You know who I’ve thought a lot about lately? The Hindu god, Shiva.
Now I’m not an expert on Hinduism, but I am fascinated by it and have learned a few things along the way.
Shiva is one of a trinity of Hindu gods. He is the god of destruction and transformation. (The other two being the creator god and the preserver god.)
I like how Hinduism recognizes that there is a cycle of life. In this case, creation, maintenance, and death.
When you are looking for serious transformation, people will sometimes look to Shiva for help.
Cue today’s world.
When something really weird is happening and it feels like the world is falling apart (because it is), I like to remember how Shiva honors the part of us that is connected to destruction and transformation.
This does not mean pretending that everything is okay (denial) or trying to only think positive thoughts, which is a form of suppression when used exclusively to avoid how you truly feel.
If you want a better life, sometimes you’ve got to visit hell for awhile and let your world fall apart.
The question then becomes…
How do you dance with the situation?
Not an easy task when it feels like your world is crumbling.
Rebuilding a life to hold more incredibleness means letting go of the the not-so-good stuff. Or the ho-hum stuff. Or the downright nasty stuff.
It’s painful at times. There’s going to be emotional upheaval. Not everything will run smoothly.
Other questions that help this falling apart syndrome:
- What do I want to let go of?
- What is no longer serving me?
- How can I operate so that I feel happier and healthier?
- Am I having enough fun?
- What is my vision for the future?
Often what I think I’m going to do and what feels right are not the same thing. My mind gets hung up on SHOULD, HAVE TO, and MUST. While my body has a better sense of what feels best.
Where do you need to dance with the god of destruction?
Here’s to transformation,
P.S. This picture is an incarnation of Shiva called Nataraja, Lord of the Dance.