Day 26: Don’t Forget to Laugh…or Why You Should Always Take Time to Bhangra

I’ve done the CustomerLove Challenge a few times now, since I first discovered it last November (that is another whole story in itself) and it has been truly AMAZING – and yes, that does deserve to be in capitals.

The effect it has had on my ability to figure out how to get to my dream has been phenomenal (another really long story) but, ya know, it’s good.

BUT…

The only thing is that lately, and maybe its just me, it seems a little tense.

Credit Crunch is biting and people are finding it harder to get by, and it no longer seems as positive as it was. It seems much more focused on getting customers rather than loving them – not because any of the people involved aren’t genuine, or sincere.

What I’m trying to say is I can feel tension. And it could well just be me – things are pretty tough over here, still great fun but tough – but still I thought I’d share the secret, one of my secrets of my sanity. That’s possibly not the right word. Maybe it’s the secret of my survival with a huge, great grin on my face:

I bhangra.

‘Cos sometimes that’s all you can do, and it sure as hell puts a smile back on your face..

People don’t really understand Bhangra. They think its just a set of steps, or it’s fun. I once read somewhere that it was where a Punjabi stamps out all his frustration and rage, where he let loose all his anger. And given that I discovered Bhangra at the onset of menopause, it sounds about right 🙂

OK, so it is a folk dance, it has certain steps, it’s a beat, a type of music, but it’s so much more than all of that.

It’s an attitude to life.

Bhangra is what you do when you hit that moment where you just can’t take any more. You let it all go, every worry, every stress, every goddamn last thing that’s ever brought you to your knees. You lift your arms to the sky in a blissful moment of surrender to life and all that it brings with it, and let it go.

And you are filled with the sheer joy of still being alive, at one with the universe.

There is a pivotal a moment when you acknowledge – you feel – the absurdness, the craziness of life, a life that you do your best to manage, but a life that keeps on throwing you curve balls. It’s a pause in the madness, a moment of surrender. You have done your best. You let go, and you dance. 🙂

Instructions

• Start with the shoulders first…up and down, shrug, go on think about it, feel the pressure coming off.
• Now raise your hands to the sky, you know, in that ‘oy vey’ kinda way (ok so I know that’s Jewish, but you know what I mean)/
• You let your hands hang there, your body goes limp, and then you let it flow. 🙂

You can do your best, you can do everything possible to make your business happen, you can hunt down your perfect people, target your market, write the perfect sales page, about page, whatever – once you’ve done everything you can possibly do, just ‘aaja nachle’ (‘come, let’s dance’) and…

…whatever will be will be….wahe guru** 🙂

*Punjabi – native of the Punjab, famous for its music, Bhangra 🙂

**wahe guru = wiki – “the name implies wonder at the Divine Light eliminating spiritual darkness.”