Monday, March 21, 2011

Harmony and Rhythm: The 7th Principle.


The final and last principle in the Life Skills is Harmony and Rhythm. Our lives and bodies have their own unique rhythm. In order for our lives to experience complete harmony we can learn to be aware of our special rhythm and allow ourselves to follow it. If you were to pay attention I think you would notice that when your life feels out of balance and harmony you are not following your true rhythm. For some it would be trying to be in rhythm with someone else. For others it would be giving in to their own unrealistic thoughts of how they "should" be.
It is important for us to slow down enough in life to know what our true rhythm is.

Here are some thoughts from the Life Skills Manual on taking time for ourselves.

" Nature always takes her time. Great oaks don't become great overnight. They also lose a lot of leaves, branches and bark in the process of becoming great. Diamonds aren't formed in a week either. Everything of value, of beauty, of majesty in the universe took time to become so.

So it will be with our own growth and development. Let us recognize the way things work down here, and so be gentler on us when assessing our own progress. It takes time to build confidence, to build a healthy body or positive outlook. It takes time to build a business of value or to create our own financial independence. In the real world there are very few instant, overnight successes.

As sure as the earth revolves around the sun and winter follows spring, so must our life move in cycles. So there will always be easy times and there will be hard times, as sure as one season follows another. One of the great challenges of life is dealing with the winter while you are waiting for things to get better. Things will get better. They always do. The trouble is that many people give up and go home too early. The tide will always turn.

Nature has a rest from time to time. The soil needs a rest, bears and snakes hibernate; even fish sleep with their eyes open. We can learn from this approach. We need to take time out; to rest, to review, to ponder, to be. "