So often in our lives we experience things that we view as insurmountable. We allow ourselves, even for a short period of time, to become defined by the experiences we have had. We allow ourselves to slip into the role of the victim instead of recognizing our own inner strength; a strength that pulled us through extremely difficult moments.
There is an old expression that goes “Turning the Tides,” which is to mean to switch things up. Now, many have used this term as a justification for seeking revenge. That was never the original intent, from what I have been told. The original intent was based more upon Elemental teachings.
The element of water is one that, in cultures throughout the world, represents aspects of the human soul and human emotions. “Still waters run deep” is an expression for how deeply a quiet person tends to think about things. It is also a bit of a warning that you really don’t know what lies beneath the surface of their facade. Water expressions are there generally to get us to address the emotions that are being felt and the soul level of consciousness.
“Going with the flow,” however, can be a challenge at times, especially when events are such that totally mess you up for a bit. I remember being laid up for a couple of months after being hit by a vehicle. In a way, that event in my life challenged me to put to immediate use the many gifts of healing that I had been using to help others, only to direct it upon myself for a change. That is what eventually led me to accepting my gifts and becoming the shamanic healer that I am today. But in a way, I guess my soul needed a wake-up call. That is not to say that the drunken idiot who hit me was doing me a favour or that the Universe thought that it was meant to be.
In fact, this is where we get into the art of transmutation. Transmutation is the process wherein one can take a poisonous or dangerous situation and make it into a “medicine” that one can carry through life. That is what I did with that accident. The only way to do that was to remain objective. I could not forgive the person who hit me. They were apparently drunk and driving a stolen car. So basically they were committing a crime and putting many people’s lives at risk. I just happened to be the one they actually hit. So forgiveness would be hollow at best. After all, they showed no remorse. But what I could do is to become objective and NEUTRAL in my quest to heal. That meant that I was needing to get to a place within wherein I could not hold anger, hostility, rage, or thoughts of revenge or even punishment. I just had to allow myself to let go and flow.
This is what “Turning the Tides” is really all about. It is taking something and shifting how we think about it and how we create a narrative about it in our minds. Narratives can be useful, but they can also hold us back and even become self-destructive and dangerous. So we have to master the ability to turn the tide on it. We have to allow the new, neutral perspective to wash over us. We have to soak it up and allow it to flood through every cell of our bodies, every pore of our skin, and every level and aspect of our consciousness. Then we will be able to make ripples that are needed.
Notes:
- I find it interesting how often life’s journey will lead us to Elemental and Medicine Wheel teachings. I do not think that this is accidental in any way. I think that those teachings are age-old because they totally ROCK at life and life’s challenges.
- Did you notice the terminology that I used there…”wash over us”, “soak it up”, “allow it to flood through”? These are all expressions that are of the water element and that speak the language of self-transformation. If we were talking about the air element I would instead have used terminology like “breathing it through”, “blowing your mind”, or “expanding your consciousness.” Words really do make a world of difference.