Stagnating? Try This.
Decades ago, when I was first introduced to Buddhism, my teacher told me to try the teachings out for myself. Not to take them at face value. I was told I could keep and integrate whatever worked, authentically, and was helpful to my life. The rest I was free to discard.
Similarly, A Course In Miracles teaches: whatever your reaction to the teachings is - use the reaction. Your judgement doesn’t matter. It’s the use that matters.
The best spiritual wisdom is practical. It has to make a meaningful difference in our lives. Otherwise we’re dealing in platitudes and nice ideas.
The well meaning, unactionable action items I’ve received from various healers throughout the years has stoked the fire in me to go further and offer something better when it comes to my own work.
Frustration can be transmuted into impetus sometimes.
“Let it go” or “Just love yourself” without the understanding, in practical terms, of HOW to do these things, leaves us feeling even more hopeless than we did when we began the work in the first place.
The right answer never leaves us scratching our heads. The right answer is like that moment, squinting into a night sky, when we identify a constellation. YES. There it is. I can see it. Connecting the dots. Feeling satisfied and at ease.
When we’re serious about healing, we don’t go to therapy to check a box. We seek out therapeutic support so we can speak our truth safely, investigate our stories, learn to see ourselves in a new way and to experience the blessing of being properly witnessed in our most vulnerable feelings.
From this connection and compassion, shifts can come. Possibilities for a more skillful way of living become clear.
If you’re stagnating in your healing work these days, consider the practical side of the equation. Is the edge you’re working challenging you properly? Are you getting feedback that makes a meaningful difference in your daily life? Are you taking the time to connect with what genuinely inspires you and makes your heart sing?
I thought about all of this deeply last week when I had a string of crappy writing days.” What makes good writing?”, I asked myself. The answer came rushing back like a message in a bottle on a tide coming in. It said: Good writing makes me feel something.
It’s that simple.
We want to feel something in return for all the efforts we’re putting forth. Something juicy like: connection, invigoration, curiosity, hunger, resonance, aliveness.
“Let it go” doesn’t make me feel anything other than frustration.
“Release what’s not working in order to make room for all the beauty and abundance that’s trying to come through” makes me feel like I’m holding a winning lottery ticket and all I have to do is get out of my car, present the proof and collect my prize.
Precise language becomes empowered action.
We don’t stagnate because we’re lazy. We stagnate because the instructions are vague. When we’re addressing the need for practical, pragmatic support in concert with the more abstract need to live in alignment with our Souls, we hit the sweet spot. This is where transformation starts to happen. For real.
Have a beautiful week friends!
