Life has the ability to shape us and I do my best to teach my Teens to be grateful for the challenges and lessons along the way, to choose the open doors of change and value them as opportunities and posibilities – by Lavinia Toma.
Over the last interesting months, I was lucky to receive a lot of inspiration from the teens I worked with and I am so grateful for all their lessons! Among other things, we discussed about change and life choices, and we played with the wonderful words associated with change, like flexibility, agility, faith, hope, determination, perseverance, and courage – which one do we need the most nowadays?
Deep diving into the terminology, we discovered that the word “courage” comes from the Latin word “cor” meaning “open heart”. My Teens were surprised to find out the exact meaning of the word “courage”, where there is nothing connected with force, power, stamina, or physical strengths. Instead, it is all about showing your true self, with love and confidence. Many and long discussions along the way, for each one of us the question remains, where and how should we set up our borders, how gifting and receiving, unconditionally, works in real life?
For me, the best lessons are the ones coming from Mother Nature…. After so much rain & water my flowers were almost destroyed. And, after few days of too intense sun, they started to lose all their remaining leaves. But ones these extreme episodes were over, they started to grow new leaves … The same with our dog, a small Yorkie, who, whenever is facing something new and unfamiliar is shaking all over but still sniffing and waving his tail, excitement and curiosity for new things overcoming the fear for something new, be it a smell, a place, or a person… As I said, we can learn a lot from nature and animals, they are more connected with the Earth and the Planet. We just must do the same – stay open to receive whatever comes on our way, having faith and hoping for the best.
“Do not be caught up in the things you cannot change, instead focus on what you can and flow through the turbulence, bend, don’t break. Have faith and do not be afraid because the winds of positive change are on your side.”
Change is a constant; is how we evolve and everything around us evolves. We can’t stay in closed spaces, gated and guarded ones and expect things to be predictable and controllable. We need to go out there, receive and share/ give back without expecting a specific return, connect with the rest of the world, contribute in any way we can.
What if instead of going out there frustrated and nervous carrying around the good old pre-pandemic scorecard and the matching blinders, we do it filled with gratitude instead. Gratitude for having the chance to socialize again, to physically connect and feel each other, for the new life and the new experiences, regardless of the current context. We should all be grateful instead of complaining and be frustrated because the new “normal” doesn’t fit the perfect “Old/ pre-pandemic normal”. What better way to showcase this other than the greatest display of perfect sport performance, courage, determination, gumption, perseverance, resilience, tenacity, patience, fairness and wonderful inspiration and motivation – the Olympic Games?
They should have taken place in the pandemic year 2020, instead they are happening in summer 2021, even though the name is still 2020… One proof-point for the “new normal” 😊. I prefer to see it as a miracle and be grateful that the Olympic Games are really happening, offering us a wonderful and inspiring break and exception from the “pandemic storyline”. I think it is amazing that so many athletes from all over the world trained and qualified for this event under extra-ordinary circumstances, that they have put themselves through so much to get to Tokyo and hence, closer to their Olympic Dreams! If this is not inspiring and motivating, I don’t know what is…
Watching the wonderful Opening Ceremony, I was amazed and grateful for this wonderful Union in Diversity! And listening how the whole project evolved over the last 10 years, from the first idea, to preparing the application and pitching Tokyo as the host-country for the 2020 Olympic Games, to making it happen under the never seen before pandemic circumstances – I felt grateful for all the efforts made by so many people, from so many countries!
I always loved and admired Japan, the history, the culture, and everything they stand for – if someone could have done it, it had to be Japan. They know how to overcome any challenges and still make everything look so simple, elegant, effortless, and meaningful at the end! What a wonderful lesson – together we can overcome any obstacles, regardless of the context! It is our choice to make, to put ourselves out there, do our best and team-up for the common good!
