How's your ship?

Image from Lea McLeod

Last week I shared a bit about my growth since I moved to Sedona. This week's post is a continuation. 

Please note: Victim mentality is different from being an actual victim of assault, abuse, etc.  Victim mentality is when you are constantly blaming whatever or whomever outside of yourself for your circumstances. 

You know how they say "go with the flow of life?" Once I was complaining about all of my hardships in Sedona when my mom said something along the lines of "we each drive our own ship." This all came together for me weeks later when I saw a vision of a river (life) and instead of me flowing down it, I was continually ramming my ‘ship’ against a massive boulder that was near the side of the river. Life wasn’t throwing me against that boulder, I was doing it – I was in my own way. Life wasn’t doing this to me, I was. By staying in my own way and blaming life or others, I remained stuck and in victim mentality.

When things go “wrong” or they just keep going that way and you don’t seem to get a break – it’s easy to take on the attitude that life is against you - that you have to struggle and fight your way out. The thing is, it’s not and no you don’t. You can continue to struggle or stay in the victim mentality, but as Albert Einstein said, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is insanity. When things aren’t going very smoothly – that’s life’s way of getting your attention that you need to look at what’s really going on. For example, if you have an issue with people walking all over you after you help them, you need to take a look at your own boundaries. You can’t control other people, but you can set and maintain your boundaries so it doesn’t happen.

Part of going with the flow of life is having a positive attitude. A dear friend recently told me the following Rumi quote that she’d heard on Oprah: “Live life as if everything is rigged in your favor.” What a cool statement! It’s so much better than “life is against me.” Because, at the end of the day, what we believe, we create. So, if your own ship is jammed up in the river, let go of the controls for a while and allow it to flow knowing that life is rigged in your favor and give heaps of gratitude for all of the blessings – big and small, good and bad - along the way. Life will always have turbulent parts, that's just life, but it’s up to you how you will sail through them.

Here's to taking back your ship! Love, Adrienne :)