Six months ago I began a journey of practicing mindfulness every day and we've reached day 196. Yesterday, I talked about thinking about others and doing things for future generations. Today is a new day.
"If you so choose, even the unexpected setbacks can bring new and positive possibilities. If you so choose, you can find value and fulfillment in every circumstance." - Ralph MarstonThis weekend I made plans to meet up with some people and do some sightseeing; however, the weather forecast expected a typhoon to come in from Kyushu today and tomorrow, so I was expecting a lot of heavy rain for the next few days and plans were cancelled. This morning I woke up to find the weather to be nice and sunny and it made me think about unexpected changes.
If you so choose, even the unexpected setbacks can bring new and positive possibilities. If you so choose, you can find value and fulfillment in every circumstance.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/ralphmarst564358.html?src=t_unexpectedIf you so choose, even the unexpected setbacks can bring new and positive possibilities. If you so choose, you can find value and fulfillment in every circumstance.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/unexpected.htmlIf you so choose, even the unexpected setbacks can bring new and positive possibilities. If you so choose, you can find value and fulfillment in every circumstance.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/unexpected.html
Not all things go according to plan and most people tend to view change as a bad thing. It's more comfortable when things go according to our expectations. It's like setting up to go to a concert just to find out that it's been cancelled and you won't be able to enjoy your favorite band play live. Life is full of disappointments like that, but it's not always bad.
Sometimes change brings us positive outcomes we never expected. With the typhoon not here, I though I had a chance to go out and explore Japan a bit. However, when I went to the gym I was greeted with another surprise: the typhoon's not expected to come until night, so even though it's nice now, it'll probably turn to shit in a few hours. So I'm back to where I started. Now what?
When it comes to looking toward the future, we all have our own ideas on what might happen, but there are too many things to take into account for us to really know. We're gifted with the power of hindsight (which is definitely not 20/20, despite the saying), but when it comes to making plans flexibility is a necessity. Practicing Aikido and learning about its philosophy taught me the meaning in flowing like water. Water, which can adapt to the shape of anything trying to contain it and flow past anything trying to stop it. In this way it embodies peace and coexistence, which is what aikido strives for spiritually and in its practice. In the same sense, so can we. We can adapt to our situations and learn to go with the flow of things. This is also something that's practiced in meditation as well.
With the typhoon coming my plans aren't ruined, just changed. I now have more time to practice piano, learn some kanji, maybe draw, read, etc. that I wouldn't have had time for had my original plans been in place. In that sense it's a good thing that the typhoon is coming. There's always something to do so rather than being bummed out about having to cancel my original plans I can move on to do other things. Once I post this I'll talk to some friends back in America and go from there. So typhoon or no typhoon, anything's possible, so I'll just keep an open mind and let life surprise me.
Peace
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| Whatever changes come our way we can always make them positive. |
What are some unexpected things that have happened to you lately?
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