If you want clarity before even experiencing the contrast, you will end up in situations, places & amidst people that will co-create contrasts for you to experience what you don’t like, don’t want, don’t enjoy and the like.

Contrasts are necessary for our evolution and expansion. It gives us the opportunity to launch our authentic desires and what we truly want. But many a times, we let these experiences put us in shell and numb ourselves; never to want again, desire again. We are shrouded by self-criticism, blame and a sense of not being good enough to land in contrasting situations. We then become an attraction point for all that we detest and don’t want. That again is a brilliant opportunity for us to want something what we truly desire. However, if our orientation is such that we have a negative connotation towards contrast, we will negate the immense opportunity that it has in putting us into the path that we are truly seeking for.

Let me help you understand what I am trying to express here with a coaching conversation I had with a client of mine.

THE COACHING CONVERSATION
Me (Coach): What is the matter? You look disappointed!

Client: I feel embarrassed of what I have created in life as far as relationships are concerned!

Me (Coach): Tell me more about what this embarrassment is all about…

Client: You see I am successful professionally, but when it comes to love, I am a total failure. I never knew what love is, never experienced true love and it sucks to know that I have had one failed marriage and the one that I am in now, is also in the verge of falling apart. I get into relationships and then realize that this is not what I signed up for. Professionally if you are not aligned, you can end the contract, you can part ways & look for something that works for you, but in personal life, you are bound by obligations, norms and then the pressure of putting up when you know that on the inside it is not what I wanted. I don’t want to be in a relationship that drains me and is unfulfilling! What is wrong with me? Am I not good enough to get what I am seeking for? Am I not being able to be a good partner? What is it that I am not seeing?

The client breaks down & sobs….

Me (Coach): Being with my client uninterrupted & letting the client feel all the emotions that the client is feeling without trying to label it, fix it, jump in or advice at the same time being fully aware of what is happening in me and what I am feeling. I feel for my client.

Client: After a minute… “I am sorry for breaking down. I never thought I would do this. I spoilt our session.”

Me (Coach): Tell yourself, “I allow myself to feel absolutely what I am feeling now. I give it my 100% attention.”

Client: Smiled & said, “Thank you!”

Me (Coach): After some time… What is wrong about the contrasting experiences?! What makes you blame yourself for experiences that are opening the doors for you to have more clarity & launch new desires?

Client: I should have been able to fix my marriage. Two times is a sign that I am not doing something well.

Me (Coach): Great reflection point! What are you not doing well?

Client: I should have been able to make my partner happy & work things out for the family.

Me (Coach): Before you do that, tell me, “Have you thought about making yourself happy?”

Client: Not really! I thought my job is to take care of others. I never focused on what gives me contentment and joy.

Me (Coach): Do you behave the same way in your profession too?

Client: No. I am clear with what I want & where I want to head to.

Me (Coach): What is this contrast offering you to consider now that you didn’t consider before?

Client: That I take my profession seriously & not my personal life. In my personal life I let others decide for me what is good & bad, what is desirable & not desirable.

Me (Coach): What happens when you let external forces make the choices for you?

Client: Land up in situations where I don’t want to be. I say ‘YES’ to relationships that I don’t want to be in.
I then try hard to change the person or change my self which never works.

Me (Coach): What do you notice about yourself & the entire situation until now?

Client: I am aware of what I don’t want in relationships and never quite articulated what I want.

Me (Coach): What do you want in relationships?

Client: Takes a pause…I want to be with someone who understands me, my dreams, co-creates with me and allows expansion in me and does things that I have always wanted to do like travel the world together, have adventures together, experience joy in the sweet nothings of life…

Me (Coach): Didn’t the contrast help you to articulate what you do want? What is great about the current contrast that you are in?

Client: It gave me clarity & see what I truly want in relationship and how I have been self-sabotaging.

Me (Coach): Now that you have an insight, what would you like to do to take it a step further?

Client: I want to stop blaming and look for the possibility that this contrast is pointing to.

Me (Coach): Tell me more…

Client: I feel grateful for this contrast. For without it, I would have been stuck with what I don’t want & never seek for what I want. There is nothing wrong in contrast, it gives me an opportunity to see how I am not valuing my wants as far as relationships are concerned. I want to take the lead in my relationships and stand for what I want.

Me (Coach): Great! What would you do as the first small step in that direction?

Client: I will have a heart-to-heart conversation with my partner and share what I have just shared with you about my stance in relationship and release the attachment for my partner to understand or react in a certain way & be open to listening to what my partner has to say.

Me (Coach): What will you do before you even talk to your partner?

Client: Allow myself time to sink in, feel, deal with my questions & when I feel joyful & happy, I will speak to my partner from that space.

Me (Coach): Thank you for choosing growth & clarity into your life!

Well, we then closed the session and the conversation continued in the upcoming sessions. Do I have to explain further?! I don’t think so.

But I would like to leave you herewith this reflection:
What are the contrasts in your life that you are upset about and how can you pivot that to see that as the vantage point for you to have more clarity about yourself & your desires? And that knowing will lead to inspired actions towards fulfilling your desires. The path then opens up…

Loving you all unconditionally,
Priyanka

#CoachPriyankaDutta #lifecoach #coachingconversations #lifecoaching

"I should be this way, I should show up this way, I should hide this in me, I should project this in me, I should not do this, I should behave this way, I should..."

When you live your life in 'shoulds', you get disconnected from who you truly are. And when you live by shoulds for long in life, that becomes your way of being.

Success is not getting what you want, but who you become in the process and what you contribute to.

Let's reflect on who we have become as a result of these 'shoulds' and then ask ourselves, if it is worth living by these. Is this uplifting our growth or curbing it and making us less human & disconnected from our truest self?

“Obligers take their commitments to other people seriously, but generally let themselves down,” writes Rubin. Check out Gretchen Rubin's, The Four Tendencies. Take the quiz here to see your tendency. And we have more obligers in the world. And thus the status quo isn't challenged and we live in familiar ways even though these might not be working for us.

This post is evoked by someone telling me what is right to do and what is not right to do; how to show up and how not to. And so I would like to challenge this myth of showing up in a way that we are not. Let's break the 'shoulds' and live by who we are, our truest self. After all these 'shoulds' were created by someone else and these are their wants that we are living with.

Let's set a trend to be who we are, be it in the corporate world or in our personal lives. Let's bring our complete self (body, intellect & emotion), let's BE and allow its expression.

​We have lived enough in disguise, in duality and in the boxes as if we are not a whole entity but robots that can be dismantled as per requirement. Masking here and unmasking there!

"Don't bring emotions to the workplace. "But then who defined these and for what? Don't you think we need to re-look at the status quo? At a time when we are talking about authenticity and authentic leadership, then we should also look at the 'shoulds'. Are these supporting authenticity & vulnerability or just a contradiction to what we are desiring & what we are supporting?!

Many a times I hear this from people specially taking pride in their masked roles that when they are in the office, they are different than when at home; when in private, different from when in public. This duality is a slap to our integrated self that has to constantly contradict with who we truly are and who we show up to be.

Wherever you aren't bringing your complete self, you are expressing yourself with lot of efforts to camouflage a side of you that is you. Kind of disowning yourself from who you truly are. In such a scenario, do you think you are at your highest expressive self? You are constantly putting up a show, a mask and so it becomes draining for you to accept yourself and others when they authentically express themselves. Sometimes this duality becomes our reality and so later in life there comes a place where we start questioning who we are, what truly matters and all sorts of spiritual awakening questions that probably leaves us with despair when we realize the futility of living a masked existence.

As a leader, you will be able to embrace authenticity only when you are authentic to your self. Why bringing your authentic self is important?! To live a more fulfilled, content and joyous life. And most important of all, honouring yourself.

This life itself is a vow and you honouring it's truest expression, is you being a YES to life itself.
Love,
Priyanka
​
#authenticleadership #truestself #getoutoftheboxes #challengethestatusquo #letlifeflow #debunkthemyth

As believed earlier, this relationship is one where the master is put in the pedestal & the disciple bows down to receive. But, with evolution of human consciousness, this relationship evolved into a more matured & beautiful understanding.
                                                  From a relationship of verticals,
                                   it became a relationship of 'maitra', meaning friend.

No truly enlightened person ever told that to be enlightened, you have to put them above you, ahead of you or push them far away from you. Instead when you can see them as your enlightened friend, the receiving becomes joyful & more welcoming. Then there is sync between the two to allow the light to flow within. And if you look back at any great relationship, the foundation of that had been friendship. And thus walking together the path towards light becomes easy, fun filled and effortless.
I personally don't believe in idealizing or putting anyone in pedestal nor do I like when anyone does that to me.
                                             But, I do believe in mutual respect & love.
​
There is light in every individual & the enlightened one, irrespective of age, gender, creed, leads us to that awakening when we are ready.
I learnt from my coachee, my maitra and in his words:
                     "Gu in Sanskrit is darkness & Ru is light. Likewise, I feel a coach
                      is also like a Guru who makes one see that inner light in different
                            ways, reconnect with oneself so as to live life joyfully."

And I truly believe in a relationship of 'maitra'. Truly blessed to walk this path of enlightenment with beautiful, pure, awakened souls. Not only I help them see the light in them, but they too help me awaken at every step.
In deep gratitude for every experience of the heart.
Love. Priyanka
#spiritualawakening #awareness #insight #relationshipofequals #maitra #friend

For some it is discomforting, for some it is resting,
Depending on where we are, at which evolution of life we are,
We find meaning in the pause...

Pause for me is slowing down,
Taking time to reflect & look back the distance I covered,
The memories I created, impact and adventures all the way,
Lessons learnt, connections formed, encountered and let go...

A voluntary pause is acceptable, but a sudden jolt,
A sudden pause without any warning sign is scary...
It invokes deep reflection; my ego gets threatened as my soul speaks now...

Divine pauses are my soul's reminder to me,
To get back on my path,
Do away with distraction and expand to my highest self;
Live my purpose...

In this pause, I find my materialistic existence to be futile,
I wonder what I have created! I wonder who am I being!
I feel lost, stuck, trapped, I feel out of this world,
I don't feel aligned, even in this quietness I am looking for a quite place...

A place that I can just sit & let life energy flow through me...
I am in the nothingness, and in a place that is beautiful but unfamiliar...
A place full of stars, light, joy....Where am I? Which part of the world is this?
I sat quietly and meditated there. I felt light and connected to my silence that reminded me of all possibilities that I and we all are...

Every part of me awakened and in this quietness I found all my answers, solutions to my issues, yet I struggle to be in this space...
I fear being left out in the materialistic world,
Out in the cold with nobody around me.
But as this life force will stop flowing through me, won't I be on my own again?!
In another world with no familiar face but just me, my new version of ego in my same soul?!

Is there a different world or it's the same world with me in different time & space?
A part of my disintegration in different human forms that is beyond my understanding!
My ego understands nothing of this, it doesn't want to know the truth; but my soul recognizes every face,
Every experience and so it is least bothered about what's next but enjoying this experience before it moves to another...

My ego is the fool in me who thinks it knows everything & has figured out everything,
But in reality it knows nothing...It is just caught up in the illusion,
It denies to see things as it is...Ah! That's why it does everything that it is doing...
It wears the mask so that it can't see and speak to the soul.
The soul is but the same, living its journey every time it regenerates into another mask....

Ego is the lie in us, the joker and the soul is the truth...
Joker juggles, soul enjoys;
Joker resists, soul surrenders,
Joker performs, dances, feels, finds, creates; the soul just lives and be...
The soul reminds our ego who it is, it keeps reminding & whispering...
Who we truly are, but the ego defies it and doesn't listen...

In a forced pause, our ego is bound to listen,
So, it finds it hard, discomforting and wants to escape...
Ego wants to be back to the normal which is actually the illusion, the abnormal, the lie...
The truth is in front of us only if we'll be open to receive it as it is...

Love & light,
Priyanka

#intuitivewriting #intuition #reflectionofthesoul

Amidst all the fears that is in & around me, I see equal amount of possibilities. Yes, I see possibilities against every fear & I have felt all of my fears thoroughly (it is a part of me, which also reminds me of the possibilities). Every time I feel my fears, I am also called to focus on the possibilities that is available in the world, in the humanity that we are & in this life that has been taken for granted by everyone of us in some form or other.

Welcome to my world of possibilities...

I see a world where love becomes the ruling force,
I see a world where love, compassion, empathy, respect exist not only between the victim & the hero, the sufferer & the saviour, the weak & the powerful, the wounded & the healer; but amongst equals unconditionally too,
I see an environment that is clean, green, joyous & flourishing,

I see the corporate world embracing humanity as their core driving force as opposed to profit earning at all cost & under any circumstances,
I see the corporate world enabling a lifestyle for the people that would support them in connecting with the essence of our existence, i.e. love,
I see a corporate world where love stands at the core of every leader rather than fear overruling the heart which ignites unhealthy competition & unwanted politics,
I see the corporate world being kinder, more prepared to drive human force to actualizing better causes for the abundance of humanity, greater peace & unity in the world,

I see every home as the container for enabling growth in every child to express his/her gifts joyously,
I see extraordinary leadership being modeled at home for generations to express,
I see every home being run with love & collaboration with everyone where the main focus is not on ego satisfaction, but on the bigger intention of making this life a beautiful expression for everyone,
I see deep connection being formed without any agenda but love for another human being,

I see love being redefined, where the horizon broadens to capture the essence of life,
I see people walking the spiritual path not when they grow old or are nearing death, but since the time when they get present to life,
I see people having the wisdom of knowing what matters to them not just when a crash down like this happens, but when the world resets itself to its beautiful self again,
I see a world where feminine & masculine energy equally flourishes, where we don't have to talk about inclusion but where we cherish & enable both in us because we have the yin & yang in us, the tenderness & rigour,

I see a world where more than the external wins, people give more importance to the wins against the vices in them,
I see a world where there is joy, radiance, wisdom, peace, love & possibilities to be unleashed by the generations to come,
I see a world where we 'BE' who we are, defying complacency & embracing growth; that to me is freedom & authentic living...

I see this possibility in ME, in YOU & EVERYONE around,
I want to see this change in the world & so I start it from ME.
Will YOU? I will be happy if YOU are a YES to this possibility....

Love,
Priyanka

​#leadersoftomorrow #possibilities #coronatimes #leaderships #life #lifecoahcing 

A quieter external environment has acted as a catalyst to the journey inward! 

With all the chaos around, we almost lost sight of what matters to us ultimately. The deeper meaning of life can never be understood by external wins because that is insatiable. The win on the outside is like chasing our shadow which we can never conquer. Only when the focus is changed, we realize that the shadow is nothing but a projection of us that we are trying to chase in futility. We have the wholesome in us, the completeness in us and yet we find ourselves wandering all around. So much of emphasis is given in doing, achieving and conquering that we forget to just be who we are.

We forget to allow us the permission to just 'BE'.

When everything around us comes to a standstill, we realize that the myriad social roles that we were playing are somehow our coping roles that we adapted to, in our effort to run away from this simple yet beautiful existence called LIFE. When a child is born, when she/he takes the first breathe in human form in this world, the child cries because there's a change of environment: from the warmth in the womb to the coldness outside. With every change, there comes uncertainty, fear and unpleasantness. And as a mark of a true human form, we learn to express our discomfort even as a child. But after a while, the child stops crying and starts to live, accepting the change because that change is a must to grow from a child to an evolved human.

This life is for us to experience a change, a growth, the possibility that we are. We humans have abundant capacity to adapt to our circumstances. Our journey to the unknown starts from the moment we are born. Then why do we fear uncertainty & the unknown?! Fear of uncertainty & the unknown will haunt us only when we fear that there is nothing that we can do to control the situation and when there is unwillingness to surrender to what there is. But ask yourself: Every time we encounter challenging times, what do we do? Do we control the situation or do we change our stance, our expression of who we BE in that moment? Controlling a situation is like fixing it and momentarily believing that things are okay, ignoring what needs our focus. What needs focus really?! Our being needs our focus. Whatever the environment might be, if we have done work to build our core, our inner strength, we have done the work really. And so whatever we say or do doesn't matter, our being says it all. It is a reflection of our inner world which however hard we try, we can't hide. It shows and speaks for us. As we run towards our shadow, the work that needs to be done on our being would depend how far we have gone away from our own self. As you decide to come home to yourself, you'll realize that what truly matters at the end is who we BE in this lifetime. All the definitions, judgement, labeling that we do around success, abundance, happiness, beautiful life is nothing but our ignorance speaking & manifesting in this world.With more awareness around self, we realize that for our soul, all these never really mattered but was a mere expression of the less evolved human form. 

With a sudden pandemic & global silence like this, it is a great reminder from the Source, an invocation to reconnect with all the lost, scattered & fragmented parts within us that we have been looking for here & there. The world within is a measure of the world that we create around us. And today, as a byproduct of who we are in the inside, we are witnessing the world outside us.

Let's collectively inspire each other to correct what we have been ignoring. Let's not fear death, but fear living life as an unevolved human.

Loving you all,
Priyanka

#leadershipincrisis #ceo #chro #leadershipcoaching #lifecoaching #nationallockdown #help #fightagainstcoronavirus #reflection

"Here's a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't." - Richard Bach

To find our true self, we have to be willing to give up a side of us that's familiar, that is known and that's very much us. We spend our lives in search of our authentic self, but we never get in touch with it due to our inability to give up that wasn't ours but formed as a result of our covering up of who we truly are. In this journey called life, ironically we first hide ourselves & then based on our awakening, we again try to show to the world who we are; most importantly, allow us to embrace who we are. That trial, that journey of hide & seek is life. That journey of unconsciousness to consciousness is life.

We are ultimately spiritual beings in human forms. Eventually, all that matters will no longer matter because to a soul, all that matters is love. Love for self, others, every being on this planet. Love is the language that our soul speaks and is familiar with. Rest all is an illusion. The more drawn we are to the illusion, less we experience this nectar of life called 'love'.

This life is to live & experience; hardly it is to arrive at something or to gain something. It is but for us to experience one of the most powerful existence & form, that is humanity. When we drop everything & listen to our soul's calling, we have found ourselves, that's the victory of human existence.

When you can trust, when you have no reason to trust,
When you can love, when you have every reason to hate,
When you can walk forward, when you have every resistance to give up,
When you can rejoice, when you have every reason to crib,
When you can celebrate life, when you have every reason to shut down,
When you can feel joy, when you have every reason to be sad,
When you can enjoy being you, when the entire world is caught up in being someone else,
When you can be detached, when you have every urge to be attached....
That's when you have found yourself, that's when you have found the true meaning of this existence.

This life is nothing but a soul's experience to transcend from being human to being whole. To experience the wholeness within you, you have to be willing to shed that isn't you.

Loving life,
Priyanka
#spiritualgrowth #leadership #life #insight 

"The purpose of our lives is to give birth to the best that is within us." - Marianne Williamson

Every time I reach a milestone, I do enjoy it; but very soon my mind gets fogged with this question: “What’s my purpose, what’s my WHY? Why am I doing whatever I am doing? How does all of it make sense? When on my deathbed, will I be proud of myself? Will I be content for what I have created? Is this worth-remembering and how will all this serve humanity in a broader way? Have I lived my life purposefully?”

DON'T SPEAK THE TRUTH, JUST CONFORM
From a young age, I knew that I am not someone who loves to conform. I grew up having lot of structures in place. Even if I disliked it, I kind of accepted it because I believed that I have only two options: either to conform or rebel. Conformity seemed right at that point because being a rebel meant that I would have to face lot of oppositions; more so I will miss out on the love of the people. So, inside a rebel, I chose to sow the seed of a conformist. This stance was my quick fix to what was present before me. I did try being a rebel, but I was shut off. I couldn’t harness the courage to be a rebel because that came at the cost of something: being disliked, lacking greater approval and less acceptance. How I took this was, don’t speak the truth; just conform. People dislike listening to the truth, they like to be validated. They want to hear what they believe is to be true. As a child I learnt this survival mechanism & went on. But there was anger brewing inside of me, almost like the volcano. I suppressed it and bottled up my anger. Found ways to numb it. Mostly became indifferent to my own emotions & feelings. I covered it up with being happy, smiling and being just a good girl who is well accepted by everyone around; kind of easy to manage & deal with. Why am I even sharing all of these? One crux from all of these is, I was living an inauthentic life. I wasn’t true to myself and lived for others and what others expected of me. I conformed. This stance sucks. But it also gave me love of people, approval and that’s what got me here where I am today. It did play a big role in my life. And I am thankful to that side of me too.

I WANT TO OWN MY TRUTH
Being in the transformative journey for the past couple of years & having comparatively raised self-awareness, this hypocritic stance is intolerable because the rebel in me wants to find an outlet to speak its truth. For years that rebel which had been shut off by me, now wants to come out & scream loudly. It is seeking for a release of this energy that is bottling inside of me and making it difficult for me to experience the nectar of life i.e. experience my essence, my authentic self. Conformity isn’t who I am; I want to own my truth. Now my heart desires for something more, something that I haven’t experienced before and that is deeper connection & intimacy with self & others. And this definitely doesn’t come from being good but being true.

For most parts I believed that rebellion is the only way. And the opposite of that is conformity. You just have two options. Hardly did I know that there was another option too and that is: speaking the truth and influence reforms & may be not. How does that even matter? Being true does. What was uncomfortable for me was whenever I spoke the truth, it wasn’t received well. I had to bear the consequences of being disliked or even face disagreements. And my challenge was to sit in that discomfort of being attacked. That’s how I felt. That meant I had to be willing to be alone. But my need for approval and validation was too strong. I felt every disagreement to be some sort of an attack to my relationship with the person concerned. I feared that this discord would now affect the relationship. It will never remain the same and I didn’t know how to regain the trust, love and positive dynamics of a relationship even after a disagreement. The best I saw and learnt was to avoid that discomfort or least, the one dominating the relationship, winning the game and having the power over other to control & manipulate. Least did I know that a good relationship is built on an unconditional foundation; there is no condition attached to it. Just like the true love between the child and the parent which is based just on love and no other condition attached to it. But to even get into that space, one must love oneself unconditionally. If you are constantly made to realize that you lack this, that you are not good in this/that, that you look certain way which isn’t right, that you must achieve something to prove your worth etc; then you start to attach conditions to that self-love. If I say myself that I will love myself only when I look this way or have an IQ of this or achieve this and that; it is conditional & when the condition is attained, another condition replaces it and this vicious spiral goes on taking you nowhere. Love can never be experienced in a stance like this.

Coming back to my question of what’s my purpose? Until many years ago, my sole purpose was to be that girl/daughter/woman/wife/mother/employee/individual who is loved by the world. This meant that I wasn’t living my truth but being someone that the world wanted me to be. I did everything I could to win them over or rather fool them. Saying what they wanted to hear, doing what they wanted me to, living a life that I should be living as per the norms of the society/the cultural background that I hail from. But as I am approaching my 40th birthday; in October this year I will turn 40. I am asking myself this question again: what’s my purpose? Is it to live life this way or to live my purpose truly? And the answer is very clear to me and that is: My purpose this lifetime is to speak my truth, live an authentic life and influence reforms; transform people’s lives so that they can live an authentic life themselves. Everybody operates in their time zone. It took me these many years to drop the guard, the mask and come home to myself. I need nothing from anyone, all that I was looking for outside is inside me. Now all I want is to give myself this gift of freedom to be who I am. And in this journey of mine, if I can inspire others like me to walk this authentic path towards liberation from this disempowered conditioning to be someone that they aren’t, then my purpose in life is fulfilled. That day on my deathbed, I would truly smile with no regrets. In fact, as I write this, I smile now with such a relief. Thank you, life! You always amaze me with your unique ways.

So, what’s your purpose this lifetime?

Loving you,
Priyanka
​
​#purposefulliving #leadership #spiritualgrowth #innerwisdom #life #transformation #coaching #insights 

"If you want to meet someone who can fix any situation you don't like, who can bring you happiness inspite of what other people say or believe, look in a mirror, then say this magic word: "Hello".
                                                                                         - From the book Messiah's Handbook
                                                                           (Reminders for the Advanced Soul) by Richard Bach.

I came back all charged up from this coach retreat at Costa Rica. The plan is laid out for what I want to create, who I choose to be in this world, what milestones I want to experience & sleep with. I spent my flight layover time doing that and I made a pretty good plan. I am so excited to get back home & kick-start with my plan. Ah! I even broke it down to everyday details. I used the Pareto Principle - 80/20 to do the smart work. Did I leave any room for contingencies?! Oh yes, I did! I am a great planner with great ideas after all! Can you relate? If yes, good; read beyond. If not, still go on to get more clarity. Don't give up here. Because there's more to this and what I am going to share. So, I land in India with my heart filled with enthusiasm, deep desire & vision. I reach home, excited to meet my son & my partner. Next morning, reality hits me hard. The realities of the world that I live in. This world drives up my fears and all the resistances that I have. This is the world created by me, I choose this however tactics I may choose to put it the other way around. There are wonderful aspects about this world and unpleasantness too. If someone says that the world that they live in doesn't have any unpleasantness, I would assert that they are lying or trying hard to escape it; feeling/seeing something that is so uncomfortable. So, here I am sitting beside my son who is having fever, missed school; my help not showing up due to her sickness; my husband travelling overseas for work in two days. This leaves me with managing everything that wasn't laid down in my plan & that I didn't expect, on my own. That moment, sitting in this heartbreaking discomfort, a voice in me said,"Look at you planner. All your plans failed you. This is your reality. Stop dreaming & just give up." For a second I even detested myself for going to the retreat. Not going would have saved me from all the pain that I am going through. Pain as in helplessness at my inability to stick to my dream plan which I articulated so well. At least, things would have been familiar & comfortable! Other way round, not coming back would have been so great?! I don't have to deal with any of the mess in my world!

For a driven & passionate person like me, it's usually 'play big or go home'. There is no room for anything small. My inability to execute my plan in a circumstance like this is an absolute disaster for me. My inner self has a story & my story is that I will now loose out & miss out on time. I am in a hurry to get where I want to; I must reach my destination faster otherwise it would mean I am not good enough. Is this story the ultimate fact about me?! As I dive deep, I see that it's my interpretation and not the truth. I do get the futility of that. Challenges are everywhere; how I see them & who I choose to be is what makes all the difference. Here's how I arrived at this. Go on and read further to get more of what I have to share. Still struggling?! Great, you are in an unfamiliar place & that's a good place to get present to something that you haven't experienced before. 

Just as I was self-loathing & holding on to my story, I got present to everything I was feeling in that moment. There was anger, sadness, disgust, guilt, regret; kind of mixed feelings. Oh yes! That's a feeling after all. And we detest feeling bad. We make that mean something about us, our world, the people, about life etc. Our survival mechanism is to escape from feeling anything unpleasant or messy. We avoid that and ridiculously, the experience that we are left with is feeling that which we avoided feeling in the first place. We just try to justify not to feel that way, we defend, we avoid & many a times hide.

Doing this exploration, I got present to many discussions that I had had in the past with different people about how they escaped their reality to experience something better. To put in simple words, I asked them: "What did you do to not feel what is uncomfortable in your world and replace it with something opposite of that feeling?". And here are some of the many ways they use: 'I take a long break & go on exploring the world', 'I go on an adventurous spree', 'I enjoy the moment inside the flight on high altitude. This gives me a sense of peace within, out from the world', 'I pick up projects that are outstation so that I don't have to deal with the mess here', 'I work long hours & spend less time at home'......You can come up with your list too. It'll drive you crazy if you do an honest introspection; I guarantee you and say this from personal experience. 

What's different then when we choose something different than what looks normal to us? Well, you are the same, what's different is the context then & the stand you choose to take. Context is our story, which is very dear to us; our truth about our world which isn't a fact, although it may seem like one to us because we are so attached to it & we have every reason to back it up. We have become experienced in doing that over the years that it looks so real to us that we are blinded by it. Our context is our interpretation of our world. If we can accept this fact & open up to exploration of this truth, then we can create what we want wherever we are. We can find peace, happiness, joy, serenity, success & everything that our heart desires be it here or anywhere else. Because the stand that you choose to take irrespective of everything that is happening around, is your gift to yourself & to the world for who you be in your greatness. And remember that a stand is very different from choosing something opposite of what you are feeling. To get to the depth of this, I will probably write another blog. For this one, just this awareness is enough.

Want some magic?! Then look into the mirror & say: "Hello, I am the creator. I can change my interpretation, my context and take a stand that will enable me to experience what I want to. I don't have to run away to feel certain way or experience something that looks impossible in my world right now." You don't have to force or try hard at all. Your willingness to sit in this possibility, will be the first step towards that shift.

In this VUCA world when nothing is certain, your plans with need a re-look, a makeover from time to time. If you get attached to it more than your intention & vision; chances are that you won't enjoy the journey & the experience of it as you execute the plan. Your plan operates in a context that you live in.Wisdom lies in creating a plan & then be willing to embrace the twist & turns; willing to trust the divine detours because what shows up during these moments is what we need to experience/feel/be with to be able to truly feel then what we are longing for; what our heart is wanting to experience eternally. Post that, our actions change and so our results.

Leaving you with this curiosity: "What showed up in you as you read this piece? Is there anything that you could relate to from my sharing? Is there reluctance?" I would love to know & if you are willing, would love to have a conversation with you on a more deeper level. 

Believing in you,
Priyanka

#ourcontext #ourstory #interpretations #stance #insights #coaching #leadership #life #authenticsharing #emotionalintelligence  #reflection