A lot of the people I love are having BIG challenges in life at the moment, and I’ve been pondering how best to respond to their angst.
In one of my earlier posts I talked about the tension that arises when change is afoot http://wp.me/p1KRax-3S, and referenced Sanaya Roman’s exquisite ‘Living with joy’ (see link below). I would like to revisit this with an extract of a couple of the thoughts expressed in Chapter 16 – Embracing the new that are particularly relevant to enduring these turbulent times.
‘Embracing the new means being open to having more in your life. Many of you think that what you have created up until now is the best you can do … Opening to new things means trusting and having faith in yourself and others. It means believing that the future holds joy and promise. It means believing in your growth and direction …
Opening to the new means opening your heart. Be willing to step outside of your normal limits and viewpoints and see the world in different ways. Trust that the world is safe and know that you are the director and the producer of what occurs in your life.
Opening to the new takes a willingness to view the old not with hate or anger or disgust, but with compassion. Many of you leave a relationship in anger, or you buy a new car when you are mad at your old one. That is one way to leave the old and embrace the new. As you follow the path of joy you can learn to open to new things while you are in a state of acceptance and peace with the old.
When things are not going well in your life, sometimes you gather the motivation and energy to change them by becoming angry or choosing pain. It need not be difficult to leave the old and embrace the new. If you start thinking of what you want, how you would like your life to be, you begin easily and automatically to draw the new to yourself. If you want something and it can only come when another person changes or acts differently, then you do not have power or control over that. The only power or control you have is over your own emotions and reactions.
If you want something new, be open to having it come from anywhere, any place, any person. Be open to surprises and new things. Keep your heart open.’
This book speaks to me of the courage and vision we require when we dare to imagine a new way forward, and it reminds me that the way forward can often appear somewhat fearsome and solitary. Sanaya Roman speaks of the tension that precedes change, and just like the arrow that sits quietly in the fold of the bow, its potential flight is entirely linked to the tension that is required.
‘What you call tension or anxiety before an event can be viewed instead as focusing your energy to prepare you for something new. It is a change in your vibration to prepare you for something that is finer and higher in your life.
You may feel that you must first conquer fear and anxiety before you step out and accomplish something. But everyone has that inner feeling of tension to some degree before attempting new things; it la a period of gathering energy to make the shift into a higher vibration.
Every single thing that happens to you happens to assist you in bringing yourself to a higher level of evolution. Even those things you call negative or bad are there to show you new ways of responding so that you may be more powerful in the future.’
If we are not living the life we were meant to live, my experience is that life gives us a massive ‘broadside’ that calls us to make change. We can cling to what we have known, and try to use familiar outmoded strategies, or we step outside of all that we have known to this point, and dare to imagine a great new way forward.
So breathe consciously, create a calm space. and imagine how your ideal future looks. Invite this reality into the now and change your thoughts and actions to reflect this new reality.
Make authentic life choices for you, and embrace your future with joy and courage.
One more treasure I found when I chased up Stephanie Dowrick’s site … I have always loved her writing … was this little piece on staying calm and taking charge.
We can’t change what’s happening, but we can choose how we respond http://www.stephaniedowrick.com/frontpage/take-charge-stay-calm/
Living with Joy: Keys to Personal Power and Spiritual Transformation (Roman S. (1986) Living with joy – Keys to personal power and spiritual transformation H.J Kramer Tiburon Cal.) http://www.amazon.com/Living-Joy-Personal-Spiritual-Transformation/dp/0915811030.
See also http://orin_meditation2.webs.com/embracethenew.htm
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Nibble at the edges of a sweet dream that is bigger than you. Bite off more than you can chew from time to time to remind yourself to keep stretching your ambition beyond limitations. Break it down until bite size chunks of possibility emerge. Large visions are rarely swallowed whole; slow and steady, one step at a time, wins the race. By soulseeds
Jennifer K Miles 