But they made me...

It's funny how it starts so young. You hear 'They're winding me up'; 'they made me do it' and lots more. What I find even funnier though is how it carries on for so long. 'You're making me feel (insert word of choice)' isn't an uncommon phrase to hear. And yet how can 'they', 'it', 'he', 'she' or 'them' really, really honest make us feel any which way? The situation may more often lend itself to a certain way of behaving but we do have the ability to choose our response within that.

Nelson Mandela famously demonstrated this and is summed up in the simple quote “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.” I believe we can choose prison or freedom daily. And it makes a big difference to the joy I feel. Or don't. My choice.

Listening to Byron Katie talking in London helped to affirm this for me. She responded to one question with the example that even whilst falling, we could enjoy the momentary flight through the air, we don't know if it's going to hurt or not until we find out. So why anticipate it, tense against it and lose the ability to enjoy the moment? Why decide something is good or bad if we don't really, can't really know?

Maybe it's a very human trait, to pre-judge. I think on some levels it's vital for survival, and yet often it no longer serves us in many ways. So my challenge this week is not to pre-judge. To give myself up to not knowing until I know. To discovering. To turning to face situations with love and wonder.

I wish you a very happy week of discoveries and love, em x