Lighten up!

I´ve got to tell you that I started writing this column yesterday, but gave up on it after an hour or so of struggling to make it sound anything like interesting. It was only after I´d walked away from my computer in a huff, convinced that I would never write anything of any worth ever again, that the irony hit me. Here I was, writing a column on lightening up....and taking it oh so very seriously!

And that´s the whole point, isn´t it? The times we need to lighten up are the times when we are taking ourselves seriously – and as human beings, we tend to do that quite a lot. But the simple fact is that no matter what appears to “happen” to us, it´s how we choose to respond, how we choose to view it, that has the power to make us feel this way or that – not the actual happening itself. We can choose to let that shop assistant who was so rude to us earlier put us in a bad mood for the rest of the day; we can choose to let one perceived failing or embarrassment knock our confidence; we can choose to allow the odd let-down or disappointment to shake our faith in human nature...or, we can acknowledge the experience, then choose to focus on the positive, the good experiences, the good people and the success we´ve known in our lives.

This, I suppose is pretty basic day-to-day stuff – but what about when something really huge happens? Something that, no matter how you look at it, is bad, unexpected and unwelcome in your life? I´m certainly not suggesting that every major event or upset be handled with a forced laugh or chin-up type mentality. On the contrary, it is crucial to allow all the pain and all the sadness to come to the surface, otherwise it will fester and cause a whole host of other problems to arise. Unresolved issues and swept-under-the-carpet feelings, on an energetic level, never disappear. What we need to understand is that everything happens for a reason, to teach us something, to give us the gift of learning and growing. Again, how we choose to handle these kinds of situations is entirely up to us. Lightening up does not mean being flippant, or ignoring something that is upsetting to us. It means dealing with it consciously, figuring out what help we need and then actively seeking it.

The Universal Law of Yin and Yang is ever present. What this means is that when things are at their darkest, when we are feeling at our worst, as difficult as it may be to believe at the time, a period of light has already started. Fact. If we can allow ourselves to trust in this and not be too overwhelmed, too engrossed in our negative feelings, then we are more open to accept the light when it starts to shine on us, as inevitably it will.

Conversely, when things are at a peak – when everything is wonderful for us – this heralds a period of dark commencing. This is not depressing, not something we should dread, it´s simply something very useful to bear in mind. The trick is not to take either too seriously. If we can remain in a state of grace and gratitude whether we are in a “dark” time or a “light” time, safe in the knowledge that “this too shall pass” and not get too carried away with the drama of being either over-excited when things are “good”, or over-depressed when things are “bad” then we are in the flow of life and the more easily we can handle anything.

We are not taking ourselves too seriously.

And if you do find yourself succumbing to seriousness and heaviness, here´s an affirmation that works for me (and I do have a tendency to take myself seriously if I don´t keep an eye on myself!)

“I am love and light”.

Because, of course, that´s what we are – divine sparks of light. Whatever happens in your life, remember that, and remember also the lovely quote:

“Angels fly because they take themselves lightly.”

Love and light(ness) to you all. :)