Happy Wellness Wednesday! As I embrace life during each Bali trip, I’ve been experiencing interesting encounters to reflect something deep to me.
Most recently, I met with a YouTuber at a Canggu cafe who mostly creates lifestyle videos. At first, I wondered why the Universe made us sit next to each other and have a conversation.
Embrace Life: The Universe is Always Working
Then, it hit me. The Universe wants to show me how much progress I’ve made in my spiritual growth!
That YouTuber/Instagram influencer represents my old self. Although I was mostly writing and not creating videos, I started as a personal/lifestyle blogger just like her.
What’s cool about this encounter was the conversation and how it went. I was explaining to her about how I’m no longer active on Instagram because I want to connect to my body and heart. And when I’m creating Instagram stories and content all day, I end up spending the entire day – and night- in my head!
Another reason is that by creating content all day (whether on Instagram, my blog or other social media), there is no space for anything new or magical to enter my life. It’s a fact. You can try it for yourself!
I’m honestly very happy with my decision and I’ve been away from the Instagram world since I went to Osho Miasto for my inner child and tantra workshops last October.
Now back to the lady I met at the cafe. The reason that I realized that the message was how much I’ve leveled up in my soul is the fact that she’s mind-identified. Being connected and identified with the mind and not the heart is something that we pick up from our caretakers. Basically, it’s our negative programming and conditioning.
I know this for a fact because my parents are mind-identified and have a very low consciousness level. As such, I took over that program and became mind-identified myself.
Releasing Mind Identified Conditioning
The truth is that to align yourself with the Universe and its magic, you need to release the mind-identified conditioning and go back to your heart and soul. You can achieve this by bringing awareness, attending spiritual growth workshops and working with a heart-based life coach.
We are all on a journey of going back home to our authentic selves. What’s beautiful about this journey is that it never ends.
Later that day – after I met that YouTuber – I went and checked her Instagram story just to see what she was up to.
She’s from Finland and so her content is all in Finnish. She speaks in Finnish too in her videos.
Once I watched her selfie videos in her story, everything became clear to me. She is completely mind-identified (you can tell that by reading someone’s aura and how they speak, even if it’s in a different language) and she operates from her mind only. Big full stop!
This used to be me just a few years ago, when I started my first blog in 2012. So I’m not talking about her to judge her. Only to explain where I am in my spiritual growth journey.
Another thing that I realized was that she was not connected to her feminine essence or sensuality at all. Simply because she’s only operating from her mind.
I feel blessed to have found the healing modality that works and for doing all the inner work that led me to re-connecting with my feminine energy and sensuality. I’m also very thankful for the magic of Bali and how it surprises me with synchronicity stories with each trip!
A lot has been happening in the last few days. I’ve switched up my routine so much. But I’ll be talking about this in Friday’s Soul Collective blog post.
I also went for an intense cardio class this morning, followed by a protein shake and that attracted magical messages from the Universe.
My Life isn’t Perfect, it’s my Attitude and Perspective that’s Different
As promised, this post is all about my daily challenges here in Bali and how I overcome them.
I’ll be sharing with you some snippets from the past ten days since I got to Canggu.
The aim behind this honest and raw sharing is to show you that my life isn’t perfect and that I, like you, experience challenges as well. I just deal with them in a different and positive way. Let me explain…
Noisy Airbnb Neighbors
This is my first time to stay at an Airbnb villa. I made the decision mainly because I’m spending an entire month in Canggu so I decided to stay at a villa instead of a hotel. I still think this is a good idea.
When I first moved in to the villa, there was a family next door who spent the whole day in their villa’s pool.
The man specifically was loud. Here’s the thing, I rarely stay at my villa. I spend most of the day outside and only go back when I need to change clothes or get my laptop. In my first week in Canggu, I rarely went back to the villa during the day.
So whenever I came back in the evening, I would hear the loud – and horrible – music, the guy talking loudly or other noises.
One evening, the guy (who is always outside in the garden – not sure if he even goes inside the villa to sleep at night) started screaming so loudly and went into a crazy rage! a few minutes later, I heard glass breaking. And that’s when I left the villa – luckily – to have dinner with a friend.
Coming from a toxic home – where my narcissistic abusive mother was always angry and loud – this incident was re-traumatizing.
As an NLP Life Coach, I started to think to myself: “What is this trying to teach me? Why did I attract this incident?”
I later concluded that since my survival mechanism while growing up in a toxic home was to avoid feeling pain and any negative emotions, this incident is happening to allow me to embrace and process all of my emotions. Especially since I had already set the intention to connect to all of my emotions and not push away the negative or toxic ones.
A few days after that incident, I found out from the cleaning lady and the pool guy that they had checked out. And that the glass breaking sound was the coffee table glass top.
To give you an idea of how much noise he was making, I heard it from the inside of the bedroom with the sliding door completely closed.
Let me share another story…
Gojek Stories
Gojek for those of you who don’t know is the equivalent to Uber but for motor bikes. The rates are so cheap that a ride within the Canggu area costs around AED 2.4 for short rides. It’s a fact and I’m not joking! I always round it to IDR 10,000 and give them a 10k note instead of the 9k fare for the short trip.
So, one Saturday evening, I stayed late at a cafe writing a new blog post. When I tried to leave at around 8:00 pm, I couldn’t get a Gojek ride within a short amount of time. So the app started acting up and I wasn’t able to book a ride.
I also tried verifying my email address. However, it kept giving me an error message and I couldn’t book any rides.
Now for someone who relies completely on Gojek to get around in Canggu, this is not good news.
After many attempts to sort out the issue, I managed to get a waiter at the cafe to book me a ride through his phone’s app.
Because of the insane traffic that evening – it was because of the Chinese New Year and it being a Saturday – we ended up taking a different route back to my villa. That other route took us all around Canggu – literally!
So, my lesson from this incident – which most people would label as being stressful and frustrating – is that the Universe wants me to manifest my desire fast. And as you know, taking another route and doing things differently, helps manifest synchronicity and your desires fast.
Another unpleasant thing that comes with using Gojek is the fact that the drivers sometimes ask personal questions or sexually harass the clients. I always reply in brief sentences but I once had a driver try to kiss me after dropping me to my villa and I thought that was horrible!
Because I’m a member of a specific Canggu community Facebook group for girls and I was searching other options for transfers (after the Gojek app fail incident), I discovered that sexual harassment from drivers is a common thing and the thread was about a year old.
Anyway, I choose to not learn how to ride a scooter here because I want to embrace my feminine essence. I was actually planning on taking scooter lessons this trip but I changed my mind when I got here, mainly because of the feminine energy aspect.
Story number three…
Immigration Office Miscommunication
My third story tops all the other two in its grandiose and craziness! LOL
I had my immigration office appointment yesterday morning for the visa extension photos and finger prints.
It was a process I was feeling confident and relaxed about. I’d used the service of a visa agent so I wouldn’t have to wait in the queue. They told me they’d help me expedite the process.
So, at exactly 9:00 am, I take Gojek to the immigration office in Jimbaran.
As soon as I got there, I met with the guy from the visa office. He connected me to another guy who helped me get a number for my turn at the photo/finger prints booth.
There was lack of communication from minute one. I saw them do this with everyone. We were all confused as to what to do when we got to the ticket counter. This was because the guy wouldn’t instruct us or say anything.
I ended up waiting for an entire hour. Then, the immigration office’s systems went down and the numbers stopped moving.
Now that’s not where the problem is. The issue is that after this happened, I went to check with the main guy from the visa office about the status and my turn.
He then asked me what my number was. He then said: “if you told me when you first arrived, I would have helped you.”
Basically, his job is to expedite our process (since we paid extra cash for the service). But because he was very busy – and obviously disorganized – he totally forgot about me!
Once I spoke to him, he gave me a VIP pass. I then skipped the official queue to get my photos and finger prints taken. Which took only about a minute or two!
Let me give you some perspective on this story. First, while I was waiting for my number (which was for an hour or more from the time I got there), I was thinking that it’s interesting how I paid extra for a visa agent to process my documents but I seem to be waiting in queue just like everyone else. So here’s the first red flag and thought that crossed my mind.
Second, interestingly enough, I saw a man who came at the same time as me (with the same visa agent) dosing off while waiting for his number and that’s why I didn’t realize that we can be expedited. He’s waiting just like and I can see him right in front of me!
Third, because I’m a very spiritual person and I have done an immense amount of work on myself, I didn’t mind waiting at all. For sure, I wasn’t reading a book or checking social media or anything (only towards the end when the system went down and I started reading TripAdvisor reviews for a few minutes) before I got the VIP service!
I was mindfully waiting for my turn and observing all the other people who looked so impatient and low vibe. I was also excited for the number synchronicity when the number D101 to counter number 1 appeared on the screen!
When I spoke with the main visa guy and I asked him why no one advised me that I can jump the queue. His answer was that today is a busy day with many people coming in for their immigration process. Apparently the other guy (who takes us to the ticket counter without explaining what we should do there) told him my number (which was a really late one) but then he got busy with other people coming in and that’s how he forgot about me!
Basically, they have poor organization and zero communication skills.
After I got clarity on why there was a confusion and (huge delay) with my process, I left and even waved to the guy as I drove past him on the back of my Gojek!
In total, I spent about an hour and a half at the immigration office. When the entire process could have taken a few minutes!
What the Universe wants to communicate with me:
First, I must say that on my way back to my area from the immigration office, I also took a different route which is another great thing.
What I think the Universe wanted me to see was how much my energy and self-worth has shifted.
If the same incident would have happened in the past, I would think that there’s something wrong with me. I would feel that because I’m not good enough, I attracted this incident. I would truly believe that I’m not worthy and completely blame myself for everything!
What I see now is that it’s the employee’s fault. He’s not organized or professional. It’s totally his problem and I don’t take it personally! What happened has nothing to do with me at all. It’s simply how they operate as a visa agent. I can just let it go because it’s a waste of energy and time to give any power to it.
Embrace life with all its Joy and Pain
What I want you to practice doing is to ask yourself when something challenging happens in your day: “What is this incident trying to teach me?” or “What is this person teaching me?” or “What is the Universe trying to communicate to me?”
Life is all about growth and evolution. And if we didn’t have challenges in our daily lives, we would stay as we are and not grow. I’m grateful for all my experiences – good and bad – as they have shaped me into the person that I am today.
Another perspective to consider is that we expand our souls and level up when we are uncomfortable or when we are facing challenges.
So, look at every challenge that you encounter as an opportunity for expansion. Embrace life and manifest your dream reality!
Practice embracing all of life’s moments – the positive and the negative ones. Don’t avoid feeling your negative emotions. Sit with them and feel them with your body.
The beauty and magic of life is created by the paradox and mix of cycles and situations. So learn to embrace life at all times.
Last Words
I shared with you a post consisting of a series of misfortunes or challenges to show you that my life isn’t perfect. That I too experience difficult situations. I also shared with you how I overcome them and embrace life, to inspire you to follow a similar approach.
And finally, when you read my upcoming posts, I want you to remember that I continue to face challenging moments each day. It’s simply my choice to not cover them in this blog. Because what you focus on, expands.
So take time to feel the pain. Cry it out if you need to. But don’t dwell over it. Choose to focus on the positive and the good that’s already abundant in your reality. Embrace life and see what happens!
Sending you love from magical Bali.
Stay tuned for a Future-self Friday blog post about how I’m stepping more into my future self with each passing day.
Love,
Leela
