A series of blogs arising from picking a contemplation card from my deck

But we do take it personally, don’t we?

Our usual habit, and it is so familiar that we don’t even realise we do it, is to view the world from a sense of ‘me’ – as though it is ‘me’ looking out into the world or ‘me’ that things are happening to. Life is just unfolding and yet it feels personal.

Do any of these examples sound familiar?

*You don’t get that job or enough clients, so straight away you think ‘I musn’t be good enough’

*It rains on your special day, so you assume ‘I didn’t deserve to have the perfect day, look what happened to me.’

*Someone pushes in front of you in a queue or to get a parking spot, so you decide defensively  ‘How rude people are, it just isn’t my day’.

Why do we think things are happening ‘to us’?

Not necessarily with any input from us, things happen. Why do we think the job, the weather, or other people’s behaviour are happening ‘to us’ when it is just life unfolding? If you can drop the sense of it happening ‘to me’ perhaps you can experience how it feels less personal.

Of course these are light-hearted, almost flippant examples. What if our partner or child dies? Gosh that hurts so much, feels so much worse as though it really is happening ‘to us’. It is not as though it is not happening, or that we shouldn’t feel pain or sadness. Of course we would. Yet it too is life unfolding, not really something happening ‘to us’. Life unfolds in all sorts of messy and shocking and glorious ways.

And if you really feel connected and whole, we feel the pain of injustices all over the place, the pain of damage to the planet, and the big love of connection and wholeness. Rather than feeling separate, when we feel connected and whole and free we ride the waves of emotion, we feel fully, yet somehow we don’t take it so personally.  And we are more free and able to respond.

You can purchase your own set of these contemplation cards from the store HERE and postage is free in Australia. The picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art. I’d love your feedback and look out for my blog about the next card soon.