Punla

 

Become a Lake

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It all depends on how we look at things, and how they are in themselves.

( C. G. Jung )

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We think too small, like the frog at the bottom of the well. He thinks  the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If he surfaced he would have an entirely different view. 

( Mao Tse-tung )

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Here's a lovely story that helps explain the power of shifting perspective to get a bigger picture that frees us. 

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 An aging Hindu master grew tired of his apprentice complaining, so one morning, he instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then drink it. 

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"How does it taste?" The master asked.
"Bitter," spit the apprentice.

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The master then asked the young man to take another handful of salt and put in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake, and once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, "Now drink from the lake"

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As the water dripped down the young man's chin, the master asked, "How does it taste?"

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"Fresh," remarked the apprentice.

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"Do you taste the salt?" asked the master.

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"No," said the young man.

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The master explained, " The pain in life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains exactly the same. However, the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things...Stop being a glass. Become a lake."

....Unknown source

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How can this story support us?  Let me share my own experience. 

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My car broke down during the height of the Covid pandemic - my version of a glass of salt water. As I got back on track, I transformed the glass into the lake when I reminded myself that: 

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• ​I don't have to drive a lot since most places are closed.

• Whatever repair maybe needed, I can always charge the cost to my credit card, which is pretty much paid up most of the time. I hate being in debt.

• I have a friend mechanic whom I know can fix it and probably he'll give me a good discount, parts and labor.

• If I have to pick up some groceries or medications, Jewel and Walgreens are within walking distance from my house, so I can walk since they remained open even during the pandemic. That way I'll have some exercise too.... You get the picture. 

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Any time we can shift perspective to see our pain in context in bigger picture, we free ourselves from that pain.

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Shifting to more inclusive and impersonal perspective raises our consciousness and imagination about what we can do or achieve.

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" If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." ( Abraham H. Maslow )

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" When you change your patterns of thinking, you change the way you feel about yourself, about others, and about the world. And changing the way you feel enables you to deal more productively with your problems and burdens and to take action necessary to improve your life." ( Dr. Arthur Freeman and Rose DeWolf )

                 

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