I am meant to evolve, to ever branch and expand.
So why is it that change is so hard?
When change feels like it is coming for good, I embrace it. When change feels put upon me, I resist and shut down.
Fear may be coloring my relationship with change. Fear creates the illusion of pain, loss, or failure tied to change.
Take away the anticipation of loss or failure and change is just what comes next.
Change taken moment by moment, even when not chosen, is simply what comes next.
Serenely, attentively, and lovingly I focus on cradling the dangling roots of a small plant as they uncoil themselves from the snug inside edges of their familiar small pot. I invite the plant to settle into a new place to live. Grace, peace, and fluidity guide the roots gently into their new home. The plant is ready to grow as this new pot offers room to branch out.
The transplanting has nonetheless been stressful and will require new resources and support from the inside and out in order for this little plant to thrive.
Planting complete, I hop up quickly, losing focus and in a furry of thoughts and feelings I upheave my own roots, tumbling down onto the ground right next to my newly potted plant.
I have lost my footing, my roots now tangled and exposed…some broken, others barely hanging on. The damage rocks my whole being.
And in that very moment, a little voice inside me says, “Be kind, attentive and serenely focused. Lovingly tuck those roots into new, unfamiliar soil and invite them to take hold, to uncoil in a new direction.”
Not without pain, focused effort, and belief that I will be stronger, I expand my roots. I find resources on the inside and outside to grow deep. I settle into a new space of being and in this nurturing of my roots, I realize an enhanced capacity to flower, bear fruit, and thrive in a way previously unattainable.
Every tumble, every root exposed is an opportunity to uncoil and lovingly replant, to be bigger and stronger than I ever was before.
Going unnoticed…floating in the background…allowing the focus to drift to others…blending in.
Tuned to the swirl of activity around me, I hunker down and shift my shape to listen, to allow my edges to fade into the corners of my surroundings.
It is then that I begin to be noticed for my striking ability to be still, to be flexible, adaptable and part of something bigger.
It seems that by blending in I actually end up standing out.
Photo by Brian Danahy
When I ask you to walk in my shoes, it is not to suffer as if my shoes are an inferior fit or brand. It is not to say my shoes are better or more challenging to wear. When you slip them on you may discover that they feel quite similar to yours. The more I wear your shoes and those of others the more I find they bear similar scuffs and worn spots. They may even fit better than these I call my own.
I may not chose to run in your shoes, but that could be what you chose to do when you try mine. Either way these shoes may offer comfort and support for you to walk a new path.
How you wear my shoes is up to you.
You are the tipper…the one who pours the beauty out of others.
Sip the deliciousness!
Today I celebrate my free will and the ability I have to care for myself and live as I choose.
Today I celebrate my dependence.
My dependence on my self.
My dependence on my feelings to be raw, true, and guiding but not ruling.
My dependence on my mind to judge risk, reward, and my ultimate well-being in every decision I make.
My dependence on my body to tell me when I am making good decisions.
My dependence on my judgment and confidence to not always need to control the outcome.
My dependence on my ability to allow you to have your opinion and me to have mine.
Today I will have such great dependence that I will not need to assert my independence.
You can’t fake healing. It’s gotta come from the heart, filled with love and kindness and an unconditional knowing you are worthy of wellness.
You must believe that you are worthy of wellness…always you are worthy of wellness.
It’s not in the mistakes that we make where our lessons have value, but in how we recover.
Recovery without backwards glances laced with accusations, excuses or judgment is growth. Growth is the ultimate form of healing.
Healing is recovery made good by grace, love, and kindness.
Today, my minimum is the maximum.
There is no need for justification, explanation, or guilt around whether I can do more or less.
I will not get tangled in clouds of judgment or inadequacy. It is enough that I am here, right now.
The clouds will part and I will shine just fine as I just do the minimum, because that is my maximum.
There is a story in my body – a story of joy and a story of suffering, a story imprinted in my flesh of adopted beliefs and weathered patterns of being.
I have a belief. My body records it. With devotion to my higher good, my body informs me of my ways. It unfailingly wears my happiness, fears, pain, doubt, informing me through these tissues and bones in service to my heart, all knowing, all seeing.
My body hears my heart calling for a change in that belief, so it demonstrates the belief in physical form in order for me to transform it…on the physical level, the thinking level, the feeling level, the being level.
I pause to listen to the advice of this worn vessel and then almost as soon as I acknowledge the pattern in the body, the beliefs begin to dissolve, reshaping my existence, restoring my wellness.
The body lets go of tension, no longer gripping to accommodate the familiar. The battering patterns melt away, initiating a flow of healing…through the body, into the heart.
Monday Mindfulness 