Last week I had just finished re-landscaping my backyard when, within 24 hours, a new direction regarding the path of Hurricane Hermine became evident. In that moment I had an awareness of how absolutely powerless I felt in the immensity of the pending storm; my thoughts were busy painting a grim 3-D picture of my newly planted palm trees floating out to sea. As it turned out, we missed the brunt of Hermine's wrath and were spared any major damage. It was, nonetheless, an interesting opportunity to witness how easily external circumstances can trigger and manipulate our internal thought process, especially when fear is running the show. In hindsight, I saw the storm as an "invitation" from Mother Nature to mindfully call back the power I tend to give away when I allow things outside of myself to drive my thoughts.
The entire incident was a less than gentle reminder that, while the illusion (fantasy) is that we have control over much, in reality we have control over little more than our next thought, which dictates how we will choose to experience the moment at hand. While we can't always control events, we can absolutely choose to change our thoughts and perspective about those events. In a very powerful way, this puts us proactively in charge of our experience even while in the midst of life's greatest "storms." It's never too late to take back your power. No one (or no thing--regardless of how big and scary it appears) can rob you of the freedom to choose what your next thought will be; make it a good one!
Peace, Dennis
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