Life can be interpreted in many ways. Here’s the perspective of one of the greats
You know Carl Jung. Happiness wouldn’t be happiness if it wasn’t infused with a little bit of sadness. So this isn’t your traditional happy-go-lucky kind of blog because that wasn’t Carl Jung’s style.
Instead, his formula for a happy life is somewhat paradoxical.
“No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell.” — Carl Jung
We’re not going to be travelling to hell here but his philosophy is partly based on a non-dualistic mindset that says our light must co-exist alongside our darkness to not suppress or deny any part of ourselves.
This was his version of wholeness.
“I must also have a dark side if I am to be whole” — Carl Jung
So, wholeness — or happiness — depends upon our ability to accept both within ourselves.
Over his 85 years, Carl Jung shared many ways to do this, namely with a fair dose of patience and equanimity.
“Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.
It is far better to take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.”
— Carl Jung
How to create patience and equanimity in life?
This is extremely personal and there’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. So, I’m not going to try and give you one here.
What I will share are a few ways that I find peace and cultivate patience in my own life and how they create balance in my heart and mind.
For that, I use a four-pronged approach.
- Writing — writing helps me make sense of the world. It’s my form of free therapy.
- Breathwork — I breathe to elevate my emotional state and still my mind while connecting to my soul or spirit.
- Vipassana meditation — I use this technique to cultivate patience and equanimity through the act of observing the…
