We think our work is our job description or our to do list. Spiritually, our work is an opportunity to learn about ourselves, to observe the ways we might be getting in our own way, to shed patterns that no longer serve us, to grow. Like taking a class, the work is not really about the “grade,” but about the ways we stretch ourselves and build new capacities and ways of seeing. That is our truest work and will bless us and others.
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This morning, Buddhist teacher Gil Fronsdal talked about effort in meditation through metaphor: we don’t have to try so hard to be aware. We turn on the faucet, but don’t have to effort the water out. We turn on the lights in a dark room, and our eyes see. We move from the shade into the sun and we are warmed. He says, “allow for the natural workings of awareness.”
I translated this from meditation to my daily activities. I do have to have positive intentions, move toward my goals and values, but I don’t have to overwork. I can feel Spirit meeting me, doing its own work through its own power. This is a new insight for me, so I’m just finding words for it:
Whether by personality, gender, personal history, or culture, I don’t know, but I am a doer, a striver: full of plans, the desire to contribute, and efforts for self-improvement. I have known I need to learn to rest and trust, and have been working on that, but have been thinking the last two days about how radically I want to shift my perspective, so that, like the ying and yang symbol, effort is equally balanced with receiving. Notice that I did not say effort is balanced with rest - but with receiving. I can practice receiving by accepting what other people offer me without resistance or embarrassment. I can notice and accept all the little and big gifts of my life, without complicating them by feeling I’m not worthy or need to earn them. When I do work, I can feel that the energy and will comes from Spirit, feeling it moving through me instead of believing I am generating it, so that my action is more restful and more effective. Today, remember that your motive is love for yourself and love for others. When you are presented with competing priorities, when you are feeling rushed or overwhelmed, when you are hyper-focused on achieving something particular, ask yourself, what do I most need? What do those around me most need? Often, that will allow us to simplify our plans, soften our words or ambitions, rest and play as well as work, remember connection and joy, and perhaps face something important we, in our busyness, don’t realize we have been avoiding.
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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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