Here's something you might not know about me. I love videos capturing moments where things don't go quite as planned. My sister and I constantly share them. I find laughing at the unexpected or unintended enjoyable. The truth is I've never explored what might be at the root of why I see so much humour in these things. I also laugh at my mishaps.
But not every life event that doesn't go as planned makes for a funny video. I've experienced things in my life that are traumatic, painful, hurtful and challenging. Recovering from them has been difficult. Like most people, I've been hurt, had my heart broken, faced health challenges (my own and those of people I love) and more.
In conscious ageing or eldering work, it is understood that life experience alone doesn't make you wise. Your response to difficult life experiences can vary. You can become bitter, shut down, resentful and/or angry.
Wisdom is harvested from our lives by doing the deep inner work of reflecting on our experiences so we can understand the lessons they hold.
Last week I spoke about life review. You can read it again on my blog here. This week I want to briefly touch on the third concept of Sage-ing®, Life Repair.
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi writes, "The art of life repair enables us to heal our psychic bruises by recontextualizing our perceived failures into successes. We do not return to previously incomplete places to dismiss them or explain them away intellectually. We return to relive and reinterpret them as we reassure, bless, hold, and forgive ourselves. By finding the hidden meaning or lessons within our more difficult experiences, we can drop our huge baggage of complaints, the ceaseless whining and fault finding that weigh us down, so we can live with more serenity of spirit."
Life repair often involves forgiving ourselves and others. It takes time to heal painful memories. Forgiveness takes courage and humility, especially when we have held on to grudges for a long time.
The result of this work is wisdom, peace and freedom from the regret and hurt in your life.
We will discuss Life Repair and Life Review in the free workshop I am offering in October. My co-facilitator is a wise woman I am thrilled to work with on this offering. You can head over to my website and sign up. If you need to know more, feel free to email me. There are only four spots left. We are limiting the group size, so we have lots of space to discuss these ideas. Sign up soon while there are still spots available.
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