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Be here now …

hummingbird

Not a new idea … certainly not. Yet, most of us need reminding. Me? I need to be reminded every day – multiple times per day!

This is the only moment we have.
This moment.
This breath.
Now.

Be here. Be with the task in front of you, the person you are with. Be here.

Does this mean we don’t plan for the future?

No. Visioning the future and making plans is definitely part of co-creating our lives! Co-creating, however, requires that we release the tight grip on those plans and live fully the current moment.

Why? 

Have you noticed how quickly things change? The weather can go from sunshine to lightning in an instant – totally transforming the landscape and, if you are wise, the round of golf you thought you would play today! Think about technology – how our children don’t even know what a cassette tape or typewriter of rotary phone is! By the time the future arrives, our choices about how to be in that future moment may have changed so dramatically that any plans we set in motion last year, last month, even last week may be irrelevant or even unwise.

The only moment we have to live is this one. And this one. And this one. If we spend each moment planning for tomorrow, we just might miss our lives. As I’ve been writing this with the thought of you reading it “in the future”, I have paused frequently to look up. And in those pauses, I’ve witnessed several hummingbird visits to the feeder. Each visit lasts only seconds. Without the pauses, I would have missed so much!

Today, consider adding a bit of balance to your day. Set aside some time for planning, considering what you’d like to do, where you’d like to go, what lies ahead. Then, return to now. Breathe into the moment you are living now, the task you are doing now. Balance action and forward movement with pausing to listen, to become aware of what is happening in and around you now. Notice what shows up when your mind takes a break.

What magic is revealed in your pauses?
What is really here NOW?

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Time to remember …

Perhaps you have considered that you are a complex being, not simply a “person”. Maybe not. Yet, think about this. Each of us has a physical body, a mind or intellectual body. Each of us is an emotional being  – has an emotional body. We have a spirit, a personality, an energetic body. Finally, many of us believe that we come into this world with a soul, the essence of Life itself as yet another aspect of our being.

Here’s the catch. Many of us focus on a subset of our wholeness and try to ignore the rest. For some, that means we develop our intellectual body and hope the emotional stays quiet. Others listen only to their emotions and react to life from this center of knowing. There are also persons who have latched on to a spiritual journey and focus solely on its pursuit leaving their human nature to chance. Often the impact of this way of “partial living” is illness, unhappiness, depression, a nagging sense that something is missing in life.

What parts of you are disconnected?
Is it time for you to re-member?

If you know that you ignore your physical body, just expect it to show up and “perform” as you put all of your energy into your work, consider gifting it with good food and modest movement. If, instead, you ignore your spirit, never thinking about what is truly important to you, never pausing to sense delight in your life, take a break – maybe a short vacation. Nurture your playful inner self. If your emotions are the part of you most ignored (until they blow up at the nearest innocent bystander), your task may be to find time to pause with a trusted friend or family member or perhaps a journal where you can notice and write about what’s in your emotional space with total confidentiality.

Re-membering ourselves takes time and dedication. It is the work of every day in small amounts. It is the journey toward wholeness, self-honoring, ease.

How will you commit to re-membering today?

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What don’t I know?

I-dont-know

Today’s thoughts come from ideas I am exploring in the book, The Zen Leader by Ginny Whitelaw. Before you stop reading because you don’t see yourself as a leader, wait! Everyone is a leader and that includes you! (More on this another day…)

Now that you’re with me, the simple idea for today is this:

What don’t I know?
What would be different in my life experience if I kept this question constantly at the ready?

If you are like me, you are an expert at approaching situations and trying to figure out what you know, what is familiar, the answer. From here, of course, you know what to do and how to handle yourself! But if we remain focused on what we already know, how does anything new come into being? How do we expand? How does humanity move forward if we only act based on yesterday’s knowledge?

Great leaders explore the unknown and vision what’s possible. How could this leadership trait impact our day-to-day lives? Imagine waking up to another day filled with family commitments, work, personal self-care, volunteer opportunities, … all the usual activities on the calendar. Now:

  • What if you open your eyes in the morning and ask, “What don’t I know about the possibilities for my physical body today?”
  • What if your child or significant other comes to ask a favor and you think, “What don’t I know about his or her inspirations, dreams, desires?”
  • What if you go to your job and ask, “What don’t I know about my coworkers? What don’t I know that might make my efforts more efficient or easier?”
  • What if you pause to think about your future and ask, “What don’t I know?”

What is the power of “What don’t I know?”? I think it is an opening, a crack in limited thinking, a ray of hope and expansion and possibility in a world that sometimes feels small and hopeless. I believe it is also an opportunity to open ourselves to others, to collaboration, to the awareness that we are not alone and that we have much to learn and many ways to work and grow together.

Care to play this game with me today?
What don’t YOU know?

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FEAR — Redefined!

FEAR

Recently I wrote about non-attachment and letting go in order to really live. And, for me, letting go is often laced with fear. So a quick look at fear seems in order.  First, fear is an emotion. It is meant to suggest we take a closer look. Sometimes the fear is warranted by circumstance and pausing to notice the fear may save us from harm.

Sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes fear is a gremlin, a voice trying to keep us stuck in old habits which no longer serve us. Or fear may be an internalized message that we can’t do “it” or aren’t good enough. Each time we listen to the fear we solidify a belief that just may not be true!

Next time you sense unwarranted fear coming on, stop and let fear be an acronym for what might really be going on inside of you. Try on these FEAR acronyms:

(F)eeling (E)dgy (A)nd (R)esistent?
(F)alse (E)vidence (A)ppearing (R)eal
(F)ight (E)nds. (A)llow (R)est.
(F)ind (E)nergy (A)nd (R)eassurance.
(F)antastic (E)xperience (A)waits (R)ecognition
(F)ollow (E)ach (A)ppropriate (R)eminder
(F)reely (E)ngage. (A)ctively (R)espond.
(F)ly! (E)njoy (A)mazing (R)esonance.

Pick one that has a grain a truth for you and use it to move through the current fear. Perhaps your fear is the result of exhaustion and uncertainty. Choose (F)ind (E)nergy (A)nd (R)eassurance. Then ask yourself:

What would energize me now?
What message would reassure me?
Who can I ask for support?

Then take the energizing step. Ask for support. Wait until you feel energized and reassured. Then return to what it was that triggered fear in you and go for it!

What is it like to move through your fear?

(*) For a bit more on the topic of FEAR, check out: Beyond Fear

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What are you attached to?

“Dare to live by letting go.”
― Tom Althouse

Perhaps you’ve heard about the Buddhist teaching of non-attachment, perhaps not. My layman’s definition is this: when I must have or must do, when I think my ideas are *right* and I won’t let go, when I see the outcome in a situation and then hold onto it as the only possibility,  I am attached. And moreover, my strong attachments can be very draining of my energy, or in Buddhist terms, cause me to suffer. Today I became aware that I am even attached to the spiritual practices that I hoped would guide me toward non-attachment! I struggle to release the books I “should” read or the teachers I “should” listen to.

The quote above, “Dare to live by letting go”, is a good reminder for me. In this lifetime, we have the opportunity to amass all sorts of things: stuff, knowledge, habits, dreams, friends, activities, even money! Yet, there comes a point where more is NOT merrier. And stockpiling any of this get heavy and blocks us from actually living this moment and noticing what is here now. We are often too busy collecting, managing, planning, carrying the load — to live.

Today, I am releasing the pile of books I was trying to find time to read. They’ll return to me if and when I need to read them! I am letting go of a belief that I *should* meditate more and imagining more presence in each moment, each activity. Today I release the fear that if I let go of “it”, I will somehow miss out or fail at life. Today I dare to live by letting go! What about you?

What are you attached to?
What living is impossible as long as you hold on?
What would it feel like to let it go?