I am slowly working through two programs that each have a workbook. One addresses my physical health, as I come to terms with a difficult health challenge and choose to move forward in a positive way. The other addresses my emotional health, as I work to shift patterns that no longer serve me well.
When I began this process, I assumed that the two workbooks would have little in common. I certainly got that wrong! Although the subject matter and emphasis may differ, there are striking similarities between the material. Both work to help me become more mindful, present, and empowered to make choices - even when facing difficult issues.
Choice - how easy it is to forget that we have choices!
Choice - Freedom - Presence - Mindfulness - Flow - Joy - I had this experience today for almost four hours, as I savored some open road driving (and enjoyed the Cloud Art Gallery) and spent some time doing what I love to do - what resonates with my heart. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined the phrase "flow" to describe that mental state in which one is engaged in an activity and is fully immersed in a feeling of energetic focus, full involvement, and experiences success in the process of the activity. Flow is difficult to describe, but you know it when you experience it. It is an amazing, fulfilling feeling. Today, it was tonic for my heart, and a reminder that I need to create opportunities to be energized by experiences of flow. My heart needs this in order to heal. And that brings me back again to choice.
Choice - such a liberating and terrifying word; such a difficult gift to accept. Just the thought of choice and the freedom and responsibility it brings can simultaneously evoke opposing emotions that leave a person unable to move - stuck in the middle of an emotional tug-of-war. Perhaps this paralysis happens because choice is also closely related to another "c" word: change.
What thoughts and feelings arise as you read the words choice and change? I invite you to sit with what arises as you are present with these powerful words - allow them to be teacher and guide, and see what lessons and paths emerge...
I will write again on Sunday. Blessings on your journey,
Kim
No comments:
Post a Comment