Lordy lord, 2015 has been one hell of a year. The painful
stuff was hugely painful and the pleasant stuff was supremely pleasurable. Not
a lot of in-betweens. When I was clear, I was totally directed and on point.
When I was confused, I was in a fog, just lost and wandering about, hoping for
a familiar landmark. I established some personal discipline at a new level for
me, which really paid off. A few times I forgot or ignored key facts about
living as a human, which really cost a lot. Destiny will bitch-slap me when I
pretend the rules don't apply to me. Mostly I worked my ass off this year, on
both the outside and the inside (because there's not much difference between
them). I just kept showing up, which is all person can do, really. The rest
will take care of itself, if I can release the death-grip on my agenda for
every single second that unfolds in my life. If I can soften, trust, choose
faith, open to my innate freedom.
In 2016 I desire to keep it simple, get curious about what is
real in any given moment, and love myself. I really do want to love myself as I
am, as I move through each day. When I consider various challenges for the new
year, this is the one that seems the most daunting, the most radical. It goes
against everything I was taught or learned or am being conditioned to believe.
I bow deeply in humble gratitude to all the teachers who came
into my life this year, whether you intended to help me learn or not. Thank you
in advance if you will keep walking with me in 2016.
Thomas Merton wrote, "My Lord God, I have no idea where
I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where
it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am
following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe
that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that
desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from
that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I
may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are
ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone."
Not knowing is crucial; my happiness depends on it, in fact.
When I move through life thinking I know what to expect, or how things should
be versus how they really are, or precisely what the outcome of anything will
be, I am miserable. I don't mean the instinctual kind of knowing, like when I
can sense something true in my gut. I mean the kind of knowing that closes me
off, decides what will happen before it has actually occurred, produces
reactions in me that are habitual and stale and often inappropriate to the
situation. The kind of knowing that believes the story I tell myself, over and
over and over again.
To say, "I don't know" is a little scary, like
liberating things tend to be. To shift the perspective and say, "I sense that this is real and I know what I am doing and where I am going, but the
truth is, I don't honestly know." Can I let go into that way of being,
that open-hearted warrior stance? In 2016 I plan to test the theory that moving
through life in faith is a way to love myself, and that loving myself is an act
of faith.
Namaste, dear ones. All blessings as we turn the page and
create another year together.
12.31.2015
2016: Being Simple, Curious, Loving
Labels:
Curiosity,
Faith,
Holidays,
Love,
Mindfulness,
Self-Care,
Thomas Merton,
Wholeness
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I wonder what your view on visualization and manifestation is? I've found that they take me out of the present moment rather than keeping me grounded in how things are and that it is easy to become attached to a certain outcome when trying to manifest something.
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