Thursday 22 August 2013

What the Winds Bring, the Current Takes Away

As we continue to feel wave upon wave of insight, wisdom, shift and change lapping the shores of our souls, there is a growing and undeniable sense of strength rising up from within us as we begin to find a new level of balance and alignment from the shifting sands. It seems that the more we allow ourselves to become One with the waves, the more we are realising that the sands are our true foundations in life; the rocks and the foundations are those things that we cling onto in the hope that we can resist the currents and keep hold of all we know and love. 

Yet intuitively we know that nothing is every truly permanent, however much we wish it to be. Continents drift, rivers carve out valleys and mountains turn to dust over millennia. Although we know this, it is still hard to accept the impermanence of life as it can somehow feel defeatist. However, it seems that it is through the act of accepting of impermanence where we can find our true strength and ride those shifting sands with a deeper sense of knowing and wisdom. 

‘What the winds bring, the current takes away’ is an age-old Hebridean saying which highlights the fragility of life. We can never know what lies around the next corner, but rather than allowing this uncertainty to keep us tangled up in knots of angst or uncertainty, the time has come to become One with the winds and the currents in order to ride with the changes rather than against them. Such action allows us to be more present in life as we can take each breath and every step consciously and somehow more deliberately.

Allowing ourselves to become that grain of sand takes faith and courage as it means letting go of so many of the storylines and beliefs that have shaped and defined our lives for so long. Letting go of the hand rails and having trust in life feels inevitable, but it is only natural to hold our breaths in uncertainty as it feels contrary to all that we know and all that we have created in our lives.  Life is a fragile balance of ebb and flow, we often take much for granted and our expectations as to what constitutes a happy or a ‘correct’ life can be exceedingly high. Whilst it is only right to have ideals and expectations that push boundaries, we can run the risk of placing conditions on our lives that we cannot be happy until we have achieved all that we feel we should achieve in order to be Whole. 

When we merge with the ebb and flow of life, we do not become pieces of driftwood floating aimlessly along with the currents, but we become conscious awakened souls, embracing every single moment with presence, vitality and awareness. There is a significant difference in the vibration of these two states, and the more we can connect to the vibration of conscious living, the more our lives will expand as we let go of those storylines and beliefs that keep us anchored in fear and uncertainty. Of course, becoming One brings no guarantees; it doesn’t smooth over the cracks or take away the pain, but it enables us to lean into the discomfort in order to become empowered and inspired by it, rather than defeated and diminished by it.  

So, as we feel those waves lapping the shores within, we have a choice: we can either try to cling to what the waves are washing away or we can feel invigorated and refreshed by the blank canvas appearing at our feet. Sands shift, life changes and stuff happens, but the more we can be mindful of our reaction to all of this, the more we can not only release those old storylines and patterns, but let go of the need to create new ones. The time is now upon us to let go of the fear of the impermanence of life in order to grab every single moment whole-heartedly with passion, love and conscious awareness. 

The days of sleepwalking are over as we each have a choice now: accept the ebb and flow of life, or resist it and fight the currents. Whichever path we choose, we need to accept responsibility for that choice; own it and be accountable for it. Remember that what the wind brings the current takes away; become One with this now and feel the power rising up from within... 

Sunday 11 August 2013

Anchors of the Past

How many of us are conscious and fully ‘present’ in this moment? So many of us try to be but it is often the case that we find ourselves in the present moment by default as we are anchored to the past and locked onto chasing the horizons of the future; we are in the present moment as we are trapped between what went before and what may or may not lie ahead.

Of course, to be in such a situation is part of being human, but perhaps only because we expect it to be. We seek self-definition from the past in order to shape our present, but our focus is not truly on the present as we are constantly looking ahead to the horizons and dreams that reside there. Confused? Well, that’s understandable!

It seems that we constantly tie ourselves up in knots trying to live consciously and more authentically, but we believe that in order to do this, we have to understand the past and the future in order to define and shape the present. Of course this is true in some ways, but the more we focus on what went before and on what may, or may not, lie ahead, we forget the present and lose sight of the Truth of whom we are.

This living conundrum shapes our lives on so many levels for we want to understand in order to evolve and grow, but the more we dig, the less present we become. There comes a time when we have to step back from digging in order to consciously awaken to the present moment. Whilst the past has shaped our lives, we are more than our pasts. Equally, whilst the future can bring our lives a sense of destiny and purpose, the future, by its very definition, hasn’t happened yet and we run the risk of diminishing ourselves in ‘what if’s’ and other conditioning states of thinking and being if we focus too whole-heartedly on what lies ahead.

Although we know all of this, it somehow seems too difficult to untangle ourselves from the inextricable tangle of past, present and future. Yet, do we truly need to untangle ourselves or should we stop struggling instead? The latter may feel defeatist, but spiritually and energetically it feels deeply empowering and inspiring as it is a sign of trust, faith and acceptance. Acceptance is not surrendering (although it is an act of surrender to the Universal Whole), nor it is demeaning or disempowering; it is the ultimate act of faith and an opening up of mind, body and soul to the true magnificence of life.

It seems that the more we struggle, trying to understand and make sense of life, the further away from truth and peace we become. It is the struggle that is innately human but it is also the struggle that keeps us away from the joy of living consciously. Such a conundrum is hard to embrace, for our reality makes it so important to want to understand, but when we stop trying to push and struggle for wisdom, we realise that the wisdom we seek is already within us; it is us.

Sometimes we have to let go in order to find terra firma once again but the act of letting go involves free falling into the unknown. What lies beneath the clouds? We fear jagged rocks or other unthinkable challenges, but intuitively we know that whatever life has in store for us (and we can never be sure), the light within will always be there to guide us and give us strength. We often forget about the light as life has become too busy and too cluttered with things to do, places to go and people to see, but when we pause for a moment, we re-connect and realise that the light is our soul and the source of inspiration and wisdom.

When we become conscious of the light, the need to dig deeply into the past or the desire to chase the future diminishes as we are able to relish the joy of where we are now. The past no longer anchors or chains us, and the future no longer drags us forwards. Instead we become vibrant, awake and alert, embracing life fully and unconditionally. Of course, being human, means that there will always be times when we look back or forward as that is our nature, but when we are centred and aligned, such excursions can bring us wisdom and insight as they no longer define our reality.

There are always lessons to be learned from the past and inspiration to be tapped into by looking forward, but when we stop seeking these to define us and instead define ourselves now, in this moment, everything changes as the vibration shifts from being present by default, to being present by choice and this distinction is so important now as it allows our consciousness to expand and become One with the Universal Whole…