By Rocio Morales
During the holiday season, I had opportunity to visit and spend time with the youngsters in the family. Many of them are teenagers or in their early twenties now. I like to talk to them because they are full of energy, hopes and aspirations. Interestingly at different times they mentioned in the conversation “I didn’t know it hurts when you grow up!” or “I didn’t expect life to be hard when you grow up!”
I understood exactly what they were trying to say. When you are young, you depend mostly of your parents and the decisions they take for you whether you have a Tiger mom or a more
slacking parent, you will mostly do what they say because they say so and more importantly you will learn from their actions that will have a heavier weight on you than the pep talks. At teenagers years, you don’t have this idealized idea of your parents and usually the teens try to break free from them acting up and looking for options that would make them unique and different.At the late teens kids stop fighting with the authority figures and start accepting them for being just humans; at this moment if they are aware they will be able to see glimpses of those adults and their impact in their life; something that can be quite disturbing.
I guess the hurting comes from the realization that you are the creator of your life, regardless of the baggage; you are the one taking decisions and watching the consequences unfold.
Sages of all times have tried to answer the question how to live fully?
Here are some points that might help to anyone awakening to the human experience:
a) Recognize that life is impermanent
b) Be aware of you baggage, sort it out and let go of what you don’t need
c) Be objective yet compassionate with others and yourself
d) Become aware of the contents of your mind and how it reacts to daily events.
e) Learn to control your emotions and think twice before acting
f) Be humble, mistakes are part of the human experience, the more you learn from them the easiest will be to avoid them in the future
g) Ask for help when you need it. You are not alone. There are many who have experienced the same as you and found ways to overcome the challenges
h) Find someone who will inspire you by his/her actions and integrity and commitment to be better and leave a better world
i) Learn from the foolish actions that you or others make
j) Attune to life everyday by looking at the sunrise, the trees, the kid trying to walk and all that inspires you and opens your heart
In Yoga the purpose of the human experience is to be aware of who we are in many levels of our psyche and open up to Reality. That is really the purpose behind the poses, and twists and turns. When the mind is resting it is easier to pay attention to the miracle of Life.
