There are two main ways of looking at life, don’t you reckon.
- Life happens
- You make life happen
That’s very yin-yang – the first approach being about accepting what the universe dishes up (brussel sprouts anyone?), the second about taking action to dish up your own dinner (mmm, pizza).
But there are variations on the main themes, and as always, it is about the balance (pizza with brussel sprouts, bacon and blue cheese anyone? – believe me it is yummy).
1a. Life (as in sh#t) happens
Yep, stuff happens that seems to get in the way of life, and all we can really do is accept.
On Sunday night as I was about ready to write a blog post (well as I was waiting for inspiration/motivation) Miss Yin came in crying because she’d tried to curl her hair with a teasing comb and it was horribly stuck.
What followed was more than an hour of trying to work the hair loose, cutting bits of the comb teeth free to try to wrestle the hair out and hoping liberal amounts of conditioner would soften the knot. After I finally got the stuck comb out she went to bed with the huge remaining knot in a zip-lock bag full of conditioner, hoping it would soften loose.
The next morning required another 40 minutes of painful extrication, but we did manage to save some hair!
Life is messy sometimes
This blog post had to wait a little longer as my website went down, but hey life (aka sh#t) happens.
1b. Life just happens
By this I mean that the days are dull and the everyday sort of disappears before you know it. All you can do is try to not get lost in the mundane.
On Saturday morning I counted 8 toilet rolls in our bathroom (I’d been using our ensuite and trying not to notice, but couldn’t stand it any longer). I posted to Facebook and everyone agreed with the universal truth that only women (and by that I mean mothers) ever change toilet rolls.
Life can be boring and empty toilet rolls accumulate before you can be bothered changing things.
Toilet rolls will always need changing
1c. Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans (John Lennon)
You can be too busy trying to change things that you forget to live life. No problems missing the toilet rolls that need changing, but you really don’t want to miss out on the sunrises and sunsets, the funny things your children say that you hear but don’t really listen to or take note of, and the magic that can be found even in the mundane.
Like the view that you might miss as you rush to leave the carpark at work, or the one as you arrive home.
1d. Life happens for you
This is the best way of looking at life – with gratitude and trust that the universe has your back. Always. When you really believe the universal flow is taking you in the right direction (even when it feels like you are on a massive detour), then you can start to find your flow – to flow with life in the direction you want to go. I know this can be hugely hard, but the only alternatives are to fight life, or simply give up on it.
2. Life is what you make it
You can super-charge the flow of life when you believe that life happens for you and take actions to help the universe along rather than fighting it. We can only ever manifest the life we want from a position of acceptance, gratitude, trust and surrender. We can always choose how we respond to fate and how we respond regardless of fear.
Linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT and joining in with Grace and the gang for FYBF. And also joining in with the weekend rewind team Kelly, Sonia and Bron. Tell me have you had any hair dramas lately? How is the empty toilet roll collection going in your household?
Kathy X
22 Comments on “Life happens FOR you”
I love the way you think Kathy! Excellent post as always and kinda in line with mine today which is a bit yin and yang also! Lol BTW – I do hope Miss Yin didn’t lose too much of her precious hair! xo
Thanks Min. Her hair is OK – I think the roots hurt a bit.
OMG the toilet rolls in my house too!!! Drives me nuts!
The presence of empty toilet rolls is a universal truth we just can’t fight Malinda.
Very timely post, Kathy. I am putting my trust in the universe at the moment and I hope it bloody well knows what it’s doing 😉 Meanwhile, poor Miss Yin. I had the exact same thing happen to me when I was her age and it was before I was due on stage for the opening act in a dancing concert. Drama!
You poor thing – with your recent news and the backstage hair dramas. Sometimes the universe does seem to act strange but things usually do make sense later on. X
Another great thought provoking post Kathy! I love popping over to your blog, it always inspires me
Thank you Haidee – nice of you to say.
Oh I felt for you with that hair knot! Glad you got it out.
I really like he different ways of looking at what’s effectively the same sentence. I think I need to think about this a bit more.
Thanks Jess – it was a struggle but I actually managed to stay (and keep Miss Yin) calm and patient – so I think I needed that lesson.
Life is what we make of it, for sure. We can get our knickers in a twist or just get on with it – either way, life goes on. Poor you and Miss Yin with that large knot. At least you were able to salvage some hair, and the rest will grow back
Thanks Lyndall – she has thick hair so I don’t think the lost hair will be missed. Actually the twisted hair is a lesson because the more you pull it one way, the worse the knot gets.
Perfect post Kathy, you’ve nailed it. And poor Miss Yin.
Thanks Jodi – She’s OK but it was an exercise!
As a libra, I love your yin yang way of looking at all facets of life Kathy! And the toilet paper rolls are a familiar sight!
I imagine Libras are pretty into balance. Thanks for visiting.
I’ve been on a bit of a rollercoaster good ad bad the last few weeks.
I love this quote – We may not be able to chose our fate, but we can chose how we flow with it.
This too – This is the best way of looking at life – with gratitude and trust that the universe has your back.
Thinking of you Trish, and trusting that the universe can support you with all the love and strength you need and deserve. I feel bad reflecting like this because it is easy enough to do when things are going along fine (or neutral) and so much harder in the midst of challenges. X
Fight or float.. that is what I always ask myself and the idea of floating is far more appealing than fighting. As for those toilet rolls… grrr that one I WILL fight! xx
I reckon you do a great job of floating your boat, with your little outboard motor of energy and enthusiasm, in the direction you want to go Sonia – you are achieving so much. I can’t even imagine your life with boys and toilet rolls – a losing battle!
100% agree. We are all just walking advertisements for how we see the world. x
Thanks Bron – hope the new job is going well.