Although there is a time and place for exploration and action, today, you don't need to think through solutions to your fear or analyze sources of your fear. Just feel Love holding it and you. Rest in that holding.
Today, when a fear arises, feel Love holding it.
Although there is a time and place for exploration and action, today, you don't need to think through solutions to your fear or analyze sources of your fear. Just feel Love holding it and you. Rest in that holding.
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In one of his poems, William Carlos Williams writes: "It is difficult to get the news from poems, yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there."
Today, recognize that the news and the busy-worry of our own minds don't always tell us the deepest truths. Today, look for the "poems" all around you - the rich, still way in which Love communicates to you of Love's own reality. Pause to see and soak in acts of kindness, beauty, humor, music, nature--a feeling of gratitude, tenderness, courage, connection, belonging. Today, no matter what fear or concern rises in you, answer with "I am loved by God" or whatever variation of that phrase works for you.
Today, you don't need to know answers or next steps. You need to open your heart to feel Love's love for you. That is all. We often long for an easy answer: a pill or an inspiring person or a new program that will fix everything. Often though, we already have everything we need. We know our own answers. We just have to apply what we know more consistently. Often that answer isn't one dramatic act or change, but a series of adjustments made consistently over a long period of time. This process isn't glamorous, but it works.
Just like we need to continually straighten our house, wash our dishes, and clean our clothes, so we must accept that our lives, minds, hearts need regular attention. We are never done. Accept the work. Do it with humility. Notice the beautiful results. Today, what is an ordinary answer you need to apply to your life? Think of the people you know who have many flaws, yet have accomplished remarkable, meaningful things in their lives. Think of those cultural figures who have transformed our world, yet were not always enlightened in their personal lives. Today, know that you don't have to be perfect to have Love move through you, give gifts to the world through you. Be grateful for this.
Some of us are uncomfortable with celebrating our accomplishments. Maybe we fear that each new success will be followed by a disaster. Maybe we have a habit of looking for what needs to be improved. Maybe we equate self-criticism and impossibly high standards with humility. Maybe we fear that if we acknowledges successes, we will become prideful and self-involved. Maybe we are afraid there is danger in drawing attention to ourselves.
Really, though, we are dishonoring Love if we don't pause to recognize meaningful moments, moments of success, moments of fruition. This is Love working. This is Love joying. Don't miss it! In the book of Isaiah, God says, "You are precious in my sight." Slow down and feel the truth of that deep in the core of your being, that you are precious to Love. If you have any agitation, any worry, any unanswered questions, begin here: you are precious. Feel yourself held in that truth.
Today, let go of judgements of other people - and yourself. Opinions can be cruel tyrants. Today, feel Love rejoicing in each of you, giving each of you just what you need, attending tenderly to your heart's deepest longings, rejoicing in all that you are. Let your heart and mind attend to that awareness.
The book of Kings tells a story about Naaman, a respected nobleman and military leader, who was a leper. His humble maid suggests the prophet Elisha might heal him. So the entourage arrives at Elisha's house. Elisha sends a servant to the door to tell Naaman to wash in the river Jordan. Naaman feels slighted that he hasn't been personally received--and has been given such a simple task. After all, other rivers are much better than the Jordan. His servants say to him, "If the prophet had asked you to do some great thing, wouldn't you have done it? Isn't it better he asked you to do something simple?" Naaman then dips himself in the river Jordan and is healed.
Likewise, we often think we need something glamorous to change and heal our lives: a guru or teacher, a retreat, a new method, a radical insight, a new job, a new degree, a new wardrobe. Today, don't underestimate the value of all those small changes you making: trying to eat better, sleep better, exercise more, pause before you react, make your bed, speak your truth more often, be on time, listen more deeply, face your daily fears, change those patterns that don't serve you or others. Just because your efforts are ordinary - and the advice you have received comes from ordinary people - doesn't mean it isn't just what you need. Trust the transformation of small, ordinary changes. As humans, we are story-making machines. We take bits of information and from them create a cohesive narrative - simplified and sometimes just wrong. Today, begin to notice the stories you are telling yourself - about yourself and the people around you. You don't need to throw out the stories, just yet. Just be willing to see there is a story - and admit it may not be complete or accurate.
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AuthorTarn Wilson is the author of the memoir The Slow Farm and numerous essays. You may read more of her work at tarnwilson.com. Archives
September 2020
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