When I thought about shooting this Outfit I was certain I wanted it to be below a blooming pink cherry tree because, you know, everything matched beautifully.

I set that intention and surrendered it to the Universe.

Spring arrived and I started looking for Parks around here that could potentially be chosen. Pink cherry trees are my favourite but they’re very picky. They bloom only for a few days and the weather conditions gotta be perfect for them to flourish. So, I knew I’d need some luck, too.

Whenever I go out, I require a lot of preparations. From the extra time of the stops I need to make along the way so I can stretch my legs to checking if the places are barrier-free beforehand. In that particular week, I couldn’t make it to another location about an hour’s drive from here where a so-called “Cherry Tree Festival” was happening.

I’m not gonna lie, I was sad.

I wasn’t going to shoot my Outfit and see a full corridor of blooming Sakuras — which it’s one of my little dreams.

I still wanted to take photos with that Outfit, though. So, there I rolled to my little town’s Park. And as soon as I rolled in, the vibrant pink colours on my right side caught my attention.

A SINGLE CHERRY TREE IN FULL BLOOM! 🌸

I had no idea they had one because I’ve never been there around this time. It was such a beautiful surprise! My husband could only laugh in content of watching me so so so thrilled.

I rolled straight to the Sakura and we didn’t leave for the next 20-30 minutes! I was in awe of its beauty and it was a little hard to concentrate on the shoot. That’s why I have some lipstick on my teeth! 😂

While I was admiring the pinky flowers, the huge bark and my husband trying to capture the perfect shot, I got thinking about how obstacles are detours in the right direction — a lesson I’ve relearned from Gabby Bernstein.

If I had been able to go to the Festival, it’d have been quite stressful! The trip, the crowd. Quite likely I wouldn’t even be able to take the photos I had in mind.

But there I had the cherry tree only to myself. And the pictures got magical. Not only because of the tree but because my husband can really capture my essence.

Now, let me show you the details of the Outfit. The combination of red and rose is something I love. Actually, I wrote this here before, in my first My Mode article — La Vie En Rose. However, this is the first time I share it in photos.

Continuing with the woo-woo part of the post…

When I started to study metaphysical teachings back in 2009 I used to read things like “you create your own destiny” — full stop. Then when things went “wrong” from what “I created in my mind”, I thought that I was doing something wrong because if I had focused properly, it wouldn’t have happened.

This left me feeling miserable inside for almost 10 years!

Because the one thing I wanted most in the whole world was to cure my autoimmune condition symptoms. I focused on a healthy, abled body and that was the thing I couldn’t create. That was when I decided to stop trying to control everything and just be happy, no matter what. Soon after this epiphany, The Art of Redefining Yourself came to be.

And a few months later, I’ve found the missing links of my early metaphysical teachings. Actually, let me be blunt: I was guided to them because for the first time, I was aligned with the energy to receive that guidance.

I cried the first time I heard Gabby Bernstein say: “Obstacles are detours in the right direction. (…) Maybe that diagnosis is an opportunity to get closer to God.”

It hit me in a very profound way. The rolling chair obstacle was a detour towards my spiritual connection. It was a detour to a journey I needed to make. A journey I wouldn’t embark on if I wasn’t so wounded.

I love this quote below. The wound is the place where the healing happens. If there’s no wound, what is there to heal and learn?

You know when we hear people say things like “I wouldn’t change anything that happened to me”?

I get it. Because I wouldn’t either. I’m not gonna say this journey has been easy BUT it has been such a blessing. It has been helping me unravel things about myself I didn’t know, as well as, guiding me to who I wanna be and how I wanna contribute in the world.

Obstacles are detours in the right direction. Turn your obstacles into opportunities, Earthling.

The bottom line is: it isn’t because the outcome was different than what you planned that it means it went wrong. In every obstacle, there’s a divine opportunity for awakening and learning. Do your best to find that opportunity.

You don’t always perceive the right direction immediately — it took me almost a decade to perceive mine. Maybe that obstacle is an opportunity for something so much greater than what you previously thought. Simply trust you’re being guided.

And if you can’t yet see any opportunity at all in that obstacle (I’ve been there, too), remember this powerful quote:

All it takes it’s a change of perception. This is what The Art of Redefining Yourself is all about.

You know that old adage “God laughs when we make plans”? I’m not saying that we’re born with our entire destiny already written in stone. I don’t believe that. What I do believe is, that our free will leads us to a destiny. And on the journey to this destiny, you can choose to Surrender or to control. It’s up to you which path you’ll take.

For the first two decades of my life, I chose to control.

Now, I choose to Surrender.

I choose to love my body instead of fearing my body.

And ever since, I’ve been doing my best to choose Love over fear every day.

I choose to do my best to find an opportunity in every obstacle life presents me with.

What will you choose?

With all my love,

Lina

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