How to move on from disasters

Photo by Moises Torne Biayna.

You got the answers, but the questions changed. Just didn't see it coming. There have been unfortunate consequences. It shifted your perspective on everything, altered history and brought down the future. Call it a disaster. Ready or not, now’s the time to move on and start writing a new chapter.

When we are worn out, hurt and something very unexpected or apparently unfair has happened, it’s difficult to see clearly and engage with a broader perspective. However, time proves that disasters also anticipate opportunities and new beginnings.

Any crisis, whether individual or collective, is a call for us to change. If you weren't looking for that change, and your stability has been shaken, the immediate reaction is resistance. We struggle to accept what we didn't ask for. The entire system needs rebooting, since it was programmed for a different and now non-existent outcome. The mind, emotions, and dreams, need rebalance. It takes time and effort. To create things we never had, we have to do things we’ve never done. That's scary and we aren’t fearless.

In the Hindu Pantheon, the god Shiva is completely liberated from the fear of change. He’s not nuts. He's just certain that the only permanent thing in this universe is change. He knows that we are in a constant transformation. To claim anything else is an illusion. Everything born must die.

Shiva is the one who completes a cycle. That is his role in the universe. Surrounded by fire, with snakes around his neck, he dances in the dark and destroys what must be destroyed, knowing that his brave and fearless dance is absolutely necessary. The show must go on. He clears the path and does so without guilt. He is not alone. Beside him are other Gods, who create new life on the fertile ground left by destruction. Otherwise, creation wouldn't be complete. The Gods work together.

Our minds contain two incredible powers: memory and imagination. We shouldn’t sacrifice these powers for resentments and worries about the future. We can remember and learn from past events, avoid making the same mistakes, forgive if not forget, grow, get better, appreciate beautiful moments and send thoughts to souls with whom we cannot speak.

We can also see past events in a different light by viewing them from the present moment. Everything has an expiry date. What once pulled on our plugs, causing us pain, sorrow, mourning, disappointment, betrayal, anger, fury, shame, jealousy, takes on a different flavor once all the masks have fallen off, and enough time has passed and we've captured a bigger picture of the whole situation.

Anything and anyone can teach you, anything and anyone can save you. As much as you have gone through, never underestimate what another person has gone through and what is stored inside their mind. Always be kind. Maybe one day she or he will save you. You never know. We preserve, destroy and create. All of us and for all.

Another powerhouse of our mind is the imagination, the real abundance of a human being. How many thoughts do you have every single day? You have millions of thoughts each day! We know that every thought is a vibration in our brain. That is energy. Energy follows the thought, always.

If you can choose and focus even 1% of all the thoughts of a single day, so that they are not just random responses creating random things, then you will have a more positive formula for creating a world. We create the world with our imagination. Energy and action follow. Imagination is our faculty to create life. Visualize. Shape. Materialize.

To put this formula to work, think of your mind as an instrument, let's say a piano. When you don't know how to play, you will hit the keys randomly. A sound will always happen, maybe beautiful, maybe unpleasant. However, only when you have a better command of the instrument do you start playing music, not just random sounds. If you keep practicing, you can play the music you have chosen, compositions that you like. The mind works the same way. Keep it conscious. Your imagination is power. Daydream and carefully choose your thoughts. Life begins to have results, not only random successes, but consistent with your likes.

Any disaster, minor or major, has a capacity to teach us something. With the right mind-set, extraordinary moments can inform and benefit more ordinary times.