Isn’t it funny how, just when you think you’ve turned a corner and your life is going to finally and miraculously come together, life decides to throw you a couple of curve balls, seemingly just to keep you on your toes?

I’ve had a couple of them recently, and whilst most of this blog is a hive of positive-thinking, I want it to always remain real, so, this month….my car broke down, a friend fell out with me for a reason I couldn’t understand, I lost love and, perhaps worst of all, my dog fell and became paralysed from the neck down and had to have emergency spinal surgery to restore function to his limbs.

Suffice to say, I feel pretty battered and bruised (although not nearly as bad as my dog, Sam, obviously).

I suppose I could have held my hands up and given up at this point. I could have decided I needed a break from it all and run away to a friends or my parents and camped out for a few days and pretended the rest of the world didn’t exist, but here’s the funny thing about owning your own business and being reliant on yourself for making a living, it shifts your perspective on what’s possible.

I committed myself to the life I’m now living, and that means that no matter what the Universe throws at me, I choose to look at each situation with love, and look for what it can teach me about being more loving and compassionate. That’s not an easy thing to do, especially when you jump into fear thinking of perhaps your dog hurt himself because of your bad karma. I’m not going to lie, I went to a couple of dark places over the last couple of weeks, but what I personally saw as a huge win, was how quickly I was able to pull myself out of it and return to love, with a new lesson learned under my belt.

Here are my top tips for helping you learn from experience, even when that experience really sucks:

1. Keep going with your daily commitments and routines. I kept up my daily yoga and meditation practice, and didn’t cancel any of my clients. That was hard because I knew it meant I had to give them my usual 110% when I was feeling more than distracted, but I asked the Universe for help and I was met.

2. Allow yourself to hurt. Acknowledge the part of yourself that’s distraught or in bits. Do the shadow work, embrace your inner child, call a friend and cry down the phone to them, do whatever you need to in order to express, acknowledge and honour the part of you that is hurting.

3. Whilst acknowledging the hurt, there is also a recognition that there is learning to be had from this, and that’s where your prayer, meditation, self-reflection or whatever it is you do happens. Ask to see the lesson, ask to see with love, ask for a freaking miracle if you feel like you need one!

4. Keep returning to love. Keep asking for understanding of the lesson. Keep looking forward. Keeping allowing the support of your friends and family. Keep following that little glimmer of light that points you the way towards hope.

Even when the surgeon told me I needed to prepare myself for Sam to die, I never believed for a second that he would, but the dark thoughts that came up for me, the self-blame linked to ‘bad karma’ helped me find a new understanding and appreciation of some of the pain another family member went through with her pets, believing they got sick because of her. It’s brought us closer. Therein lies the miracle.

Regardless of my thoughts around Sam’s accident, I also need to remind myself that his accident is HIS business. He’s a soul too, so to assume that my karma affects his life and soul journey is a little self-centred. He’s got his own karma to contend with without mine!

So I hope the above glimpse into my life serves you in some small way. Remember that whatever you’re going through is manageable, because you’re still here, and you found your way to this article. The Universe is giving you hope.

I’m Emma Brooke. I work with beautiful, intelligent, compassionate and spiritual ladies who have somehow stepped away from their true selves and aren’t entirely sure how to get themselves back again. In my signature program, I take you step by step over an eight week period from overwhelm and mental exhaustion to self-assured and guilt-free – knowing what you want, what you need and how you can make yourself and those you love feel fulfilled and complete. Find out more about what I offer.