Topsy-Turvy
Feeling Topsy-Turvy?
Everywhere we look, things seem a bit topsy-turvy. A multitude of forces is in flux, with some producing waves of uncertainty and an accompanying fear as they move across our globe. On some level, we are all thinking about the role of government, schools re-opening, and the pandemic. You’re a rare one if none of this has rattled you.
Being “rattled”, occasionally, is not a bad thing. With periods of respite, we can usually find our footing again. Perhaps we have moments, even days, of believing we see a point on the near horizon where life is coming into balance and we can feel our bearings strengthen underneath our feet. Such sweet moments. Cherished moments.
Then, the horizon moves yet again.
When many things around us stay swirling in continuous motion - a truly unrelenting motion that is shaking us and rattling us to our core; we can find ourselves staggering with confusion and overwhelm. We move into cycles fraught with varied states of losing our balance, feeling completely lost, and grasping for some surety that we are going to be okay.
When this happens, it’s an enticing idea to check-out.
I’m not saying we don’t all do this sometimes - binge-watch a series on Netflix, binge eat, or binge on _______ (you fill in the blank); pull our covers over our heads and hope it all just goes away or, at least back to what we thought was “normal”.
We’re human. Sometimes we need a break - a stretch - even a melt-down here and there.
It isn’t problematic unless we get stuck here.
Yet, everything is in continuous motion. Everything in life is in a state of constant fluctuation. Trying to stop this motion creates incredible interior friction - capable of producing harmful, damaging effects. Our lives need living and that means allowing ourselves to move with and through the upheavals in our lives. We cannot hold back these waves of life experience. The tides will rise, and they will fall.
Instead of “checking out”, we are called to stay present to our lives and to look within ourselves for our “inner compass”. With mindful awareness, we can be present to our own “true north” that will always lead us home to ourselves again when we’ve lost our way. It points us to the two things that we can know and trust. First, when we look within, we remind ourselves of who we are - our core truth. And second, using this awareness, we can align with our integrity and respond with an emboldened courage to all that comes at us.
For life’s challenges will continue to rise up to meet us and break us apart. It’s up to us to find the courage to encounter each challenge as an opening into something worthy of moving toward and exploring, rather than be beaten down by it.
This kind of accordion life is wonderfully captured by ― Pema Chödrön.
For events in our lives “come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It's just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy”.
― Pema Chödrön
As an individual, and as a collective, times like these can often lead to opportunities for growth, a surge in creative problem-solving and shifting mindsets, and a fierce commitment to what truly matters in one’s life. All take a discerned awareness of who we are, what truly matters to us, what is in our control, a commitment to respond accordingly, and a continual choice to stay the course.
It’s an active choice to be made at each moment. In actively choosing, we gain a sure footing to walk our path forward through the unknown territories that await our footsteps. The truth of it is that our lives will continue to be in motion. We will continue to be visited by the heights and depths of love and loss - of unfathomable heartache, beauty, and joy.
Let us look to the horizon and remember, the sun is always rising and setting somewhere in our lives. Let us see the rising in our mind’s eye and feel its fire in our hearts. Let us be gentle with ourselves and with each other with each setting, and in the continuous movement toward the light once more.
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As always, I invite you to share your insights and I welcome your comments. You may leave them below or email them to joannwenner@prismholistic.com.
~ Your Life Follows Your Choices, Choose Wisely and with Love ~
Note: This content was updated 7/14/2020