Photo by M. Pace
This post from last New Year has some relevant information for us to ponder as we think about forming our intentions for the year.
Here we are ready to take our first steps into the New Year‚…perhaps not quite really present yet as parts of ourselves may be focused still on the effects of recent holiday activity and/or on an expansive hopefulness about new prospects, dreams and resolutions.
What I know for sure is that some of my usual ways of initiating change has not been very effective! Too often I have been guilty of rushing headlong into things without considering how things really work or who I really am. The lessons of the many bubbles that have burst in our world over the past two decades have not been lost on me as I think about my approach to creating change in my world.
Change that is too big or too fast is generally not sustainable. Slow steady, well thought out steps toward are usually more certain to take us where we want to go.
In addition it is important to consider who we are and what is going on with a particular time in our journey through life. It can be helpful to ask: how does this desired goal/change play into what is happening in this moment, day, lifetime? We must learn to listen deeply and be present to our essence in order to begin to be as informed as possible.
Taking some cues from nature
Nature’s wisdom follows some predictable, repeatable cycles of change and growth. Winter is a time of darkness, a resting time, a space where there is a profound process of renewal and rejuvenation happening before the grand explosion of life in spring. Winter provides us with a similar opportunity to dive deeply and replenish ourselves, as well as to get into truer touch with our deeper nature. The natural world can teach us about being present and flowing with cycles and changes. It clearly models being accepting of present reality and going with the flow.
So Nature can teach us about spinning inward and emerging with our gifts of the spirit, if we allow it. Within the short, cold days of winter, there is a lot of magic and beauty. Taking time for silence and attentiveness to our inner voice helps with both the mundane and profound issues that concern us. On a mundane level when we make time for quiet, the possibility opens to learning how to become friends with ourselves and with a slower, softer, more peace filled pace. This more tranquil way allows solutions to some of life’s puzzles to emerge more easily. It seems counter intuitive, but it is true that efficiency can increase with the addition of quiet time to our day.
We may discover that we like this new pace and the balance and ease it affords. On a broader scale, turning inward can bring us to Stillness where we meet that aliveness, that vibrant pure awareness that is US. We can meet the Consciousness beyond the stories, forms, ideas and beliefs and begin to expand our inner space so we may live in a profoundly new and enriching way.
Clearing the path
There are of course challenges! We resist slowing down. Used to such a high level of activity with high expectations for every area of our lives, it is hard to slow down. We have all cooperated in the creation of lives so full of action that is hard to change. In spite of warnings regarding health, our own unrest and feelings of distress with the pace, we continue onward as if it is impossible to change. It is not impossible but it does require a commitment to ourselves.
We are, whether we choose to believe it or not, the change agents and meaning makers in our lives. If we are to have something new enter our existence, we have to make room for it and be open to receiving the new. We must align our energy with our intentions and then learn to dwell in a state of willingness and receptivity.
Deep within each of us, is the need for quiet; for the kind of rest that replenishes and nourishes our bodies, minds and spirits. There is a place inside that understands and knows about BEING. However, we need to access it, it will not force its way into our lives. Access is gained by slowing down, tuning in and learning to be present, by going beyond the psychic clutter and debris that normally arises. Access is maintained by learning to recognize and become accustomed to hanging out in pure awareness€¦.our spiritual heart that can hold us and all of life with gentleness, Love and compassion.
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