Life is always trying to teach us, help us grow, and offer us the richest experience possible without interfering with our free will to choose our own path in each moment. Sometimes, we make choices that end up not being such great choices, and other times we make choices that propel us forward and help us to gain momentum (and it isn’t always easy to tell which is which until after the dust has settled). No matter what kinds of experiences you’re having, you can choose to shift your focus toward making the most of those experiences if they’re uncomfortable in any way, and savoring the experiences that you enjoy so that you can attract more experiences like them.
That’s part of the key to inner peace and happiness: shifting your focus toward what works for you, toward more optimistic thoughts, and toward extracting purpose from your experiences, especially if they were negative. Giving your negative or traumatic experiences a purpose makes it easier to heal from the trauma and empower yourself to take safety precautions if necessary without going overboard and allowing your experience to completely take over your life. To learn from your experiences but not carry the heavy burden of trauma and the accompanying pain around with you is the goal, and to achieve this goal, your experiences must be validated but the pain released. Openness, vulnerability, understanding, and honesty will all be required. You will need to show compassion not only toward anyone else involved, but also—and most importantly—toward yourself. You will learn to discern between holding someone accountable and holding a grudge.
These are just some of the realizations and revelations that sound like mere words until your life presents you with an opportunity to utilize these ideas in practice. And really, that’s the most valuable type of practice you could possibly ask for, so why not make the most of it in the moment, as things occur?
There have been certain ideas and realizations that have helped others to keep from getting stuck in the limbo of doubt, so to speak, and move more quickly out of challenging experiences by shifting their focus elsewhere. I hope that you find these ideas beneficial on your own journey.
5 Ideas to Help You Learn Life Lessons Quickly
- Anticipating and fully knowing that you will gain a greater sense of understanding once a particular experience is over can help you tap into your inner strength and allow and appreciate your circumstances or experiences, even if they present challenges for you to overcome. That’s the thing: without contrast or challenge, there can be no growth because growth occurs when you leave your comfort zone a little bit and do things differently.
- This is an opportunity to use your discernment and any other mindfulness skills you may have learned about in theory. Remember that a practice is a practice; it must be performed daily for best results. Be mindful in each moment, catch yourself if you aren’t, but also catch yourself if you are and be grateful that you now know you can put these skills into practice. The more you practice mindfulness in each moment, the more it becomes a habit, making it effortless to continue.
- This experience or circumstance is all part of your story, your life path. Even if you think you’ve taken a wrong turn, you are exactly where you need to be from a big picture perspective. This path in life will lead you to exactly what you need to find, each and every time. After it’s all said and done, how epic, coincidental, or ridiculous will this chapter of your life be? What will you learn from it? How have you grown from it? What did it lead you to that you may not have found under any other circumstances?
- Step into your power and be decisive. The direction you choose for yourself will directly influence the outcome of your circumstance, so choose what’s best for you and as many others as possible. If you find yourself in a constant state of not knowing, make peace with the not knowing and have a general plan, but be flexible enough to allow the universe to introduce you to new ideas or circumstances that you may not have thought of even being possible until they appeared right in front of you. Don’t allow yourself to limit the abilities of the universe within your own perception when the possibilities are literally infinite.
- Recognize that miracles are always possible, especially if you believe they are. Your belief in them helps to make all things possible, and you may find that some of the things you’re attracting are becoming tangible in your life experience. This is another facet of mindfulness and being aware of everything that’s flowing into and out of your life. As your awareness and consciousness raises by becoming honed, you will also become more and more aware of and in tune with the things that make you feel alive and in alignment versus the things that make you feel sluggish and exhausted. That’s where you can then really take responsibility for your own life and begin practicing more of the positive habits and fewer of the harmful or destructive habits.
Each of your experiences is designed for you to interpret in only the ways you can. You can also choose whether you will actively participate in healing yourself and moving on or allow it to happen to you and fall victim to it. The decision is yours, in every moment… right now. Forgiving the circumstance and anything else surrounding it can only serve you, while falling victim to the circumstance actually gives your power away.
Some questions that might help you with this:
- What is within my control right now, in this moment?
- Is there anything I can do or say right now, in this moment, to solve or heal anything?
- Is there any good that will come of being stuck on one particular emotion?
- Am I allowing outside influences to direct my emotions?
- Am I allowing subconscious conditioning to keep me stuck?
If there’s nothing you can do about it right now, what’s the point in worrying (aside from making yourself miserable)? Will feeling badly really serve any kind of purpose? More importantly, will feeling badly keep you in an open, receptive state to see the opportunities coming your way? Chances are very slim, and you’re more likely to find yourself frantically and exasperatedly scrambling for solutions that aren’t in alignment with what’s really supposed to happen. This creates more tension and frustration, and you can probably already tell that none of it leads anywhere constructive.
It sounds counter-intuitive, but when you let go and allow life to happen for you, it may begin to surprise you a little bit. You may begin to have more and more positive experiences because whatever was bugging you before isn’t pulling your focus anymore. And if you take nothing else from this article, understand this: your focus is your superpower. Whatever you focus on grows, so if you choose to focus on the negative and complain all the time, then you will attract more of the same. However, if you choose to focus on the positive and cultivate a practice of gratitude, you will also attract more of the same.
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