Mandala Meditation & Thoughts on Success
I have come to believe that success is not a straight road. Sometimes meditating with a mandala can help with that, but more on that in a minute.
It’s more like something that goes up a hill, has switchbacks, moments where you can relish the view, and other moments where it feels like torrential blizzards will blow you back down toward the starting point.
Who has not experienced the triumphs and failures of trying to achieve a goal?
I certainly have those feelings, too: those times when we put in lots of hard work in the hopes of attaining some goal or intention.
Then life happens. We wonder if it’s all worth it. All the hard work. All the pain.
But you know, the funny thing about success is that moment when you have persevered and persisted for so long, it’s like the universe finally says, “You have paid your dues. You have done your time. Now you deserve to bask in the limelight of your intention.”
And maybe – just maybe – the uphill road with all its switchbacks and views and storms is success. Perhaps that road is just where you needed to be.
I think of all those athletes who competed in the 2018 Olympics recently. For years they trained, for hours a day, and success was not guaranteed – if they defined success as winning a gold medal. I know, it’s all a bit arbitrary.
I watched as one snowboarder made it all the way as a finalist for her country only to crash and sustain an injury at the end of her halfpipe run. She had to be carried off by EMTs.
Success: Not Guaranteed
Success is not guaranteed.
However.
HOWEVER.
You gain so much for trying: skills, confidence, knowledge. You learn what it is to persist and keep going, despite long odds. Your heart gets bolder and your skin gets thicker.
“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”
-Norman Vincent Peale
I know that quote above is a bit cliche. But its words are as true now as when Norman Vincent Peale first uttered them.
Perhaps you’re a blogger. There’s fierce competition out there: so much information and so many people competing for views, and people to read/watch/listen to whatever it is you want the world to know.
Honestly, the odds are not that great for a blogger starting out to acquire millions of viewers and make six figures a year. If that’s the intention, anyways.
Learning Other Skills
For the majority of us who won’t do that – or don’t aspire to do that – we learn so many skills along the way: how to market ourselves, how to work a website, how to analyze keywords, perhaps how to make videos or podcasts, how to curate photos and build community.
I have secured jobs – outside of the educational degrees I’ve pursued in other subjects – because of these skills I acquired as a blogger. Is that a success? YES!
Those olympians who never got to compete at the highest level? They now have skills that most of the world’s population does not: the expert knowledge of their sport that automatically qualifies them at the most extreme level. Once there, they can easily become a coach, write a book, teach, create videos, or use their leadership skills in any number of other avenues.
They are successful, by most definitions of the term.
Even if a person doesn’t have millions of followers, views, is an executive, or -insert success goal here- skill acquisition is still a success. Having taken the uphill road is a success.
The bottom line? If you have a dream, it’s worth it to go for it. You might not get to where you think you’re going, but you sure will have an adventure in the mean time.
Success Meditation With Mandalas
With that, I created a mandala with the word, “success,” in my mind. To inspire you to keep going on your journey – whatever that may be.
When I create these mandalas, I start out with a compass and a ruler to create guiding lines, but I let my intuition guide me. I don’t know what the end result will look like. Going by experience and how I feel, I freehand draw these, incorporating any mistakes into the overall design. The word or words I’d like to focus on stay in my mind as I create lines, shapes and spaces.
After I complete the drawing portion, I decide what colors I might use.
For this “Success Mandala” I chose wavy lines and vibrant colors with a mix of warm and cooler colors that I associate with success.
I’ve used those professional artist markers before, but I always come back to those Sharpie markers. I love the colors, their brilliance, and their affordability.
Before you watch the video, I invite you to read the guided meditation below so that you get maximum benefit as you watch.
Using the Success Mandala For Meditation
As you watch the video, sit either in standard meditation pose, or in a chair with your feet flat on the floor.
Begin by taking deep breaths. Clear your mind as best as you can, except for the word “success.”
Continue to breathe in and out, but as you do so, keep the word, “success,” in your mind.
Envision what you would like to have happen in your life. Everyone’s definition of success is a bit different. Allow yourself to define and contemplate what this looks like for you.
As you continue to watch the mandala develop, keep focusing on success, or the vision of where you’d like to see yourself as you achieve your goals and intentions.
Let the music fill you and inspire you. If you prefer silence, just turn the volume down.
The mandala develops from a little dot to a completed whole. It can serve as a metaphor for success: repeated tasks over and over lead to results.
If you like, watch the video each day for 4-6 weeks and see what kind of results you get.
At the end of the video, if you’d like, you can pause and meditate on the completed mandala.
Other Mandala Meditations:
If you liked the mandala on success, I’ve created other related mandala meditations recently:
A Mandala For When You Need Encouragement
I recently created this for a couple who was going through some changes in their lives and after I finished, I gave it to the two of them as a gift.
A Mandala For When You’re Stressed
Sometimes we just need to give ourselves permission to take a breath.
A Mandala For Good Luck
If you have an upcoming presentation, project, text, exam, or some other challenge, you can watch this “good luck” mandala to meditate and infuse your journey with a bit of lucky energy.
I hope you enjoyed these mandalas and meditations. Let me know what you think in the comments.
What can I say, but you my friend are inspiration here and always. So, I can’t thank you enough for giving hope and indeed inspiration to us in your space. Many hugs and Happy Monday now to you, as well as the best week ahead xoxo <3
Sweet Janine – you are also an inspiration, my friend. I absolutely adore you, your steadfast support of my work, and the light that you bring to the world. You are such a hard-worker and your beautiful posts and website show it – I don’t know if I’m mentioned that lately. You are a gem and thank you always for the inspiration that you give me. Sending you big hugs! I hope you’ve had a great week and that your upcoming weekend is relaxing and fabulous. xoxo
Lil Sis, your posts always leave me calm. That is a gift I will always be grateful for, because more often than not there is a storm inside of me…so thank you!
Hugs from across the Great Divide!
Big Bro – you are incredible. I’m so glad you said that – it helps me to know this – truly. You, your writing and words are also a gift – to us all, the world over. 🙂 I enjoy your thoughts and musings and may we continue to weather the storms and triumph over life’s challenges. Hugs to you across the Divide. 🤗
Thanks for the beautiful mandalas Cynthia. You certainly are modeling success, commitment, experimenting, and growing. I hope some of it rubs off on me. 🙂
Brad – your words are so incredibly kind, my friend. Thank you. I appreciate this so, so much. You, too, are in a time of growing and experimenting. I’ve been thinking of you with regard to starting your new gig. I wish you every success but also balance. I know what it is to be working “out there” and trying to maintain your practice of writing and reflecting. It’s not an easy journey, but certainly worthwhile. I am looking forward to hearing about how it all goes. 🤗
You’re most welcome Cynthia. I’m aiming for some kind of balance and better use of time. I’m guessing having a full-time job will help me focus and better appreciate and use my time off. I’m looking forward to seeing how it goes too. 🙂
Brad – still thinking of you. Not sure when your new job starts, but may it be filled with good days and possibilities. Sending you light and good energy for success in your work. 🙂
Thanks Cynthia. This has been my first week and it’s been quite an adjustment. I appreciate the good thoughts and energy. 🙂
Thanks to you, too, Brad. Sending hugs!
It’s all about how we define success, right?! That’s what I’m thinking after reading this post 😃 If we learn from failures then they’re not disasters but instead ippoopportunifor growth – and that’s a positive spin I can work with! You motivate me and I adore you!! ♥
Christy – EXACTLY. Success is such an arbitrary term and that’s exactly the point I was trying to make. It’s about the journey and where you want to go. And meditating on that journey and envisioning the final steps of where we want to be can be a powerful practice. Failure is really another teacher: it teaches us perseverance and gives us clues about our own errors such that we can improve for the next round – inviting those opportunities for growth, like you said. You also motivate me, friend. You are incredible and successful, TOO!😘
Dear Cynthia,
I am happy I waited until I had the time to absorb this wonderful information – I especially love Norman Vincent Peale’s
wise quotation.
One of the most powerful points you make is the mandala as a “metaphor for success: repeated tasks over and over
lead to results”.
I have to frequently remind my young, motivated and well-meaning nursing students that skills / techniques / comfort
level with patients comes with practice, practice, practice and an open mind and heart.
Your ‘Good Luck’ mandala is especially appealing with the colors and its message – beautiful read as always. Thanks!
Have a peaceful week to come. Love you and hugs, Maria
Maria – thank you for your sweet comments. You always manage to make me smile and feel so loved and appreciated. Indeed: the secret “sauce” to success is getting into a routine and doing little things that add up to big things.
And we cannot automatically be “good” at a calling. We can be proficient with training, but it is all the experiences and events with subsequent reflection that makes us nuanced, wise and better able to handle any situation. I need to remember that for this meditation training class I have just begun.
I love that you love these mandalas, too. 🙂 Have a peaceful week yourself! Sending you big hugs and wishes for an awesome weekend.
I agree with what Janine has said here Cynthia, you are the inspiration.. I loved watching your latest Success Mandala so vibrant and lively.. How can you fail?
Wonderful wisdom my friend.. We never stop learning new skills.. And no one ever fails, and like those athletes who train for that one particular race.. It matters not if they did not win.. What matters is that they tried their best..
And that is all any of us can do.. Be the best we can be..
Thank you dear Cynthia for sharing your thoughts.. And for being on my own particular journey at this moment in time..
Love and Blessings..
Sue <3
Sue – dear friend. It’s so good to see you. Thank you so much for watching the video – it means so much to me that you liked it. And may we never stop learning new skills. I’m about to embark on a new journey involving my meditation, and then after that, I’ll continue to grow and learn. I just can’t get enough. 🙂 We we can only be the best we can be. There’s a bit of Toltec wisdom that I remember here: Don Miguel Ruiz in his book, The 4 Agreements, talks about how if we strive to always do our best (which will look different in different circumstances) then we won’t ever have to feel guilty. Sue, the same goes back to you: thank you for being part of my journey. I have learned so much from you and your wisdom. I see you as a master, dear friend. You are incredible!! Sending love and blessings back to you. xoxo
This was just the break in my creative day I needed, thank you!! I was watching it, taking deep breaths and just listening to the music and I could feel myself start to calm and get more positive. As you know from our chats, it’s been a confusing few weeks in terms of work directions and purpose, but it’s getting clearer and this definitely helped! I LOVE the orange colour and the music fits perfectly… ENERGY. That’s what I felt. Good, positive energy. I so look forward to watching these videos and I’m glad you’re adding them into your blog posts. Just awesome!! xxx
Melanie – thank you sweet friend! I’m glad you had a chance to watch and have a little creative break. Hehe. The idea that you got more calm, more positive. Oh, that just makes me smile SO BIG! Sometimes it takes awhile to find the right music to go with these mandalas, but honestly, when I find the right one, it’s like it “clicks” into place. 🙂
I’ll continue to add them here and there into my blog posts – but over the next couple of weeks, I have a few other things planned…hehe…more details in the next blog post.