I have often found myself in the midst of chaos, pain, ambiguity or the unexpected ... and have been fortified in the overwhelm by a burning question. This question has enabled me to welcome suffering as a precious teacher. It has helped me look within for my contribution to the outside. It has been the curiosity that helped me surrender, rather than stand fiercely in resistance. It has been a guide to me on the path through. It has calmed many anxieties, encouraged me to grow and deepened every relationship I have chosen to inhabit. This question ....?
“What might this be here to teach me, about me?"
The source of much of our suffering can be found in the ways we look outward, to the events and people that are not living up to our desires or design.
A lightness of being can be found on the journey within.
In 2012, when I was in the midst of a very difficult time in my life, my (then) boss asked me how I was coping, he said "I don't understand how you still manage to come to work every day and light up the room with your joy and optimism?" I was taken aback. I hadn't thought about my source of resilience, about the ways in which I managed to hold on fiercely to my sense of purpose, beauty in the world and my trust in 'what is'. I wrote my piece Surrender (below) as a way to capture this for myself and now, to share it with you. An image of me, head gently back, arms softly outstretched had come to me in a dream. I will forever be grateful to him for posing this question. It gave me an opportunity to articulate the ease that I have found in ... Surrender.
Surrender
"Fear not the unexpected,
for you have an innate and wondrous capacity to transform. In fear's place, shine a light of curiosity,
at sameness, predictability and comfort,
for it is often there where you encounter that which holds you in chains. Step gently into your canoe,
leave the oars on the banks,
allow the river to gently take you. Trust. Whatever it is that awaits you,
know you are already beautifully, masterfully made,
to withstand it,
to integrate it
and to thrive". ~ Sharlene