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Life goes on and the lessons continue. Oh yes, they do. Some lessons are so tough that we struggle to get them. The good news (although, believe me, it doesn’t always feel like good news) keep getting repeated until we finally get them.
Life Goes On And The Lessons Continue
Reading this quote from the Dalai Lama, got me thinking about the one big life lesson I learned. It took me several years and a lot of heartache, but I think I’ve got it. Yes, tomorrow will be better because today I learned…
Everyone has friends; we all have friends. Friends easy love, easy forgive. But we have our sacred friends. Sacred friends very, very difficult. Chinese government, my sacred friend. Not Chinese people, Chinese government. Chinese people don’t do this; this is Chinese government that does this. The Chinese government is my sacred friend because without the Chinese government doing what they’ve done, I would never have had to evolve my heart to be bigger than the pain they bring.” – Dalai Lama
So here’s a small exercise we can do when dealing with toxic people.
- Rename these people as ‘sacred friends’.
- Realize that these ‘sacred friends’ are actually helping us to get stronger and make our hearts bigger.
- List all the positive qualities these ‘sacred friends’ help us to discover about ourselves.
For me, these are just a couple of ways in which my ‘sacred friends’ have helped me
a. Develop an attitude of gratitude. I realized that if I was grateful for every experience and saw all the pain (despite my ranting and raving at first) as fodder for my growth, I’d be a better person.
b. Trust my intuition and act on it. In the words of Maya Angelou ‘When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.’ I’ve often had some vibes that told me not to trust a certain person. Her actions confirmed this. Yet, I continued to keep her in my circle and trust her, only to be let down again. This ‘sacred friend’ has taught me a lot of about following my intuition.
There’s a lot more I’ve learned about myself and life from my ‘sacred friends’ and for that, I’ll always be grateful.
What’s the life lesson you’ve learned recently?
#FridayReflections
If you are new to Friday Reflections, here’s what it’s about. It’s the end of the week, you’re probably exhausted with work, and all you want to do is sit back, put your feet up, sip on some fancy cocktail or wine, and write away. Sanch of Living My Imperfect Life and Everyday Gyaan give you writing prompts and all you have to do is choose any one of those prompts to blog about and link up between Friday and Monday. After you link up, be sure to spread the love by visiting other bloggers who have linked up too.
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Last week, our featured writer was Vanessa for her letter to Anne {of the Green Gables fame}. You can be our featured writer too. All you need to do is write on one of the prompts and link up below. Remember to read other posts and share the love. Don’t forget to come back on Monday and vote for your favorite post!
Prompts for 3 March 2017
1. Write about the best thing that happened to you this week.
2. What’s the one thing you wish others understood about you.
3. Tomorrow will be better because today I learned…
4. “Imagination is the highest form of research” – Albert Einstein. Use this quote in your post or as an inspiration for one.
5. Picture prompt (http://everydaygyaan.com)
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Ooh, sacred friends. That will be a lot of work on my part. Haha.
But this is really helpful. Thank you.
It is hard work, Lux, but totally worth it.
I can put so many people into that bracket, I tell you! Life lessons indeed…would I have learnt my lessons without them…I seriously doubt that!
I know the feeling, Esha. Sometimes I wonder why I had to keep learning this lesson.
oh boy! I know I could think of a lot of words to describe these friends of mine but sacred would not be in the top 2 pages 🙂
But yes, I do acknowledge that they did make me who I am today.. the lessons in life were harsh but they were lessons none the less.
You always make me smile, Roshan. But I’m glad we agree that without them we wouldn’t be who we are today.
I’ve learned that you can never take anything for granted. I love the sacred friends philosophy. The Dalai Lama is so wise.
I ‘bought’ the philosophy and it has brought so much peace.
I like the idea of sacred friends. What a unique way to convert a destructive relationship into something constructive. Awesome.
Glad this appealed to you, Suzy.
I’ve had a few of these sacred friends you speak of. Great concept and lesson learned.
Thrilled to be last week’s featured writer. Thank you!
I think we all do, Ness, although some of us are a little afraid to let go of them.
And you’re very welcome. Thanks for being a regular with #FridayReflections.
Sacred friends – well they are and we need them for precisely the same reasons you mentioned. To know that we are stronger and we can deal with them. Thanks for this reminder.
Oh yes, we might not know at the time we’re going through a ‘breakup’ but these people are doing us a huge service!
This is indeed a novel concept, Corinne. A few names sprang to my mind while I read it and I am sure going to tag them my sacred friends!
Good luck with that, Maliny. It’s so important that we do this for our own sake.
Brilliant Corinne! I could immediately name a couple of sacred friend and realised that yes they have helped me grow as a person. They have made me realise what I shouldnt be like ever – in my behaviour and in my heart!
Loved this gyaan a lot C!!
That’s a great learning, Shalini and one I got out of my sacred friends too. Thanks for reading and sharing.
This is too much like the Christian admonishment to “love thy neighbor” (even – maybe most especially – the “unlovable” ones). The best I’ve managed, thus far, is the humility to realize, as I’m muttering “a**hole” at every idiot who cuts me off in traffic, that if not today, if not in this moment, SOME day soon, I will BE someone else’s “a**hole.” What goes around comes around. I try not to judge others more harshly than I feel it would be fair for them to judge me.
Aha! That’s a great perspective too, Holly. I’m sure I am a ‘sacred friend’ to more than a couple of people.
I’m really okay with this. 🙂 I do think humility and a spirit of fair play is the key. I used to offer pretty blunt critique on writing.com. I am pretty sure I was “sacred friend” to many, until we all got to know one another better, and people realized I wouldn’t waste the time if I didn’t think they had potential. I know that I was “sacred friend” to my teens, but now my daughter asks me to edit her writing and hardly needs it when I do. I am pretty good at fact-checking, but no one is 100% immune to fake news before coffee; I tell my friends, and I mean it, that I count on them to fact-check ME and let me know when I’ve goofed. I’m a pretty good touch-typist, but my phone is determined to make an a** of me. I’ve told friends to suspect stroke or kidnapping if my spelling and grammar go to hell in a handbasket, and recently, one asked if she ought to call 911 to have them come to the house and do a welfare check. 😀 I’m very grateful for my friends, be they sacred or profane. 😀
P.S. There’s also the very southern expression, “Bless your heart,” usually followed by a spoken (or unspoken) insult. My grandmother’s variant was, “Bless your pointy little head.” That’s probably the best my “sacred friends” are going to get out of me. 🙂
I can see where you got your sass from! 😉
I love the genteel expressions of Southern ladies that I read about in books, Holly.
Oh, yes. I come from a long line of sass. You may or may not have noticed that my dad and I are Facebook friends. He said, when sending the request, “I promise not to judge.” I had to laugh; I replied, “I’m almost 50 and you raised me, so if I post something you don’t like, it’s as much your fault as it is mine.”
My sacred friends are friends I have to love from a distance. Sometimes I have a hard time feeling loving towards them. But if I keep an appropriate boundary, I can see them as God’s children, just as I am. Very thought-provoking post. Thanks!
There is no doubt in saying that life teach you at every step of life, but I would like to add that even the people who you meet have many things to teach. You just need to stay opened to learn new things. People and life will teach you so many important lessons in life.