I thought I'd post the excerpt of the letter that my yoga teacher read tonight after class because the message is powerful and seriously could change someone's perspective (it certainly helped me tonight):
WE CAN ALWAYS CHOOSE JOY. This is an excerpt from a letter written by my friend Sophia. She lost her precious friend Din 6 months ago. In her grief, she has taken on the practice of choosing happiness. This inspires me to no end.
"Letting go does not mean forgetting; on the contrary, it means honoring him by choosing to live rather than continue to exist in the depths of despair. A mentor who I love dearly once told me, “One learns to coexist – to feel the unbearable pain yet also let happiness in.” This seemed impossible until September and now I know the reason why – because I did not ALLOW happiness in. It seemed a dishonor, a rejection; practically a murdering of everything Din is and was to me.
But somehow, by the grace of the universe, my support system, and my own damn will to survive, I did indeed allow happiness back in. And I have shared it. Tentatively at first, and then louder and louder – wanting to scream from the mountaintops- it IS possible!!! Friends and loved ones, it is NOT easy. It’s a second-by –second choice I have to make. From simple actions such as choosing which song to play, to deciding whether once again for the gazillionth time rereading the countless messages Din and I sent to each other, to staring and crying over pictures, hour by hour, day by day. Always replaying, wishing there was something, ANYTHING, I could have done to prevent this tragedy from happening and still have him here with me!!
But, I have chosen to work on not doing those things. Instead, I have chosen joy, I have chosen life, I have chosen happiness. And every single moment of every day when I choose joy and life, it is reflected back at me. I can feel it on the deepest cellular level; it is reflected in the caring eyes of my friends, in the Ibu of my homestay, in my fellow Yogis, and the kind taxi man. For our energy, whether grief, despair, pain, or joy, love, and happiness, it is infectious and it infiltrates all that we come into contact with. The 5 months after Din’s death my energy was draining life from others, adding negativity, pulling others down when my sole purpose on this planet is to spread love and lift others up. My energy pattern this past month has shifted; and the purest joy I have gained from this shift is joy and love being reflected in the beautiful world all around me."
