Being Point

Tag: times of loss

  • The Suffering of Others and Equanimity

    Witnessing bad things happen to people has been very hard to bear. People experience health issues, financial distress, emotional pain, relationship problems and a myriad of events ranging from merely bad to downright tragic. How do we deal with seeing that?

    It has felt easier for me to live in equanimity about my own life difficulties than to have equanimity about others’ sorrows. Why? Because I want to help; I want to do something with and for them to change things and make it better.

    Life recently presented me with a situation where I witnessed someone else experiencing great loss . . . and, try as I might, there is nothing that I can do about it, and I was unable to simply let it be.

    Have you ever had the experience of being present to the pain and suffering of another . . . and be unable to help? How well have you been able to live in equanimity? Is it easier for you to have equanimity about your own situations or those of others?

    Copyright 2009. E. B. Hutt Bush and Coaching for Results, Inc.

  • “Security Is Mostly A Superstition”

    Almost everyone has seen this Helen Keller quote: “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature.”

    Keller, of course, overcame tremendous odds to become a living example of courage and persistence. She had to manifest security from her core – little reliant on the kinds of things that many of us have used to simulate security.

    Times of loss and great challenge reveal the degree of self-security that a person possesses or can access. Have you ever personally experienced – or observed – great loss having an impact on feelings of security . . . one way or the other?

    How able have you been to follow Keller’s example? Are her words just talk, or can we create a grand adventure from adversity and learn to be secure in our ability to get through tougher times?

    Pretty words . . . or words to live by? How can her observation be translated into reality in your life?

    Copyright 2009. E. B. Hutt Bush and Coaching for Results, Inc.