Everything is Practice
I like to share these letters from a place of noticing - often I will notice themes appearing in my conversations with clients, friends and community, themes that may also resonate with my own insights and awareness, and I take these themes as a symbol of the energy that is currently moving through my community at a given time.
A recent theme I have noticed is impatience.
A desire for things to be different than they are. A desire for immediate results. A desire for certainty in an uncertain world.
This can feel like a kind of waiting. And this waiting can lead to frustration, even if we're unsure of what it is we're waiting for.
Waiting means allowing yourself to sit with the discomfort of what is unknown.
Waiting means being in the liminal space - between what is, and what is yet to come. Allowing yourself to be in the liminal space is a practice. A practice of presence and open awareness to what is - even when it feels excruciating.
There will be days when practicing presence to what is feels gracious, easeful, in flow. There will also be days when it feels impossible. This is what I mean by practice. Can you practice sitting with discomfort? Can you practice being with uncertainty? Can you practice seeing things as they really are, rather than how you wish them to be?
This doesn't mean we don't work toward the things that we want - it simply means we acknowledge what is, and move forward from that place with care, with attention, with our eyes and hearts open.
EVERYTHING IS PRACTICE
- staying calm in the eye of the storm is a practice
- responding rather than reacting is a practice
- honouring your needs is a practice
- learning to say no is practice
- giving your full attention to another person is a practice
- listening to the messages your body is sending you is a practice
- asking for help is a practice
- self-compassion is a practice
- letting go of perfection is a practice
This week, how might you practice being present to your life as it is, with patience, with kindness, with love?
