A teacher of mine once said that your "good" days are only there to keep your spirits high - and your "off" days are the most valuable: the ones you really learn from.
I made that connection early on that this was not only applicable to class, but this one was actually a lesson for life.
Of course, living in today's world where only the good days count and are most cherished, it's hard to make peace with this lesson: our social media accounts only feature the sunny days. When asked how we are, we say "good, thanks" or "great", although we may not feel like that at all. But who is interested in the "off" moments really? And, if we were to be honest, who wants to voluntarily deal with difficulty and complications in order to grow? No one does.
This last Mercury Retrograde that ended a mere week ago (with its shadow still lingering for another week or so), came with a lesson along these lines.
It showed up in typical Mercury Retrograde fashion: a check that was expected to arrive in the mail, became a no-show.
And to top off the drama, I had just come back from a vacation overseas and had gone a bit overboard with my spending. My website hosting plan was due with a hefty yearly charge, and finally I had to replace a rather expensive item that had stopped working (really, Mercury?!?). On top of that, I had to submit new orders, etc, etc.
It was painful, highly inconvenient, and annoying!
In addition, my ego started to show sides I had not seen in a while. My mind was spinning: did I drop it somewhere? Was it caught in other piece of mail? Had something fallen through the cracks. How in the world did this happen?
I started sending daily email reminders to the sender - some of them were not answered, or not in the way I wanted them to be answered. I was getting really impatient at day 5, day 7... my anger was growing at day 10.
Still no check. We are now at day 28, and the check is still not there - but my intuition knows it is coming. Eventually.
But that's beside the point. What is this REALLY about?
To sum it up, I enquired with the universe - and the response was, more or less:
"Pay attention! I have your back, but you need to listen in order to make some changes that will help you in the long run."
I gave it some more thought and figured that it is about DEPENDENCY. I had made myself somewhat dependent on this one check. And I was depending on something that was not even real yet. Believe it when it is ACTUALLY THERE, in your hands.
So, as an example: if you are an up-and-coming entrepreneur, and happy to land a gig that is bringing in a good amount of money: It is not yet time to sit back and relax! In order to really strive and to CONTINUE striving, it is about securing multiple income streams, some of them active, some of them passive.
Make sure you do not overlook this memo in your enthusiasm!
While these kind of lessons suck - eventually, they will make you feel a sense of gratitude to learn them now, rather than later.
Let's face it: we are NEVER in control of anything: the flight may be booked, the 5-star hotel reserved - but what happens when that plane never takes off?
Another lesson: Don't drive yourself nuts! Do what you can, figure out a plan B, and then give the rest to the universe. Ask for help and expect it to come in creative (unexpected) ways. And that's it. Let go, and let LOVE.