Untitled Post*

I spent most of my weekend at Yoga Sanctuary, attending a philosophy workshop; Heroines:  Stories of Healing, Hurting, and Awakening the Heart taught by Douglas Brooks.  I went into this weekend figuring that by the time the weekend was over I would have lots of fodder to write about.  I took copious amounts of notes, understood maybe two thirds of what was said and had my mind blown at least a half a dozen times, however to synthesis what I took in at this point is quite challenging to say the least.  I will say that as I absorbed a lot of information I realized how relevant so many of the stories that I listened to and the information I absorbed rung true to my life right now, how I have existed and how I want to be.

One of the things that I took away and that I can process right now was the concept that heroines use their advantage to their advantage.  We should take the gifts that we have been given and use them to our benefit.  There was a lot said about this and if you are a fan like I am of the lore, philosophy and stories that are behind yoga then I would say if you have the opportunity to hear Douglas Brooks speak you should jump on it.  You will also find that he takes many tangents but eventually comes back to the point he is making so this one take away was a very small piece of a much larger story.

I believe that we all have the ability to live as heroines since we like them are human beings.  So as difficult, uncomfortable or challenging as it may be to think about ‘using our advantages to our advantage’ I think it makes absolute sense and I have seen it play out in a positive way in my own life.  I see it as utilizing your strengths, being secure with what you have and using that to gain some sort of value.  We also learned that heroines would not be seeking success but value added.  What sort of value can be gained?

When I first became unemployed I really did not think I would survive, I was overwhelmed with the unknown and very quickly turned into survival mode.  Once I got to the other side of that I reached out to a number of different people who I knew that in one way or another would provide me with support or potentially open doors for me.  I see my ability to connect with people, listen to their stories, build relationships and then sustain these relationships to be a strength that I possess.  (Isn't it interesting how sometimes it feels easier to talk about our deficits instead of ways we excel.  Even typing that sounded too braggy, but I know this to be true.)  For a time that has had such extreme ups and downs I have added value to my days by reaching out to the people I had previously spent time cultivating relationships with.  I have used these relationships to my advantage; to help me to survive, to nourish and sustain me and to explore new possibilities.  I do hope that those who have been so supportive to me have felt that I have reciprocated.  I will say with some extra time on my hands I have had the ability to have some fully engaging conversations with some amazing people; where stories, laughter and tears have all been shared.

I have been using what I know to be my strengths (advantages) to improve my situation, sustain my relationships and keep me on a positive path.  What advantages do you have that you can use towards your advantage?

*The reason this is untitled is because I originally titled it "There is a Little Bit of Heroine in Me". After reading this title a few times it just did not sit right with me and then I could not think of anything better. I kept reading it as Heroin and not Heroine and that is so not right!*