When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.  Henry Ford

Off I went to visit a friend.  Everything went smoothly as I arrived at the airport, checked my bags, made it through security and finally boarded the airplane. We taxied out to the runway and took off and I settled back for an uneventful flight.  About thirty minutes into the flight, there was a loud bang, the plane shuddered, and the oxygen masks deployed!  As the plane settled into a descent, I noticed the elderly gentleman next to me struggling for breath!  I reached for an oxygen mask and……placed it on my face!

Then I assisted the man next to me.

In the back of my mind I recalled the flight attendant reminding me, prior to takeoff, to place my mask on before attempting to help anyone else.  Not following this advice could have led to both myself and the person I was attempting to help perishing!

What great life advice this is – you have to help yourself before you can help others!

In case you are wondering why I am telling this story, it's because “helping myself” is what I have been doing for the last few months!  The past year has been very challenging for me and I felt it was best to “put my oxygen mask on” and help myself before continuing to post blogs!

So, why did I need an oxygen mask?  The past year was difficult for a number of reasons:

• First, the company I worked for doubled my work and expected it all to be done in a regular work week.  I worked long days as well as Saturday’s and Sunday’s for a month.  When it was all over, I was thanked for the extra effort I put in and then told that my position was eliminated and I would be laid off in a month.
• Just before I was told about the layoff, my 91 year old Mother passed away unexpectedly.  It was a huge blow to me since I was her primary caregiver and she was in good health for her age.
• Of course, the guy that rarely gets sick (me) develops an eye infection just after my health insurance ends.  Not life threatening, but adding to the anxiety and weirdness of it all.
• Finally, what better way to cap things off than having relationship issues.  There will be much much more on this later – it’s such an important topic.

The fact is, we all experience events in our lives that are not what we would have hoped for.  The string of events I experienced is no different than what anyone else might experience.  The questions we usually ask are, “Why have these things happened to me and what do I do about them?”

So far, CodexVita has focused on understanding oneself and beginning a regular meditation practice.  Both are essential to finding your way to a holistic life, however, my experiences over the last year have reminded me there are other aspects of holistic living we need to explore immediately. Specifically, dealing with adversity and ways to bring good experiences into our lives.  With that in mind, I am going to begin to move us in multiple directions simultaneously!  I hope you are ready for this (I think you are).  We will remain focused on the expansion of our meditation practice, but will begin to explore a topic often referred to as the “Law of Attraction.”  The Law of Attraction actually goes hand-in-hand with meditation, so exploring both topics simultaneously is a natural progression.

Very briefly, the Law of Attraction is a universal law that dictates what we think becomes what manifests in our lives.  The idea is that we can create and shape the world around us through our thoughts.  There are no limits, anything we can think, we can bring into our lives!  This is one of the most exciting topics we can explore – and it is time!  Sound interesting? Buckle your seat belt!!!

Before I go, I have to express my gratitude to all of you that have encouraged me over the past year of my silence.  Your supportive and encouraging comments helped me navigate the events of the past year and I am forever grateful to all of you!  Let’s move forward together and enrich each other’s lives!

Namaste