No 37 #ShePersisted
The Naked Truth
Mixed Media on canvas paper
11 x 14″
@2017 Louise Gallagher

You know when things happen in your life and you think…. “Wow. I didn’t see that coming?”

And then, it’s there in front of you. And, even though you know it isn’t the best course of action, what you really want to do is rail against it and fling up your hands and stomp your feet and exclaim, “Why me?” or something to that affect?

Take a breath.

Step back.

Get present.

Breathe.

Playing the victim. Pointing fingers at the other and highlighting their faults, limitations, wrongness – it just creates more chaos and angst.

It ain’t easy in the face of adversity to turn up and stay present without fearing the darkness. It is necessary if you are to weather life’s storms without getting pulled from your course, from the centre of your “I” of who you are and how you strive to be in the world.

Stepping into your integrity, speaking your truth with a kind and compassionate heart, being congruent in all your actions, accepting and recognizing there is truth in all things and not all things are true, creates a world of possibility. It shines light into the darkness and creates space for all our shared human condition to be present, including frailties and imperfections.

Awhile ago, someone accused me of acting in a way that took me by surprise. Being called something that is not a trait I admire, wish to emulate or be known as, felt confusing. Yet, there I was, having to face someone else’s assertions they were experiencing me in a way I do not want to be.

It was humbling.

To defend myself, I felt the urge to pull out everything I knew about the other that would make them look small, less than, other than the remarkable human being I know them capable of being.

to find my center, to stay grounded in my truth, I had to…

Take a breath.

Step back.

Get present.

Breathe.

Trying to make someone else look small does not make me the bigger person. It just makes me less than who and how I want to be in the world. To walk with integrity in my life is more important than playing in the mud of someone else’s chaos, pain or whatever it is they are experiencing that causes them to do the things they do for reasons I can’t make sense of. In those situations, my integrity must trump getting down and dirty

My intention in life is to celebrate people, to connect through our magnificence, to create space for everyone around me to shine bright. In the lightness of our being bright lights of possibility, we illuminate the path for all the world to see, violence, bullying, discrimination, sexism, racism, anti-humanism do not create a world of peace, harmony, love and joy. They destroy humankind.

Life is a fascinating journey. It brings opportunities to shine, to express our magnificence, to be our best selves through the good times and the tough. It’s easy to walk with integrity when things are going well in your life, the challenge is always to stay true to yourself when the going gets rough and the rough is calling you to get down and dirty to ease your pain or confusion.

Standing in your integrity means letting go of the need to act out. It means turning up, speaking your truth, walking your path with integrity and staying unattached to the outcome.

And when you do that, life’s hurdles become opportunities to learn and grow and be the more of who and how you want to be in the world, in every kind of weather.

Namaste.