Mandalas represent the Universe, reminding us that we are connected. They’re also an excellent mindfulness tool as they allow us to focus on one thing at a time living fully in the moment.
Enjoy these free printable mandala colouring pages. May they bring you and your loved ones peace, relaxation and joy.
Happy colouring!
One day, when I was about 12 years old, I was walking the 20 minute walk home from school in the pouring rain. I was not dressed for the rain at all so I was extremely miserable. This was the kind of rain where you can barely see in front of you. It was disorienting. It was the kind of rain that makes you actually ask yourself "Can I drown walking down the street in the rain?" (Okay, maybe I was a very overly dramatic child, but it was bad nonetheless.)
All of a sudden a van pulled up next to me and a woman in the back seat opened the door and motioned me to come over.
Now, I paid close attention when my mom talked to me about "stranger danger" and told me repeatedly if I went with a stranger I would end up like in the Silence of the Lambs so I knew walking over to this van was not a good idea.
But my instincts were telling me it was okay. In fact, my intuition was telling me I needed to walk over for some reason. I looked around and decided there was enough cars driving by that I felt reasonably safe so I walked over to the sketchy van of strangers to see what they wanted. (Sorry Mom!)
My guard was definitely up as I slowly walked over. As I got closer I saw that the woman in the back seat had a box full of umbrellas. She pulled one out, handed it to me, closed the door and drove off.
I was in absolute shock. I can't remember if she said anything, I know I didn't say a word the entire time. I was too stunned, I was utterly speechless, I could not have formed a coherent sentence in my head if I tried. I feel bad that I didn't even thank her.
The message the universe was delivering to me that day was not lost on me. This was a time in my life where I was going through a lot and was feeling bitter, angry and cynical. I was starting to see the worst in people and was started to really believe that most people were bad and that the world was nothing but darkness. But this changed EVERYTHING! I knew in my heart and soul that this was the universe proving to me that most people are good. Most people in the world have good and loving hearts.
The knowledge of this and the experience of receiving this message was life changing. This truth would carry me through life. This completely restored my faith in humanity. A faith that I've never lost since.
Of course we can't deny there are bad and dangerous people in the world, with bad intentions and we absolutely need to follow our intuition and protect ourselves from these darker souls but not every person we encounter is bad, far from it!
We're constantly hearing all the negative stories, all the bad things that are happening in the world and because of this we start to truly believe that this is an accurate representation of what's going on in the world. But it's not the whole picture.
We don't hear all the positive stories because they're not as dramatic and "exciting" as the bad stories so the media rarely covers them as their bottom line is ratings. A person living a good, honest life, that works hard, takes good care of their family, recycles, and is kind to others is not a very exciting story but that does not mean that this person isn't contributing to a massive positive shift in the world.
I think so many of us are living in fear. We're so guarded and constantly protecting ourselves that we sometimes miss these acts of kindness that the universe wants to send us.
I'm not saying some of these fears aren't completely valid. We have to be honest and talk about what we're afraid of and work towards solutions, but when we live in fear, we disconnect from our intuitive selves, our higher selves. We see the possibility of danger constantly and are living in fear rather than trusting that if danger comes our way we have phenomenal survival instincts that we can trust. We don't need to constantly be living in fear.
What I am suggesting is that we release some of this fear (both collectively and on a personal level). We don't need it to survive. It doesn't even really protect us. We're better fit to handle danger if we are level headed and clear and not caught up in the negative emotion of fear. We are actually stronger and safer when we aren't scared and jittery. We need to be connected to our intuition, our instincts that are designed to protect us.
It's incredible how powerful a random act of kindness can be. Something so small can literally change someone's life for the better. If we all started looking for the opportunities for us to touch other people's lives with acts of kindness we would be so much less fearful, less judgmental and guarded. We could connect with people on a deeper level and see their good that we might otherwise never see. We would trust people in our communities more and be able to more effectively work together to solve the problems that need to be solved. The ripple affects of these acts of kindness are what will ultimately heal the world. If we all search for opportunities to make a difference we will.
I still feel badly that I never said thank you to this angel that touched my life. I also believe in fate so if you're reading this somehow and it was you that encountered a young girl with really bad bangs in about 1999/2000 on Rice Avenue in Hamilton, Ontario....THANK YOU! I cannot begin to thank you enough. Your small act of kindness to a total stranger was one of the most powerful and memorable experiences of my life. Thank you for caring, thank you for making the effort and thank you for restoring my faith in humanity.
Growing up, I felt a tremendous amount of pressure to be "successful" and make my family proud. My dad is a Child Psychiatrist, my mom is a Dialectical Behaviour Therapist and my older brother grew up to be a doctor. I respected them for what they've accomplished. They found their roles in the world, they followed their passions and were extremely successful in their careers. Especially my brother (who is ten years older than me). I wanted to be a success and make my parents as proud as we all were of my brother.
I had this idea in my head of what I thought success was. I had these expectations of who I thought I had to be. I felt that in order to be considered a success I had to get an education, get a good job with benefits and stay there my whole life slowly trying to work my way up the ladder so I could make as much money as possible.
I wrongly believed that the things I was passionate about could never make me any money so I stopped pursuing them and disconnected from my true self for a while.
I finished school and got an okay job. This was what I was "supposed" to do right? So why was I so goddamn miserable? While I was going to the same boring, mindless job everyday I was reading "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac and all I wanted to do was just take off. I needed adventure. I needed to be doing different things everyday. I needed to live.
One day I was chatting with the accountant at the company I was working for and I asked her how she liked her job, she responded with "I guess it's okay, but I can't help think there could have been more to life." Wow. This scared the shit out of me. I did not want to be saying that twenty years from now. I didn't want to feel as though I had missed out on what I was really meant to do. This was a terrifying wake up call for me.
There had to be more to life. This was not what I dreamed of as a little girl. I wanted to make a difference in the world. I wanted to be able to be creative in what I do. I wanted to help people. I wanted to write. This was not what I wanted. This was not for me. This was not life. I wasn't living. I was lost.
We grow up in a society that prioritizes money over people. We are taught we need to be wealthy in order to be happy, or to even be respected. But what about fulfillment? What about passion? What about purpose?
I realized I didn't want to spend my whole life trying to help someone else get rich. I didn't want to invest my entire working life and my energy into someone else's business, into someone else's dreams while completely ignoring my own.
It took me a while to find my way. I needed to find a way to be me in what I do. I'm excited about life now. I'm passionate about what I'm doing. I'm curious and fascinated by the things I'm learning. I have a vision of what I want to accomplish but am also open to what the universe sends me. I've made peace with where I've been, I'm happy where I am, and I'm so insanely excited about the future. I have a lot of work ahead of me and it's not always going to be perfect bliss and I'm not oblivious to that. I know my journey will have challenges, set backs, frustrations and failures but I welcome those things as lessons, as rites of passage. When I get to where I want to be in my career I want to feel proud. I want to feel like I earned it. Most importantly, I want to feel fulfilled.
I've learned that my family and the people that care about me support and just want me to be happy. My parents are proud of me for who I am as person. I'm sure there are people that judge me or my choices but I'm secure enough in myself and my journey to just ignore the judgement. I've come to learn that if someone is judging me it's because something I am doing is triggering an unhealed part of themselves. That's their own journey and won't affect my own self worth or change my path in any way.
No matter what people tell you, you can make money doing the things you love if you're willing to be creative, consistent, resilient and, above all, passionate. I still want to make some money in life. Some of the things I want in life do, unfortunately, cost money. But money won't be my primary driving force. My driving force will be my passion and my fulfillment.
You can't choose your life based on what will make someone else happy. You can't choose a career based on what will make your family proud or what society has taught you to prioritize. You can't live to just make money and pay bills. Live free. Live free of the expectations of what life "should" be. Live free of the pressures to be "successful". Live free of the pressure to strive to just make money. Live free from the desire to make others proud or to prove yourself to anyone. Live free of caring what anyone thinks about you or the ways you choose to live your life. Follow what you are wildly and obsessively passionate about and if you haven't found it yet then get out there and have a fun time searching for it.
At the end of your time on Earth, you and you alone need to be happy with what you've done with your life. You alone need to feel fulfilled. You alone need to be proud of what you've done with your time. The approval of others, perceived success, and money will mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. It's the time you spent pursuing the things you are passionate about, the memories of living your life to the fullest, and most importantly, the time you spent with the people you love, that will leave you feeling fulfilled. That's what makes a good life.