[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.98″ custom_padding=”7px|0px|20px|0px|false|false”][et_pb_row custom_padding=”27px|0px|0|0px|false|false” _builder_version=”3.19.13″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.13″ text_font_size=”18px” link_option_url_new_window=”on”]<\/p>\n
Recently, I sat in my backyard with a small cup of Turkish coffee and a piece of gluten-free cinnamon toast with Irish butter (oh, so good!!!<\/em>) and enjoyed the fresh morning air.<\/span><\/p>\n I checked my email, posted a short inspiration on my Instagram, scanned Twitter for trending hashtags (quickly and without attaching to the feelings of annoyance, haha), and messaged my mama in Croatia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The world is a mess, my mama is far away, I can\u2019t go visit her for her birthday, and my Facebook is still blocked.<\/span><\/p>\n I put the phone down and relaxed into the silence around me.<\/strong>\u00a0I took a few deep breaths.<\/span><\/p>\n The peacefulness of the early morning was comforting – there was nothing that stood between me and Life, Grace, and Love. No agendas or to-do lists. No worries or\u00a0anxieties.\u00a0No shame about overdue projects – the walls that didn\u2019t get painted and the garage that didn\u2019t get cleaned up this summer.<\/span><\/p>\n For a few moments, everything melted away. I felt good just being.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Then the words I had just read in one of the emails came back to me:<\/span><\/p>\n I smiled. Obstacles are the path.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Our failures, hardships, worries, anxieties, grief, don\u2019t block our path. They help us move forward. They are our journey. They are the path.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I used to be focused on how to remove these obstacles\u00a0so we can \u2018run into God\u2019s open arms and experience incredible love, joy, grace, and undisturbed peace<\/em>\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n But when we are too focused on removing them, we might get grumpy that they are in our lives<\/strong>. We are constantly waiting for some \u2018better time\u2019 when the obstacles are gone, and we miss out on the blessing of living through them and recognizing the gifts they are bringing to us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Yea, it\u2019s hard. None of us want to live through a Pandemic\u2026 or fires\u2026 or the division that\u2019s becoming really destructive to everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n And each of us is (hopefully) doing what we can to make these challenges go away\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n But while we are in it, we can get stuck in being angry, anxious, and resentful. Or, we can\u00a0observe\u00a0<\/em>what we do with that anger, anxiety and resentment. And then make changes that will bring us peace.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019ll always have struggles in our lives.<\/strong>\u00a0But we don\u2019t have to see them as obstacles that we avoid, numb from, or even just rush through them. We can accept them as a part of our journey and turn them into gifts that help us get better at recognizing Life, Grace, Love, and Joy even in the most challenging situations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And that takes openness. And a willingness to calm down the noises in our heads and soften up a little.<\/span><\/p>\n Music can help us do that \ud83d\ude42\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Here is a beautiful piece that always helps me get into that vulnerable and soft place –\u00a0Adagio by Albinoni played by cellist Stjepan Hauser<\/em>\u00a0(you might have heard of 2 Cellos – Hauser is one of them!)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This particular\u00a0performance that I’m linking to filmed in my hometown of Zagreb.\u00a0This is the music hall where I performed as a 4-year-old, and where the Eurovision Song Contest was held when I participated.<\/strong>\u00a0As a music student, I sat in the audience soaking up hundreds of classical concerts and symphonies.<\/span><\/p>\n I met Hauser at a concert in Kentucky when they were just starting to get international fame. He was so excited to meet me\u00a0and wanted to take a picture with me. He told me how he loved one of my hit songs when he was four years old. LOL \ud83d\ude42 He is a really really great cellist!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”27px|0px|0|0px|false|false” _builder_version=”3.19.13″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Music & Story” _builder_version=”3.19.13″ text_text_color=”#ffffff” text_font_size=”30px” text_orientation=”center” background_layout=”dark” link_option_url_new_window=”on”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.13″ text_font_size=”18px” link_option_url_new_window=”on”]<\/p>\n\u201cObstacles don\u2019t block the path. They are the path.\u201d
\n<\/span>– Zen Proverb.<\/span><\/h2>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
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\nMusic & Story<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n