When we look at things in black and white, we miss the lesson

When we see things the way we think they should be or should have been, we dodge an opportunity for healing.

Today I had a pretty sour experience. I won't go into details because its irrelevant in this case. But I noticed how my ego mind immediately went on autopilot about how bad it felt & what that meant for me, about how the event impacted my overall being, assumptions I made, the disappointment I felt etc.

I felt down, I felt disappointed, I felt sad. There was no way for me to reframe the way that this situation has made me feel. And so I surrendered to the emotional pain it caused and the reality of it. Yes, it hurt me. Yes, it was a mishap.

I caught myself in the shame spiral and stopped.

Why did I have to take it so personally? What about this situation was so personal? What about it resurrected some past unhealed grief?

I allowed myself to be with my emotions unconditionally & validate them as they were bubbling to surface. After a while, when their intensity died down, I asked myself "Why do I consider this a failure?"

I replied: because it didn't go as I expected it to.

"And if it didn't go as expected, what was it that I learned from the unexpected way that it happened?"

I noticed that the "unpredictability" of this situation gave me an opportunity to practice self awareness, conscious presence & ego work, as well as learning about new core beliefs I didn't know I had.

So if this event was an opportunity for me to learn something and practice something, I can no longer call it a failure, can I?

This is how we alchemize painful emotions & negative meanings & associations we have with certain things happening in our life. Look for HOW the unwanted situation at hand is trying to teach/show you or reinforce some lessons.