The Second Arrow

It's inevitable, this world full of temporary circumstances will shift. That's why attachment and grasping can be so painful. Suffering stems from our desire for things to be different than they are. When we can't accept the flow of our lives we create our own suffering. I like the metaphor of the second arrow a lot. Pain is part of life, but how much we suffer depends on whether or not we hit ourselves with the second arrow. Current events are an excellent example. What's happening with this pandemic causes pain, but we do not need to increase that suffering by feeling bad for ourselves or wishing things were different. If we have enough awareness to see this happening, then we can also set ourselves free. Perception is powerful folks and so is insight into our own stuff.

This came to me accidentally after attending a Zoom meeting this afternoon. I had originally titled this, Only Constant is Change. I recently got back involved with a program that I stepped away from about five years ago. Since then, I had found another place that resonates with me more accept there are no local meet-ups. I went back to the old program to be a part of something face-to-face again. The Universe has jokes y'all! So now we only have video meetings across the board and I'm finding that I gravitate towards the newer meetings that I had became a part of virtually. There is nothing wrong with the old program I relied on in the past, I'm just a different version of myself now. This version vibrates at a different frequency, needs different supports, and that's okay. For the longest time I felt guilty for moving on. I felt like I wasn't allowed to still be in the lives of my old friends from my old place of support. This left me isolated physically and at a loss for how to develop new relationships.

I share this to show how I hit myself with the second arrow in this scenario. I struggled with the idea that I was doing it wrong. I told myself things that weren't true and created obstacles that were never there. If I had just trusted my intuition and the guidance of my higher power instead of fear I probably could have suffered much less over the past however long. At the same time, I have no doubt there was purpose in this suffering and experiences. I wouldn't change it. I'm just illuminating how we create our own suffering.

I am reading The Celestine Prophecy for the second time. The first was back in 2012. It talks about the "coincidences" that lead us forward on our life's journey. For me, there are no coincidences, only miracles if I am open to noticing them. It explains how when we are in appreciation of the beauty around us and full of love (aka life-force energy) we attract these coincidences into our lives more quickly. We meet people on our paths that have a message for us and show up right when we need them and vice-versa. The book talks about a spiritual experience when we are connected to the collective; God, The Universe, insert whatever works for you here and we're basically tapped into a universal-consciousness. This can be a jumping off point to dive into this type of connection in our day-to-day lives. Once we have the experience we can tap back into it at will and the more we tap into it the more in-sync our lives become.

This takes me back to a few different occasions in my life, but some are a little too woo-wooey for the masses so I will stick with the most relatable one here. I was on my way to the All Good Festival in Masontown, West Virginia back in 2005 after going to this secret, name dropping for entry festival called Boogie two hours North of Atlanta, Georgia in the woods. The story of that festival is one of the memories I'll keep to myself for now. My then boyfriend and I decided to go through the mountains for the scenic route despite knowing the clutch was bad in the car. Needless to say, we ended up breaking down in the mountains of Virginia on the way. Instead of getting upset, we walked back to the town we had just passed through, and stayed in a motel for the night. He played guitar and sang and we didn't let the fear set-in. Fortunately, I had been developing my concept of a higher power and had come to trust this source to care for me.

The next day we hitchhiked with a much lighter load of tents and supplies than we originally had and less money in our pockets. Of course we were still going to the festival and not running back home! We would figure out the car stuff later. At the time I wore a satchel around my neck with carefully chosen crystals to represent the elements and I had a small cross fashioned with alligator bones that I was given by a beautiful soul I had met at Boogie. He told me the story of how it was created and by whom and I cherished that thing and have it to this day. It hung low near my heart and I placed my hand around it any time the fear would try and creep in. I held it and prayed/connected to the source when we needed a ride and one would appear as if by magic. It only took us two rides to make it to the festival. The first one was a very nice older couple who explained they were driving around looking for people who needed help. They new about the festival. When our ride with them was almost over, the woman turned around and said, "You know, I was at the original Woodstock". I will never forget that moment and how it made me feel. After we had been dropped off we prepared to continue our travels and then I began to connect to the universal energy again. Instantly, our next and last ride appeared. This gentleman drove us all the way to the entry gate. We even offered to buy him a ticket to join us, which he declined. He said he needed to go find more people to help and thanked us. My boyfriend said to me a little later that they were angels. This stuck with me and has helped to shape my beliefs. The inter-connectedness of everything was undeniable to me and I could never go back to doubting that again. This story continues with chance meetings and the way we got home was just as magical, but I think you get the gist.

I had no idea that I would be writing any of that when I sat down to type. Feels good to share about these types of experiences so I am pleased that it flowed out of me. Sharing this spiritual adventure shows that we can trust the Universe's aka God's plan. We need to hear this now and to feel it in our souls. We can tap into our connection to the source and allow its guidance to lead our way. This can come in many forms such as a daydream, an actual dream, an intuitive thought, and often by God working through another person. Fighting against this brings the second arrow while surrendering to it brings peace and answers.