green leaves courtesy FlickrCC kaybee07

This woman is a teacher

There’s a woman I know who I’ll call Alice. She’s smart, adaptable, strong, and determined. She’s also frustrated, angry and stressed. Life is hard, there’s always work to be done, and she’s the one who has to take care of it. No one else will. “That’s just what you have to do,” she says. Resting isn’t an option.

What she teaches me

It’s painful for me to see her sometimes. Her body is like a defense mechanism, plowing through obstacles, charging on even though she’s tired. She’s often reactive, short-tempered and a little bit angry. I can see this in her because I can see it in myself. We recognize in others what we recognize in our self. I still catch myself getting caught in believing that I can’t take time to rest, do a dance class, take instead of teach a yoga class, spend time with friends, or go for a walk beneath the falling leaves. The art of doing without doing is something that I’m always focusing on and learning from. It’s a constant conscious practice for me to let myself make space for these things, and hold them sacred.

And they are sacred.

The power of what we believe

Who are we when we’re believing we’re stuck, that we have to do it all, and that we can’t take time to rest or have fun? Probably a lot like Alice. Frustrated, a little bit angry and stressed. People we interact with become a means to an end, instead of an interaction infused with delightful potential. Activities become something to get through, instead of something to savor. Our entire day passes in a whirl of racing from one thing to the next, fighting the clock. Fighting ourselves. We battle our natural inclination to restore our reserves, to do what we enjoy, and silence the voice inside us that says “go outside and follow the wind.”

Because we believe that we’re stuck, we live out a life that proves that to be true.

Choosing your own path

There’s another way. It’s the way of unlimited potential, the path of least resistance, and the dream-land of dharma. It arrives when we stop believing we’re stuck. It rises up to meet our unhurried steps when we realize that we always have choices. When we let go of the “have-tos” in favour of the “choose-tos”. On this path there is ease and flow and so much joy. There’s deep and lasting happiness. There’s relaxation and deep breaths. There’s unexpected surprises that make everything easier.

There’s freedom. And fulfillment.

The one thing that saves us when we’re stuck somewhere we don’t want to be is this: knowing that we’re not actually stuck. We always have choices. When we recognize that it’s our own belief that’s keeping us there, suddenly a well of possibilities fills our cup. We free ourselves from seeing only what we “have to” do and into that space streams all of the things we could do instead.

And the universe starts dancing.

This is the beginning. This is the means to the end. This is our path, or dharma, and our happiness. We’re born to be free. We’re born to see possibilities instead of chains. It’s who we truly are. Thinking of you, xL