The energy of the Universe is always at work. I spend a significant portion of my time trying to understand that energy, how I can align with it, how to find the “pause” before reacting to its lessons and miracles and how to be present while keeping perspective. This journey is the trip of a lifetime, one I wouldn’t trade for anything.

One of the things we learn in meditation is how to be the “eye” of the storm if there is one circling around us. If we practice stillness when things are relatively quiet (usually only in the early morning which is why a lot of meditation practice happens before the sunrise) we can better access, and even cultivate presence when something unexpected shows up, when the energy of the Universe is “at work.”

All sounds pretty fluffy, comforting and possible. But there comes a time when our theories have to transition to actual practice. When this happens our practice is truly “tested” and we can tell, by our response to the circumstance, how well we are walking the walk and operationalizing those skills we think we have been honing. Universal energy will give us these opportunities, whether we want them or not.

You may have noticed, that the website content for LisaMcFarland.com suddenly lacks any content beyond August 30, 2021. I noticed it too, when I was working to create something yesterday afternoon. I have partnered with a friend who has generously offered to help me with website development, and I was learning to create a “staging” area for our shared edits, so we could collaborate from different geographies.

At some point, I must have executed an action to replace the live site, with the current staging site which I established back on August 30th. Because all content after that date, including published posts, reader commentary and several draft posts for future publication is now gone.

When I first discovered my error, I was 5 minutes short of a scheduled conference call that I didn’t want to cancel. So I took some deep breaths and set my fear that I’d lost all that content, aside. Once that call wrapped, I dove deep into process of trying to recover the data. So far, no success, though I am not giving up yet.

We hear endlessly that we must make “mis-takes” in order to succeed, that doing so is a requisite for progress. But when it happens, it can be hard to remember our intention to take this concept from theory to practice, by doing what we can to mitigate the damage, and taking that experience to a place of learning by asking questions like: “What was my role in this? How can I better prepare for next time? What could I have done differently?”

Post Traumatic Growth occurs if, and only if, we are curious in the aftermath of something we perceive as unfortunate about our own contribution to the outcome. If we flail around, throw things, curse, numb, and have a tantrum when things don’t go as expected, that is ok. Just realize that when the dust settles, there is still an opportunity for learning and growth, and depending on how long it takes our proverbial “dust to settle” we may also have made a big mess that further complicates the initial situation.

Despite the apparent glitch in losing so much important content and feeling embarrassed that I have made some type of error (maybe several) I am most proud to see the progress I have personally made. All that time on the mat in the morning showed up when I needed it most. I didn’t have a tantrum when I realized what I’d done. I didn’t curse myself, decide to quit, or make a mess that would need cleaning.

Instead, I took a step back, took the night off, and am back at it again today. You’ve heard me say “Every day is day #1” and this was one of many chances for me, to go from theory to practice. It is not an easy one, but a journey worth exploring. Not wallowing in what happened yesterday, or fearful of today, I am starting today like I start every day: “Meditate-Pray-Write” and am grateful to humbly share this experience with others who have made “mis-takes” also.

As a final comment I do apologize to our on-line community as we may have literally lost your thoughtful, supportive and intuitive comments that were posted between 8/31 – 9/15/21 and for that I am sorry. Thank you for your patience as we navigate this digital world together.