There is a meme I saved on my phone that says “When something goes wrong in your life, just yell, ‘PLOT TWIST!’ and move on!” I seem to be doing that a lot lately as are a lot of people I know. Since I’m a thinker and a writer, and since I’m known to evaluate my life and the events that shape it, I may yell, “PLOT TWIST!” but I just cannot help from processing and regurgitating it before I can move on.
From a scary surgery I experienced in October to a loss of a friend and a friend experiencing a loss of a partnership, I have so many plot twists that I could be a James Patterson spy novel. I have looked at my own reactions and responses and made some observations of my own. With each twist and turn, I learn to respond instead of react and to become extremely grateful for those in my life that hang in there with me.
I am a reactionary – yep! I admit it! Buddhism teaches us that life is neither good nor bad, but it is our reaction or response that creates good and bad. I like to think that way, but, well, sometimes bad things just seem to happen. Ah, but that’s the reaction. Responding tells me that with each ending, a new beginning shows its face, regardless of who is experiencing the event. I can confirm that without hesitation.
The surgery taught me to allow others in my life to help me. It was a lesson that was most needed, and I am working on mastering it. The loss of a friend as she transitioned to another place of being taught me to appreciate my life and those people in it that are always there in spite of me. The friend who is experiencing the end of a partnership is teaching me to take a really good look at my own partnership in life. What is it that brings me back to central? I found the answer to that question. No matter how angry or how many angry words are spoken, my partner – my husband – is my North. When I feel lost and confused, I can center there and return to North. That’s a most important lesson to learn.
Many people come and go in our lives, and many people will teach us valuable lessons. But it all comes back to that one person who is your North. That person is different for everyone. For some, it’s themselves; for others, it’s a parent or sibling; it may be a good friend; or it may be a life partner. Take a good look in your life. Who is your North? Claim him or her and allow yourself to have a North. We all need one!
Now that I know my North, and can say with confidence, “PLOT TWIST! Moving on!”
Dancing Naked 