In my last email, I referred to Rumi's poem, "The Guest House," and its final line about welcoming everything as "guidance from the beyond." Two days ago, I had an unexpected opportunity to apply Rumi's wisdom. I tripped and fell on my face. Not exactly the guest I was hoping for.

I got angry. I do not like to fall. It always hurts. I berated myself for not being more careful, more focused, and more aware of my environment.

Once my anger subsided, I recalled Rumi poem and the wisdom I might gain from this accident.

First, I have to accept that I am aging and not as agile as I used to be. I need to slow down, pause, and assess my situation. I need to remember to be in the moment.

I was not in the moment when I fell. I had been on my computer all day trying to figure out what upgrades I needed for the computer I am in the process of buying. I was not in my body or the physical world. I was in cyberspace.

The fall woke me up. All things considered, it was a gentle wake-up. I did not break any bones or suffer a concussion when my forehead hit the concrete floor. The fall pulled me into the moment because my bruised right hand and left knee hurt when I used them. I had to be mindful of the way I moved.

As the pain subsides, which it already has begun to do, I hope to remember the lesson of moving slower and of allowing myself to reenter my body after being on the computer.

I am reminded of the Borg Queen in Star Trek Voyager, at the moment her head and spinal column are joined to her bio-cyber body. She releases a big sigh of pleasure. I need to feel into my own body as I reenter the physical world.

Isn't it interesting that being in the moment and living with spirit are exactly what we need to navigate life as we grow older?

Twenty-some years ago, I went home to visit my mother in New Jersey. I found her in the kitchen awash in tears, food and a broken jar at her feet. She cried about not being able to see. Her right eye had been sewn shut several years before as a result of a brain tumor operation that broke the right facial nerve and ended her ability to blink.

My mom was tired of living, tired of the struggle with her handicapped body. A chill went down my spine. I sensed a turning point for her, a decision to let go. Seven months later, she was dead.

My mom did not know about Spirit, about being in the moment, or about treating accidents as guidance from beyond. She was trapped in a world that emphasized self-sufficiency, competence, and youth, a world she no longer fit.

I am lucky to have met Adnan, to know spirit and the moment, and to be able to see life differently. My heart goes out to my mother for the shame she felt at losing her capacity. Perhaps my anger at my fall is the residue of that sort of thinking. I am grateful to be able to breathe, to shift my mind and interpret events, not as failure, not as inadequacy, but as guests from the divine.

Living in spirit is about making that choice again and again, as we face the daily challenges of living in a human body in this physical plane. Join me on Tuesday, February 18, at 10:30 am PDT, and practice Rumi's wisdom as your guests show up in your movement, breath, and each moment.

If you do not have the new Zoom link, please send me an email. 

Be brilliant,

Dr. Michelle

Life Transformation Coach

Empowering Women to Reinvent Their Life After Loss

Secrets of Life and Death