Meeting the Moment

I had a friend reach out about a journey I’m leading in a couple weeks. He’s been going through a particularly rough time in his life and felt curious about what I’m offering but unsure if he had the emotional capacity for more intensity. I get it. I’m guessing many of us can relate to feeling like it’s all too much these days. There's a lot to feel. It can seem overwhelming.

There are times when it’s really wise to recognize that we’re already flooded and we need to find a way to turn down the dial and soothe our frayed nervous system. Time to step away. Take a news fast. Rest. Wrap our blankets around ourselves. Weep. Be simple and quiet.

Sometimes however, like a salmon being urged upstream past a series of waterfalls, the moment we are meeting requires us to lean in with our whole heart. The challenge is calling for more from us. It’s a deeper test of our vision and an opportunity to learn about expanded capacities of courage and perseverance. We’re enough. We have more to reach for and rise in. And in this process we discover how deep the well truly is.

This is the path of initiation. We contract and may become afraid as we’re drawn through the gate, and yet the passage itself, fed by our willingness, leads to a new landscape of wholeness and trust.
How to discern whether it’s time to lean back and rest or lean forward and invoke the warrior spirit?

Deepen our listening. Be willing to tell ourselves the truth and have a keen eye on our own inner bs detector.

Maybe it’s time to rally the warrior. Or maybe you’re just pushing yourself way too hard and you’ll make yourself sick.

Maybe it’s time to pull back. Or maybe it’s just the old addiction to distraction or self-doubt rearing it’s head again.