And then I was born

 

I was born out of love and a bit of rebellion, the rebellious spirit of the ‘60s from past century.

I was brought up with care and love, a rustic unshaped love, but lots of love. My needs were satisfied and I felt protected.

I was told and guided… not much guidance there, I had to make up my own mind about what to do.

I was… kind of abandoned on the way… and then…

I was born… out of love and care and power, not physically, but spiritually.

I was brought up with so much more love and care and a new spiritual family. My needs were satisfied, I felt protected.

I was told and guided all the way, by God and people close to Him. That helped me to understand my part in this world and to make decisions about what to do.

I was taken care, I am still cared and I also learned to help others satisfy their own needs and to help others to feel protected.

Today, I celebrate both births I have taken, in the same day.

Gratitude for my parents and family.

Gratitude for my spiritual Parents and family.

 

8 asana of the heart – I care…

 

CARE is the first asana, in which you move your heart, your love, extending it to everyone who is part of your social circle - relatives, friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc.

The best way to do that is to visualize, in which you can see yourself embracing your people with hugs of light.

However, to care about someone means that person is really important, so it is necessary to realize and to change my own perspective. It is necessary to reflect on how significant that human being really is.

In that sense, the pandemic was a blessing in disguise as I am sure you, just like myself, start to realize the real importance other people have in our lives, something maybe we would never really think about; it is not we didn't care before, but maybe we didn't care enough.

Besides the visualization, everyday, do this:

• Think of those who are in relationship with you.
• Send them love, by visualizing you in a form of light, going and hugging them.
• Ask and reflect:
• What have you learnt or achieved by inserting that person into your life or by becoming part of their life?
• How much is this person important for you?

By doing this, you will feel your relationship with others improving and because it is your love you are sending to others, your own life will improve too.

 

This post is part of a series called 8 asana of the heart.

Caring about yourself and others

When President Obama went for his Obamacare, he was not only doing something political and probably fulfilling an ideal from his heart. And it does not matter if you believed him, agreed with him or even hated him. He was doing one of the most natural instincts we have as humans. He was caring.

Whether it is a crucial business advantage, manifested via Customer Service, or something that glued together a family or a friend, caring is part of being human. However, the way caring happens have been changing along the years.

Although many people still try to care for others, time and the pace of life creates situations where the physical presence is simply not possible. So, it is time to understand caring beyond the physical: that important and powerful energy release when one person thinks well of another is also caring. That implies caring of others start with caring of the self.

Many years ago, I had the honor to translate an authority in spirituality. BK Jayanti is an Indian citizen resident in London. Since she was a child, she has been exposed to spirituality in many ways and at the same time, she was educated in a very Western country. That blend makes BK Jayanti's words have a different taste as she does not speak only from one point of view.

In Medellin, she gave a lecture to a group of people; among them, many kidnapped people's families were present. Her words were powerful and simple, full of knowledge and very gentle. Basically, what she said was that those people (the victims) were dependable on the attendees' feelings. If they cared about them, then they should change their mindset and experience peace so that those people will experience the same.

Does it sound strange? What about this: didn't you ever experience something someone else was feeling?

Care about yourself, being careful about what you think and feel. Then, think in the same way in relation to others,  creating a huge chain of powerful thoughts and feelings, wait and see the results.

Honesty that touches the heart

If there is something I have never learned was how to read a newspaper. Yes, I know how to read, come on! But not a newspaper.

In a plane, the person sitting by my side was reading like a princess. After she finished, I noticed with certain envy as the newspaper looked like new. Mine... well, I prefer to not mention its situation. This is why I LOVE reading newspaper via INTERNET.

But, it paid off. I was extremely touched by an article by Mr. Michael Gove, pre current UK Education Minister (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2057850/Michael-Gove-describes-adoption-transformed-life.html). In it, he was counting his own tale of adoption. His own adoption.

Well, how many people acknowledge they were adopted? How many ministers you know would do that? But he did, I must confess I became a deep admirer of him. Not sure if he is a good minister or not, but as a person, he should receive some prize for being a hero. In times when everyone tries to deny and show a different face, his honesty is a fresh sign humankind has hope.

I won't bother you with details you yourself can read, but I just thought about a few points I think anyone should reflect upon and act on them:

• Am I ready to give support for someone who has nothing to do with me? His parents were able to do it. It is not a question of money - in fact, he admits that nowadays, his parents, or people like them, wouldn't be able to adopt anyone. It is more than money. You can call it courage or mercy, they adopt not only him, but also another girl, who became his sister and whose quasi deafness problems were quite serious. As leaders, that is what we do: we have to "adopt" people who, most of the time, don't have much to do with us.
• How can I help in empowering others? Mr. Gove's tale is on love. Not that cheesy romantic love. It is not about Prince Charming. It is about REAL love. It is love that cares and brings up. It is love that educates and respect. It is love that really works, enough to create a minister. Do I love others that much? Because it is that love that will give them power to overcome any situation.
• Will my honesty hurt myself or others I care? It is honesty. As he tells at the beginning, only a few people knew about his situation. He risked his position telling others he was not what he shows (even his name is different). But his honesty conquered me and I am sure, it conquered many others too. We use too many masks. However, more than the honesty, they way he chose to tell his story - he didn't "throw" it over the public, he touched their hearts. Leadership is about values. Vision and purpose, results and strategies can be accomplished by someone with a diploma. But that diploma needs the certificate of values, like honesty, true honesty, tolerance, calmness, love and peace that touch others' hearts.

It is quite possible I will never meet Mr. Gove, his sister or his wonderful parents. But they will live with me in my memories and they will always inspire my own leadership.

Thank you.