A PERSPECTIVE ON HOPE
"This place where you are right now, God circled on a map for you." ~ Hafiz the Poet I love this quote. One reason is that I love maps. Maps of all kinds, including funny treasure maps.But mostly it is because this quote reminds me to trust that there are blessings available in every circumstance, every challenge, every opportunity, every loss, every gain, every moment.Whenever we think we are off course - perhaps lost - and feeling fearful, the loving message of this quote can help us shift into a hope-filled perspective.To illustrate how, I'd like to welcome a guest blogger today. Jesse Gros is a fellow classmate and alum from the University of Santa Monica where we both studied spiritual psychology.Here is Jesse's example:WHY I (ALMOST) NEVER GET STRESSED OUT...When I was a college senior, I came back from my study abroad trip with Hep A. I picked it up in Morocco eating street food. Or maybe it was from sharing lunch with the homeless guys under the bridge by my house in Sevilla. Who knows for sure.My doctor back in the US told me it would take me a couple years to fully recover. He also said that if I allowed myself to get stressed, it could trigger a relapse that could severely damage my liver.
So, at 21 years old, I made not-getting-stressed my number one priority. I was scared that even one pre-midterm, mini freak out could send me back to the hospital. During the following year, I learned to change my thoughts, breathe, meditate, and drink lots of "calming" tea. I learned to treat stress, not as something to learn to tolerate or adapt to, but to avoid at all costs...
What a gift it was to be told, "Stress will kill you." Which we know is true on a long enough timeline...
Thank you for sharing this experience, Jesse.
We can readily see how a serious threat to his life at a young age affected the rest of Jesse's life in a positive way.
Jesse's story reminds me to take stress more seriously in my own life. While stress may not be as extreme a danger for most of us as it was for Jesse, it is a threat to all of us. Stress does kill! It weakens our immune system, for one thing.
Jesse's example deepens my commitment to stay in balance, to nurture well-being, to meditate daily, to be at peace, to forgive, to love, and to laugh...often.
Consider holding this quote as a touchstone, especially when faced with a situation that seems frightening.
Imagine a map of your life journey. Step by step you are circled, watched. Not with criticism. Not with judgment. But with unconditional love and guidance.
May we believe in every moment there are opportunities for healings, learnings, awakenings, and advances that will benefit us for the rest of our lives and will help others too.
Jesse Gros is a life coach, adventurer, philanthropist and owner of Insight Adventures. He is also the author of
Your Wild and Precious Life: Adventures in Conscious Creation
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