“Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life.”
~ Jerzy Gregorek
“The hard choices —what we most fear doing, asking, saying —these are very often exactly what we most need to do.And the biggest challenges and problems we facewill never be solved with comfortable conversations,whether it’s in your own head or with other people.
So I encourage you to ask yourselves:Where in your lives right nowmight defining your fears be more important than defining your goals?Keeping in mind all the while, the words of Seneca:“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.””
~Tim Ferriss from his most recent Ted Talk, April 2017
Sharing a bit of goodness that I enjoyed listening to while sick in bed. ?
There has certainly been a theme that sticks out for me this week and it is this – being ok with what is and knowing it is unfolding in perfect divine order.
The mind is a slippery one. An innocent thought about one thing leads you down 10 deep rabbit holes until you find yourself in a complex maze of what ifs and one way too many options. And then what? You’re paralyzed. Does anyone feel me on this?!
While it seems healthy and proactive to be solving, thinking, planning… whatever you want to name it, if any of this leaves you with any of the following feelings:
The moment any of these feelings start to creep in it’s time to inquire – what am I striving for?
I find that the moment I ask myself this question it all becomes clearer. And while sometimes it may take more time than usual, it always gets clearer.
With clarity comes peace. A knowing that in THIS moment (and the next, and the next, and yes, even the next one :)) I am always held and perfectly where I need to be. Tension would indicate otherwise. Yes?
I find that this is a much more freeing experience than needing to control every outcome…
“While lack does not exist in the creation of God, it is very apparent in what you have made. It is, in fact, the essential difference between them. Lack implies that you would be better off in a state somehow different from the one you are in. […] Needs arise only when you deprive yourself. You act according to the particular order of needs you establish. This, in turn, depends on your perception of what you are.
A sense of separation from God is the only lack you really need to correct. This sense of separation would never have arisen if you had not distorted your perception of truth, and had thus perceived yourself as lacking.”
Whether you are new to A Course In Miracles (ACIM) or not, I love this excerpt specifically talking about “lack”.
We are told left and right that we are not enough until one day we believe it to the point that it seems so real. Actually we end up believing there is no other reality.
Take some time to assess your thoughts, decisions, and actions… do you notice how in some way “lack” might be an influence however small or large? Can you notice how in some way things might be “better” by doing things one way or how you might “fix” something by doing things this way?
How much of a relief would it be to not be driven by lack? How much freer and spacious would YOU be?
When I first came across this text I was floored, and I mean FLOORED. It was as if a light bulb went on in my head and immediately after I felt a huge sense of relief. This was around the time I was in deep recovery from adrenal fatigue and not only was this sense of lack one of the major players of getting to the point of adrenal fatigue, it was playing a small part in my desire to be in a different state other than adrenal fatigue as well. Ironic isn’t it?
The sense of relief was immediate and lasting…. What a relief it was to know there was no need to strive so hard! What a relief it was to just BE!
So take a moment… if your mind is driving you crazy with thoughts that are fueled by tension, striving, or desire, take a moment to inquire and allow for a bit of space. Allow for the possibility that you are MORE than enough in this moment, and even the next.
Honestly I love so many parts of the day: the growing heat of a mid-summer’s afternoon, the way the light fades to dark and you sense the coolness of the evening, making hot tea and reading in bed… but lately one of my most FAVORITE parts of the day is the morning.
Since the days are that much longer here in the Pacific Northwest, the sunrises at 5:12am (on the day of this post) and my body naturally begins to rise around 6am. That means even more time where I get to spend truly just being in silence.
I savor making my morning decaf coffee and what I call my “poppin’ collagen latte”. You can’t see it poppin’ in the picture but trust me, it’s poppin’!
But before I start sipping, while the coffee is dripping (oops didn’t mean to rhyme!) I’ll step outside and soak up a few delicious rays… hear the birds chirp… see how much the grass has grown… it’s all truly beautiful. Then as I sip, it’s time for stretching, yoga, and listening to podcasts as I get ready.
And what about breakfast? Well… I’ve written about my morning smoothie bowls but here’s a picture from Monday’s smoothie bowl deliciousness 🙂
Those added blueberries were just…. sigh. Heaven.
Mornings are so precious to me. It’s a time to check in and mentally prepare for the day (before everyone and everything clamors for your attention).
How about you?
What’s your favorite part of the day? How do you cultivate more YOU time and what does it look like for you?
One of the best things about spending more time in Washington is that these beautiful mountains and trails are literally in our backyard. For example a quick 1 hour drive and I’m deep in Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
This past Sunday was spent hiking up to Goat Lake. Let me tell you… it was GORGEOUS.
Goat Lake
As I made my way through the trail I decided to head up to Goat Lake via the lower trail and come back down to the trail head via the upper trail. The pounding pulsation of the river and numerous waterfalls making it’s way down the mountain was incredible.
The hike was approximately 11 miles round trip, and it was 11 miles of fresh air that I desperately needed.
The night before I got into a sneezing frenzy due to allergies which always zaps the energy out of me; to the point where my throat is sore and my energy is just depleted from me. When I woke up the day of the hike my nose was so stuffed I couldn’t breathe!
Miraculously when we got to the mountains it was as if the body knew how good the air was and decided to clear the nasal passages for all the fresh air. As soon as this happened I started to breathe DEEP. Deep into the belly with each and every inhale and I could slowly feel my energy coming back.
I don’t know if it was the allergy attack the night before but not only was my energy low, my mood just wasn’t as upbeat either. Honestly, it could have been a whole RANGE of things:
Was it hormonal? Time of the month?
Has weeks of stressful work hours impacted the adrenals and thus neurotransmitters?
Was it the tossing and turning from being unable to breathe last night?
Maybe it’s the days of overcast skies that finally got to me.
Did I not eat enough breakfast and this is just a dip in energy?
Am I putting too much pressure on myself at work?
Is it because the weekend is almost over and I didn’t get a chance to eat at my favorite Indian restaurant this week? 😉
I’ve written about this before but it’s so easy to want to place meaning behind everything. Our minds find it inherently necessary to analyze the who, what, why, when, and how, but sometimes that takes us down several chases down several rabbit holes!
Instead I took some time to mindfully investigate each and every thought that came up and most importantly to allow and to BE WITH the emotion behind every passing thought. Fear, sadness, anxiousness, stress… were a few of the emotions that arose with each thought.
I took time to ask, is this really true? And if it is, what would that mean? Who is the one having this thought? What am I reacting to (or what do I think I am reacting to)?
Then silence. Step by step, breath by breath.
And when you’re surrounded by beauty like this how can you not begin to feel shifts as you fall into the wonder, awe, and gratitude of mother nature?
Sometimes it takes a good long bit of time to realize reality from reaction, or a place like this to put you in the present moment. The true present, moment by moment, breath by breath.
How about you? When do you find yourself having ah-ha moments? What helps you bring your awareness to your thoughts?
Can you believe it? I can’t…. we are half way through 2017!
In the previous seasons I would be revisiting goals and/or intentions I had set at the beginning of the year, but I find myself in a space where the focus is truly on NOW. The present.
Some of the questions I find myself asking this season include:
~ Am I enjoying the day? Right now?
~ Am I being with what is?
~ Can I open up fully in grace, love, and light?
~ Can I connect openly and deeply with myself and others?
~ What seeds am I planting in the areas of love, relationships, community, and deep connection?
~ Can I open to the breath, and the next breath, and the next, and the next?
This season I am loving this gentle opening and space for the present. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with re-visiting goals either! I am just noticing what is needed for me in this moment. How about you? Are you in a season for more opening? acceptance? love? ambition? speed? dreaming? harvesting?
No matter the season may this be a moment to reflect on what is needed most in this moment for your heart, body, mind, and soul.
I’ve been really meditating on yesterday’s post, Watch It Come And Go. I find that it’s a lot easier when you’re in ‘total’ alignment or when everything is humming along smoothly in life. But how about when it is really put to the test!?
When your routine is thrown off
When there’s a crisis at work
Or how about when your flight is delayed 6 hours?!
You see, over the holiday weekend I took a long road trip from San Francisco to Seattle and so the body is a bit more tired and same goes with the mind as well. I had all the feels, from relief that I finally have everything in one place to urgency around organization and completion (of letting the physical things go).
As the feels came and went I took a moment to watch it come and go. I took a moment to watch the reaction, be with the emotions, be curious about what was going on… and then I watched one emotion come and go, and another emotion do the same.
I practiced this pretty much all day yesterday and it took me a day to write this as I was doing more the practicing and observing than the writing 😉
So what about you? What tends to throw you off and what have you noticed coming up for yourself?
