Its pouring rain as autumn continues to drift toward a cooler – but still warm Queensland winter.
A bright reflection of peeking sun glare up off by back deck, pooling with water.
My house overlooks Bramble Bay which feeds eventually into the pacific. Most evenings, rain free, theres a pastel quality about the horizon.
I have just been talking – online to Rachana – and business has been like the weather.
Dark times and yet wonderful and encouraging prospects reflect back in the opportunities of adversity.
Light dissolves darkness, and a small reflection can bring can alter our perspective of the darkest gloom.
When life seems dark, a spark of light can offer so much hope.
In difficulty, we may even fear to lose it. Or we hang onto what we know, afraid of the consequences of being true to our own inner light.
As Vishen Lakhaini reminded us at Richard Branson’s Engage Today conference, sometimes we have to let go if we are to live our passion.
In the door way of life, light becomes visible as it streams through the dust that it reflects off.
Carl Jung invited us to examine our shadow – our dark side, if we borrow from Star Wars Buddhist inspired ideas.
It is when we dwell in the darkness – by simply letting go of its emotional hold – that the light of opportunity begins to reveal itself.
Our eyes adjust to the darkness, reveal small hints of light that lead us forward to find the distant, and far brighter source of opportunity.
I know that in today’s pragmatic world, this sees a little magical.
Although I am reminded of Sigmund Freud’s reaction when first exposed t o a 16th century kabbalistic text of Rabbi Chayyim Vital (1542-1620), one of the most important students of Isaac Luria.
Luria taught that is man's divinely appointed task to help restore the broken vessels of a shattered cosmos.
Freud reportedly described this as “Gold” and later Jung was fascinated with this as a psychological archetype.
Of course, tis idea does not just rest in any one tradition.
For me, what counts is finding light in the darkness. But most of us are afraid to lose our light and risk chasing passing light beams that lead to nowhere.
Panic in adversity can cause us to focus – as long as we focus on the right things.
It reminds me of an old Disney movie “The Moon Cussers”, the story of men who tedsjipsto their destruction with false lights – making what appeared to be lighthouses and confusing a captains navigation.
If we keep fearing we will lose the light, then our ego takes over – we panic – and
We can of course develop skills that help us to listen to our inner voice. Most of us are so out of touch with it, that we think our second guess – thrust forward in rapid succession from the first – is our intuitive hunch.
Or when we fear losing that light, we can cherish it.
It is as if that inner voice invites us “Do you want to feel me?” or will you run off and follow yourself made story?
After a while we learn to look in the shadow, stop listen and look. Gradually we train ourselves to find in any challenge another opportunity to serve, to give and to share.
There are those who are fortunate enough to have developed this special; state that ascends beyond the egos individual calculation.
Hey value the flow of life and, to use a common pop psychology phrase live in a state of infinite possibilities.
However, I am not talking about emotional hype.
I am talking more of a cold objective look at the soul.
A daily analysis, of the type Gandhi used in daily recording his actions and results over decades.
Slowly you begin to see patterns see patterns hidden in the darkness as you perceive even lower levels of light. Then follow its path to greater revelation.
Of the many successful people I have met, they all built on what was real – and not on what they wished would be.
However, they also trained themselves to follow their hunches and to not live in their head alone.
As psychologist Ap Dijksterhuis of the University of Amsterdam demonstrated that after gathering all thefacts, people make more accurate choices when they follow their gut.
Success stories have learned to listen to their body and ask why they felt a certain way – was it valid? An ego trick? Or was it some past fear not wanting to tread the path less followed?
THe intuition is like conscience - untrained it can lead you a stray. (How many jave claimed G-d spoke to them and suddenly realsed they were wrong?)
Once able to listen properly, life patterns formerly ignored begin to be revealled in the darkness.
The dust of life’s experience reveals the light in the doorway…..
…. and then possibilities flow in abundance.
So would I change my last year? No.
The highs were high and the lows were low.
… er let me rephrase that.
What I would change is listening more in the silence.
More beach walks in the sunset.
I would delve more within the darkness, notice life’s puddles and see what values, meanings and messages life reflected back to me.
