook. Instead of looking at these experiences as temporary cycles with beginnings and endings, we may, without realizing it, get lost in them, possibly even seeing them as punishment for our shortcomings. Reflecting on our life cycles can help us regain perspective and momentum. When you feel lost, take time to visualize a time and place where you last felt certain of yourself and your relationship with the world. Go back and remember the passion and optimism you felt. Use this simple reflection to reconnect to the deeper flow of your life and reclaim the personal authority you may have surrendered to painful experiences. Make a regular practice of remembering the times when you experienced joy. Re-experience the emotions you felt in the same way that actors use sense memory to call up genuine rather than pretend emotions from the past. If you feel a sense of failure, remember when you believed in yourself and in what you were doing. What were the ingredients? What made it work? Remembering allows us return to the wisdom of our experience. It helps us to see where we may have gone off the rails and to get back on track with greater insight into what works and what does not work for us. Rebirth waits in the place of remembering. Stay in touch with it and let it keep guiding you back home.