Patanjali | Plain Talk and Ordinary Wisdom

I’m just beginning to realize in these 61 years that it’s a good thing when you don’t fit it. I have been trying all my life to be like others – or be accepted – and not stand out or appear to be different. But what’s important is if you have accepted yourself. When you truly have accepted who you are, there are no more struggles, no more fighting with the world. In fact, the world accepts who you are when you do. The Universe has already accepted who you are but for some reason we can’t accept that. That’s where the drama begins and don’t we seem to love drama?

I think that’s the lesson I’m learning in having returned to the corporate world, a year now, to be authentic and okay with who I am when it looks so different from anything I see around me. The key is that we all have something to contribute in our uniqueness. Who wants cookie-cutter people walking around talking and acting like everyone else? That doesn’t contribute – it doesn’t permit growth.

If we accept our uniqueness, like a piece of the puzzle, we add to the overall beauty of the picture when we settle in and feel comfortable with it. Then we can grow and expand along with everyone else’s individuality in the picture. We’re all a piece of the puzzle and we need every unique piece for it to be complete.

Here’s an example of uniqueness in the story of an ordinary phone salesman, Paul Potts, auditioning for a spot in the UK’s version of American Idol (previously included in one of my posts called Footprints). I love this story. It reminds me how inspiring we can be to one another when we truly accept who we are and act on it.

What I’ve been experiencing in the corporate world is more cookie cutter than uniqueness. The work ethic has appeared to have changed in that you can think independently if it doesn’t rock the boat and it’s not tolerated to ask questions that may challenge others’ work. I’ve been having difficulty with this given my old approach to fitting in and thinking independently. I think I have “pissed off” (if you can say that) everyone in my workplace and I really don’t know how other than ask if something is correct or not. It’s like everyone is walking on egg shells afraid to offend someone and you don’t know when you may have offended someone until the supervisor walks up and asks, “Why did you do that?”

Even in that, I can see all of our unique gifts and talents and I appreciate how differently people work these days. I just haven’t realized until now that I had been fighting who I am in this process trying desperately to fit in and it’s not going to happen and it shouldn’t. We all have our own contributions for the whole and it’s in respecting others’ perspectives and honoring ourselves that we move forward and grow adding to life’s picture.

So, when you feel friction in your home or at work ask yourself a few of these questions:

~ Am I trying to make someone else do it my way and am I honoring the way others do their work?

~ Why am I uncomfortable when I stand out or appear to be different? Do I truly accept who I am?

~ Am I honoring my uniqueness and contributions to the workplace…to the world or am I trying to fit in to how others live and work and what their expectations are of who I am?

I am inspired in this new awareness of accepting who I am and in coming back to write and share with you again. I hope these few thoughts have made you think of your life and where you’re at on the path you have chosen. If they have, then I’ve accomplished in some small way what I’ve set out to do. With that I’ll share this quote from Patanjali:

“When you are inspired . . .
dormant forces, faculties, and talents become alive,
and you discover yourself to be a greater person
by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This morning as my husband and I were walking out to the car to go to work I was surprised to see 4 deer pull their heads up and look directly at me only 20 feet from where we stood. I talked to them for a moment and they just stared not really bothered by this interruption to their morning. They were standing next to our parked car, so we had to walk towards them to get in and my husband got as close as 8 feet. Then, as we were about to drive out, we saw the rest of the herd walking down into our yard with their buck. In total, there were about a dozen deer. What a way to start out your morning, huh?

Living in the Rocky Mountains, I always marvel at the wildlife as we see it more frequently living among them in their habitat. We’ve had bear get into our metal shed and tear it up, hear the coyote howl regularly all through the year, see the bunnies and fox. If we had a fresh snowfall the night before, in the morning the yard is transformed into a wonderland of tracks. It is such a blissful sight to take in.

When I was a little girl and saw Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, I always fantasized playing and walking and just being with the animals like Snow White. When I’d go to the zoo and see the wild tigers and elephants, I’d wonder what it would feel like to curl up with one of those big creatures and experience their energy and power. Dr. Wayne Dyer in his book, There’s a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem, quotes from Patanjali (author of Yoga Sutras who lived C. First to Third Century B.C):

“When a person is steadfast in his abstention from harming others, then all living creatures will cease to feel enmity in his presence.”

Dyer talks about St. Francis of Assisi and how he would tame wild wolves that were destroying livestock by merely being in their presence.
Wild animals would feel the love that radiated from him; doves would fly to his hands. They all ceased to feel enmity. What a wonderful image. St. Francis didn’t have any special powers – no more than you or I. He just made himself available to and aligned himself with the Creator. ~~~ (Picture by Microsoft Office Clipart.)

There is a series of books I read some time ago that I fell in love with. They’re about a tracker’s life and experiences in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. The tracker and author’s name is Tom Brown Jr. and when he was a child all he wanted to do was spend time in his beloved Pine Barrens. When he was around 7 he met another boy, Rick, about his age that liked the same things. Rick had an elder that taught them about the seasons and wildlife and how to walk in harmony with nature – his name was Stalking Wolf (Grandfather). In the beginning of his book, The Tracker, Tom describes what he felt about Stalking Wolf when he says:

“Stalking Wolf taught us how to be silent and watch what was going on. He had a special look that said he was giving us a hint to something that would seem obvious to us in a moment. When he saw that I didn’t understand why he had to be silent to see better, he said, “Go feed the birds.””

All the experiences and mysteries of the woods, birds and wild creatures unfold in these books as he learns to listen, track and move in harmony with nature.

Like St. Francis of Assisi and Tom Brown Jr., we can also learn to experience the wonder of nature if we approach it with reverence and are steadfast in abstaining from harming others, as Patanjali said. Animals can discern your intention from the energies we give off. They can read our hearts and sense more about us than we know about ourselves. As we become more awakened, the animals will respond to our new beingness, and we’ll walk among them in harmony and peace. Can you imagine that?!

Tom has a tracking school in New Jersey – Tom Brown Jr.’s Tracking School. He has written 16 books, and I’ve listed a few you might be interested in:

The Tracker
Awakening Spirits
The Way of the Scout
The Quest: One Man’s Search for Peace, Insight, and Healing in an Endangered World (Paperback)
The Vision: The Dramatic True Story of One Man’s Search for Enlightenment (Religion and Spirituality) (Paperback)
The Search: The Continuing Story of the Tracker

SPECIAL NOTE: I apologize to my fellow bloggers for not being as active in reading your posts and stumbling and commenting. I just started a full-time job this week. I haven’t had as much time to keep up with the feeds and e-mails and I’m a little overwhelmed. I hope to get a handle on it as I get used to being back into the corporate world. Thank you for your continued support and patience.

Pat from the ol’ kitchen table