Earlier this year, I was reading a book that broke down some unseen barriers I had penned up for myself in terms of how much happiness, success, and fitness or wellness I would (or could) allow myself to have. The book is one I have referenced before – The Big Leap, by Gay Hendricks.
I was searching earlier today for this concept I am sure I heard in this book, and after long searching, I found this lovely gem of wisdom:
“The universe will teach us our lessons with the tickle of a feather or the whomp of a sledgehammer, depending on how open we are to learning the particular lesson. Getting stubborn and defensive invites the sledgehammer; getting open and curious invites the feather. It took me a long time to figure out who was in charge of the painfulness of my lessons.”
The concept is that if we are open and aware to the lessons all about us in our daily lives – the room for improvement and growth we have, we will sense them more easily and thus make the learning process much easier, if not even enjoyable. However, if we are stubborn and ignore warning signs that get increasingly louder, and more than likely more painful, then we are in for one heck of a ride learning a lesson, and perhaps more than once.
In terms of health and wellness, we can see this prevalent in those around us (sometimes ourselves included) in the stubbornness of ignoring little health problem indicators, where if we sense something is “off,” we should investigate it!
We can see it show up in every area of life – it is a great universal tidbit of wisdom.
If a “tickle” comes up in any area of our life – in our physical bodies, our emotions, our relationships, our work, can we be open and curious enough to investigate it when it’s early, versus waiting until it’s ripe and downright painful?
To your health and wellness!
Aubrey