You might look at my story from an outside point of view and think how awesome my life is, without understanding the very real struggles I’ve overcome to get to where I am now. I’m not just talking about overcoming fibromyalgia. From dealing with an illness doctors said there was no cure for (I proved them wrong, ha ha ha!), to foreclosure on my home, losing my job, divorce, bankruptcy, being separated from my very young children and having to completely redefine my career, I’ve learned that life is a series of choices. It’s completely up to you to choose if you’re going to believe anything is “impossible,” or if you’ll decide that “I’m possible”.
The struggles we face aren’t really in dealing with the problems or situations we encounter. The situation is the catalyst and the problems are in how we mentally and emotionally deal with the situational catalyst. My problem was not in losing my job or going bankrupt: the problem was in how it all made me feel about myself, and the solution was in how I chose to deal with it.
This is such a vast universal problem that it motivated me to make it the topic of my 2nd and upcoming book, The Soul of Purpose. Not only is the only problem in our mind and emotions, the solutions to dealing with all of your problems are one and the same: it doesn’t matter if that is overcoming bankruptcy, dealing with physical illness, depression, anxiety or trying to find your purpose in life. The approach you take to dealing with one problem situation can be the solution to them all.
Navratri starts this weekend, and this is what got me thinking about all of this. Going back to the spiritual roots that were and are my foundation. I love Navratri not as a way to worship God, but in what is represented in the story of the Goddess Durga defeating enemy after enemy in Her various forms, which ultimately represents us overcoming egoism in life. Egoism is nothing but the culmination of your unique constitution, your thoughts and feelings of life, and how you process reality. You see, spirituality is not about worshipping an external God, but in worshipping the God force that lives inside of you, nurturing it to heal your mind, your emotions and your entire life so that you become possible, and life becomes a series of possibility. Navratri is a reminder that “I’m Possible”, that “impossible” is merely a choice we make when we give up on ourselves, lacking both faith in God and confidence in oneself to fulfill your heart’s deepest desires.