Focus goes where energy flows, Tony Robbins
Don’t you just love other countries’ cultural celebrations?
People. I’m fascinated by them.
Not just as individuals, but as cultures as well. Around the world we celebrate in such extraordinarily different ways, and yet at the root are the same ideas.
We are all so different and yet we are the same in so many ways: it’s a beautiful paradox.
When I was travelling through Peru I found myself, through a misunderstanding, alone in Cuzco.
I wasn’t planning on going that way, but there I was, exploring its winding streets in dazzling mountain light and discovering a festival was coming. For the winter solstice. I had no expectation, no knowledge of this festival and perhaps that’s partly why I was so astonished.
Because there are no words to describe the spectacle that is Inti Raymi. Thousands arrive in the Inca capital for nine days of celebrations, marking the date in a riot of colour, music and traditional dance that has been handed down from one generation to another for thousands of years.
As our American friends celebrate Thanksgiving, there’s a familiarity and yet a strangeness to their festival of thanking nature too. Most countries mark harvest time. In the US, the festivities are rooted in the Pilgrim Fathers’ first crop success, back in 1621. And yet it seems to be represented by a turkey… Poor turkey.
Today, across the US, as turkeys run for the hills everywhere, families are gathering and celebrating and giving thanks for what they have.
Gratitude is at the root of all celebrations and it’s a well known practice in many therapeutic approaches.
Seeing what we have and noticing it, every day, can literally, change our minds.
As Tony Robbins says, ‘Focus goes where energy flows,’ and so being grateful for what we have can only bring us happiness.
When I recall this memory from my travels I don’t dwell on the misunderstanding that led to me finding myself alone in an unfamiliar South American country. I’m glad the people I was supposed to meet up with changed their plans. Because otherwise my memories would have been very different.
Not only do I have the precious memory of Inti Raymi, but I recall my strength and independence, my ability to handle change effectively and enjoy my own company.
And I am grateful.
What qualities do you have that make you grateful?
Let me know. let’s celebrate our power together – every day.