All my commitments get tested through time.
Time is the great equalizer that invites me to begin again and again.
As a human, I know what’s generally good for me, what would support my most vital thriving self; and yet, do I always make those choices? Nope. Do I make them most often? Not always that, either. You see, the myriad of samskara, the undigested emotional imprints, the deep grooves that hold me in cyclical behaviors that are detrimental to my wellbeing and against my highest self like to take over. When I get tired, overwhelmed, out-of-balance in this way or that I often fall off of my commitment to make the choices that will keep me moving in accordance with my deeper intentions.
So what to do in the spin of behaviors that can lead us away from our own health and happiness?
Begin again.
Beginning again is itself a practice. As Pema Chodron says in Start Where You Are, “We are one blink away from being fully awake.” This reminds me that as far away as I may feel from my woke self, it’s just a breath away. That the inattentive, “sleepy” diversions I take can ultimately be a way to find myself more fully home if I’m willing to engage in the humble practice of beginning-again. So that even when I feel lost in my own delusion, “blinking” myself into the present moment can realign me with my deeper wisdom.
My teacher Prem Rawat has reminded me endlessly that I can begin again simply by remembering the incredible gift of this moment, this breath. To drop my self-criticism when I meander off the path and to return to my intention so that I may recalibrate my moment-to-moment choices.
The thing about coming back to the present moment is there’s no time to berate myself for having failed to align my actions with my intentions earlier today, or to worry about failing tomorrow. In the present moment I am my whole self, awake and vibrating without the burdens of before or after.
And when I meet myself in that place, I can align most fully.
So the next time you find yourself straying from the path that brings you closer to yourself, I invite you to simply blink and arrive where you are. I’ll be somewhere nearby, opening my eyes again in that same moment—as if for the first time—remembering my whole self, too.
OM ~
