As we get settled in the New Year, let us pause to be grateful for waiting.
Waiting is a normal, healthy part of our lives. Understanding that doesn't make it any more desirable. When we put a casserole in the oven, there is a significant period between the time we start to smell its bubbling goodness and the time we can sit down and enjoy it.
But the work we must do with our bodies requires more than waiting. Our work includes:
* Acquiring the vision to see what structural or functional changes may contribute to the experience we are having. That is, the ability to look at our bodies and determine whether our pain originates in the way we are made (structure), or in the way we are using our bodies. We have to be willing to consider that the things we are asking our bodies to do, or the ways in which we are asking our bodies to do them, are the most likely culprits of our physical discomfort. (But the good news is, that means that, most of the time, if we change the activities, then we can shift the pain.)
* Creating the perspective to separate our consciousness from our stories about our bodies. We tell ourselves stories all the time: stories about who we are, what we look like, what we are capable of...these things we tell ourselves are out of sync with the truth of our bodies today. If we are still telling ourselves stories about what we are, what dimensions we take up; and the overall meaning of those things--then, well, it can be a real challenge to see who we are. Some thoughts are loud, no matter the volume at which we whisper them.
* Creating the willingness to change. If we want to change our habits, then the secret does not lie in making sweeping comments and overarching resolutions;actually, in that case, our work is to make our promises--and our consciousness--smaller. In order to make a change, we need to bring our undivided consciousness into the present. We have to be willing to spend more time being in our bodies, being present in our daily routine, in order to create something different--even if that difference is just a new consciousness.
* Being willing to stay where we are. Change is good. But sometimes, we just have to leave ourselves alone. Maybe now is not the time to make a shift. It could be that now is a time to go deeper in exploring the contents of your consciousness. (Which is, by the way, also making a change.)
* Finding more reasons to dance. It is high time to bring more joy into your life. Are you willing to create a delightful interruption to your daily experience, if you know that the results will mean more happiness? Ask yourself the question, and really listen to the answer.
The waiting that we choose to take up as a significant part of our own process gives us lots of gifts. It shows us where our impatience is; where we are wanting the process to become something other than the revelatory procedure that it is. Waiting--that is, experiencing a span of time in which we are either not getting the thing that we want, or getting something that we do not want--shows us--or can show us--why we have selected the process that we are experiencing to begin with.
Spiritually speaking, waiting can be a dynamic catalyst for change. Waiting can reveal to us the places where we are afraid to sit with ourselves; where we are choosing to fill our space with noise in many different ways, instead of allowing a truth to be revealed to us in the stillness.
These are just a handful of the reasons why waiting can be wonderful. We are assuming that waiting is not the same thing as denying yourself--but, rather, creating an opportunity to include more to celebrate later. It is worth meditating on the matter.
Waiting is a normal, healthy part of our lives. Understanding that doesn't make it any more desirable. When we put a casserole in the oven, there is a significant period between the time we start to smell its bubbling goodness and the time we can sit down and enjoy it.
But the work we must do with our bodies requires more than waiting. Our work includes:
* Acquiring the vision to see what structural or functional changes may contribute to the experience we are having. That is, the ability to look at our bodies and determine whether our pain originates in the way we are made (structure), or in the way we are using our bodies. We have to be willing to consider that the things we are asking our bodies to do, or the ways in which we are asking our bodies to do them, are the most likely culprits of our physical discomfort. (But the good news is, that means that, most of the time, if we change the activities, then we can shift the pain.)
* Creating the perspective to separate our consciousness from our stories about our bodies. We tell ourselves stories all the time: stories about who we are, what we look like, what we are capable of...these things we tell ourselves are out of sync with the truth of our bodies today. If we are still telling ourselves stories about what we are, what dimensions we take up; and the overall meaning of those things--then, well, it can be a real challenge to see who we are. Some thoughts are loud, no matter the volume at which we whisper them.
* Creating the willingness to change. If we want to change our habits, then the secret does not lie in making sweeping comments and overarching resolutions;actually, in that case, our work is to make our promises--and our consciousness--smaller. In order to make a change, we need to bring our undivided consciousness into the present. We have to be willing to spend more time being in our bodies, being present in our daily routine, in order to create something different--even if that difference is just a new consciousness.
* Being willing to stay where we are. Change is good. But sometimes, we just have to leave ourselves alone. Maybe now is not the time to make a shift. It could be that now is a time to go deeper in exploring the contents of your consciousness. (Which is, by the way, also making a change.)
* Finding more reasons to dance. It is high time to bring more joy into your life. Are you willing to create a delightful interruption to your daily experience, if you know that the results will mean more happiness? Ask yourself the question, and really listen to the answer.
The waiting that we choose to take up as a significant part of our own process gives us lots of gifts. It shows us where our impatience is; where we are wanting the process to become something other than the revelatory procedure that it is. Waiting--that is, experiencing a span of time in which we are either not getting the thing that we want, or getting something that we do not want--shows us--or can show us--why we have selected the process that we are experiencing to begin with.
Spiritually speaking, waiting can be a dynamic catalyst for change. Waiting can reveal to us the places where we are afraid to sit with ourselves; where we are choosing to fill our space with noise in many different ways, instead of allowing a truth to be revealed to us in the stillness.
These are just a handful of the reasons why waiting can be wonderful. We are assuming that waiting is not the same thing as denying yourself--but, rather, creating an opportunity to include more to celebrate later. It is worth meditating on the matter.
RSS Feed