What It Means When Everything Is Going to Hell

“Struggle keeps us from being sluggish. It keeps us aware and in the end bestows true knowledge…It is proper to welcome struggle. Its arrival is always auspicious.” – Swami Kripalu

“If you want to make an omelet, you’ve got to break some eggs.”

These past few weeks I’ve been busy working on a new project that I’m so excited to share with you (look for more information about it in your inbox next week). The project involved shooting a number of videos and recording a series of audios. No problem, I told myself in the beginning. I’ll just bang them out and I’ll be good to go.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

First I recorded all the audios, but could barely hear them for the background noise. Then I shot, edited, and uploaded all the videos, and once they were online they were so dark that I may as well have been sitting in the bottom of a well. That’s when I started numerous tests of different devices, conditions, lights, and microphones. It still seemed nothing was working. The light kit I plunked down $400 for did little to make my videos watchable. I could still hear cars driving by in the background of my audios.

I started to get discouraged. About 2 weeks in to the saga, I thought, Will this ever end?? And, What is the deal?!? I wallowed around in that feeling for a full weekend. My husband kept asking if I was alright. “I’m fine,” I’d sigh, then resume moping.

Then I remembered the quote at the top of this newsletter. It has long been one of my favorites – I love the perspective that the arrival of struggle is actually something to be celebrated, because it means you are on the verge of a personal breakthrough. I am a big fan of personal breakthroughs.

Re-inspired, I started telling myself that everything was going to sh*t because I was on the verge of something great. That perspective immediately felt so much better than wallowing in woe-is-me. It inspired me to reach out and get help — I got invaluable advice from the magnificent meditation teacher Susan Piver, hired the crazily competent Lori Benns at The Pillar Group to take some of the work off my plate, and borrowed a kick-butt camera from my brother-in-law, who volunteered to ship it overnight. I was moving forward again – hallelujah.

Then my server was hacked. Which I viewed as proof that I must be on to something really good. (It was miraculously resolved in a couple of hours.)

Through it all, my little snippets of yoga and meditation helped me remain calm and gave me access to that steady part of myself that knew the sky wasn’t truly falling. When you take time – even 2 or 3 minutes – on a regular basis to get your mind and body back on speaking terms, it doesn’t mean you won’t ever struggle again. But you will be able to see those struggles for what they are – an opportunity to wake up, think differently, and grow.

What speed bumps have you been hitting lately, and what positive developments might they be foreshadowing? I’d love to hear your thoughts, either in the comments on the web version of this newsletter, or on the MsMindbody Facebook page.

Here’s to auspicious struggles!

Take care and keep breathing,
Kate