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.
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.
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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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