by Lee Gerdes, author of Limitless You

I worked with the survivors of the Asian Tsunami of 2004. It marked one of the most transformative experiences of my life. I will post the piece I wrote during that time soon. What I learned the most from the survivors was the human capacity for resilience. Humbled, I learned how to allow for joy despite tragedy, hope despite overwhelming devastation. 

The reason many of us are unaware of our boundlessness, our infinite potential and limitless essence is because we are confined by the cages of our thoughts. One thought after another.

Racing. Running. Jumping.

Hoops, curves, and narrow alleyways.

First we had Tiger Mom making the rounds with her extreme views of parenting. Now we have Jessica Beagley, a mom who appeared on the Dr. Phil show with confessions of disciplining her child with hot sauce and cold showers. She admitted that the reason she was on the show was because she had run out of options and wanted to get help. Disturbingly, an informal poll done by the Today Show revealed that 33% of moms felt the hot sauce method of punishment was appropriate.

Ms. Beagley was recently found to be guilty of child abuse. Unfortunately, this was only considered a misdemeanor.

For the last few days we've been talking about the "ego" and how there are different understandings of this word. Today we want to share insight from a brand new Namaste Publishing book that we at Namaste got to hold in our hands for the first time yesterday as shipments began arriving from the printer.

Dr. Shefali Tsabary writes in the opening chapter of her book The Conscious Parent:

“If you marry her, I’ll not give you the time of day,” says multimillionaire Oliver Barrett III, seeking to control his son’s life.

Replies his son, Oliver Barrett IV, who is finally showing up for himself, “Father, you don’t know the time of day!”

What is it about us that thinks we have a right to control the lives of others? Why do we expect them to meet our definition of what success means for their life?

The question was asked of a client by a counselor, “What is our responsibility in helping create our children’s unhappiness?”

The client simply couldn’t wrap her head around the question. She responded, “You mean happiness.”

The counselor came back, “No, I mean unhappiness.”

The client kept saying, “You must mean our responsibility in helping create our children’s happiness.”

It can come at any age in our lives. The New comes, unfurling  us from within. In these moments we are blessed children again. Teachable, lovely, with wide open spaces in our minds and hearts. We hear and feel, and then we have the knowing within ourselves of what is true for us in our unfolding of life.

There is no greater teacher than the Presence in that moment.

And we smile, for there rests a sweet tenderness for ourselves, for others, for all of humanity.  We see the big picture. We see the wave of awakening and compassion blossoms in our hearts.