We are all destined to one fate. Billions of people have already inherited this fate. Roughly 150,000 people inherit this fate daily. Any guesses what this promise is that we are all guaranteed? Well if you guessed death you would be correct! I know this seems like a grizzly topic of a post. But I think death is something we must all come to terms with. I am pretty confident that we have all been exposed to death at some point in our lives. Personally I can recall very vividly the first time I was called to the plate to face death, I was in second grade and my Great Gradma Honey had passed away. I was very scared and didn’t really understand how I wouldn’t see her again in mortality. All I know is that the news of her passing away made a lot of people I have never seen shed a tear cry immensely.
The whole reason I am writing this article is not to bring a dampened mood to everyone that reads this, its quiet the opposite! I really would like to focus on making the most of what we have with the allotted time we have together. My yoga practice has caused me to think about life. My instructor was discussing how our life on the mat is symbolic to our lives. We all start as babies on the mat and as we become more comfortable and learn new poses and gain more strength and flexibility we progress in our practice. Everyone is unique, some students may struggle with a certain pose or may never get to certain poses; however, this does not mean they are failures! Within each session we start slow, then we do more intense poses, then we slow back down, lastly we lay asleep on the mat, signifying the death in our practice for the day. Yoga is an excellent simile to life.
Its important that we all remember to run our own race. Its easy to compare ourselves to our peers, or become envious of someone’s life. I will admit I am guilty of this at times, in these times I can say without a doubt I am the least happy. This is where yoga has helped me tremendously, in the way it has taught me to be more in the moment. I have always had a tendency to dwell on my past, I would yearn for the opportunity to go back and redo something, however this is a wasteful practice. Why is it wasteful? For starters I cannot do anything about the past, I can only change my future. So I have been making a conscious effort to stay in the day.
I challenge everyone to stop allowing the past to hold us hostage! I know it’s difficult to move on from someone who has pasted away. I know its hard to move on from a failed relationship, trust me I know! Sometimes the hardest things in this life are the moments when we must let go. Sometimes a closed door opens a door to something much better! These ideas can be very difficult to comprehend when you find yourself in such a situation. I have been there. Take my advice and do what you need to in order to move on. It won’t be easy, in fact it will be very difficult but you will get through it just as I have.
In times where you feel caught in the past, start to think about everything you have going for you in the now. Think about the future and how you control your own destiny. If there are things you want to change, then do it! Stop thinking about it and simply do. I have always been a firm believer that half the battle is showing up. Lets all make the most of the DASH on the gravestone. Remember death is only then end of mortality but the beginning of immortality.
Nunc Coepi 