Response-Ability

We seem to take our life-philosophy for granted when things are going well. It is only when life challenges us in ways that force us out of our comfort zone that we have a chance to experience the difference between what we think we believe, and how we really feel. Isn't how we feel a habitual series of emotional reactions from which we create the narrative and memories on which we base our identity? True choice seems to come from our ability to take responsibility from a place of creation, as opposed to defending our survival from a habitual state of reaction.

Responsibility. Our ability to respond. Response-Ability: A cultivated, creative force within us that grants us access to take action beyond the limits of previous definitions of our personality. Isn’t our personality just the narrative we've created based on our past experiences, as opposed to taking responsibility for who we choose to become?

Where in your life do you feel challenged at the moment, and how can you take responsibility for responding in a creative way which is not limited by who you used to think you were? True growth, freedom, and transformation are born beyond the box of our self-definition. All options are available, including the ones we’ve never considered choosing before. For fun, why don’t we identify one area of our life where we can choose to break the habit of reaction. Let's take a deep breath right now and consider taking the risk of putting down our fear so that we can find out what might happen if we took an approach we have never allowed ourselves to take before. As an experiment, let’s try that. Ready...go!

Expectations

Isn’t the only question, really, ‘How do I choose to feel in this very moment?’ 

It seems that it takes some more questions to explore an answer to that: 

Let's consider that fear is our loudest invitation to love. When we're scared, why do we think that suffering with worry and anxiety are our best answers to alleviate our underlying terror of being out of control? What would happen if we breathed into the not-knowing? Who are we when we let go, for a moment, of all the judgement and energy that it takes to constantly live up to who we think we’re supposed to be to ourselves and others? How would it feel to be less attached to the narrative of who you think you are? Let's take a breath right now and let go of who we think we're supposed to be. All we need to do is tune into this present moment, and the rest will just fall away on its own. It's really that simple. The rest of it will be there to pick up again, if we so choose, so why not put it down for a moment. Really, what do we have to lose, except the illusion that we are in control of everything? Let's luxuriate in the relaxation of this present moment. Just because we can choose to, if we want. So let's...

What if?...

Are you more attached to an outcome, or how you plan to get there? Is the process of getting there an excruciating obstacle or is it an intriguing journey? Are you allowing yourself to be happy now where you are or do you think that your ability to relax and enjoy your present moment is on hold, awaiting for your outer circumstance to look the way you think it should before you can let yourself relax? What would it take to luxuriate in where you are right now, in this very moment, as we surrender to the thought that there is no place else to be even if we wanted to? Let's consider that the best way to achieve everything that we think we want is to be right here, right now, in the potency of this very moment. Let's sit still and sink deeper into a state of relaxation for just three breaths, as we temporarily suspend our belief that there is something more we can do in this moment that would bring us any closer to where we want to be. Let's close our eyes and just take three deep breaths in through our nose and out through our mouth and spend 30 seconds just sitting still. Let's see what happens. Ready...relax.

Wow. I heard the crickets at night, and felt my heart beating in my chest. I noticed all the nuances of this present moment that we often take for granted and barrel over. How did it feel to pay attention to being present where you are? Consider that you have the choice in any moment to shift your attention, and by doing so can notice how your outer world can reflect your chosen inner state of being. What would happen if we took one minute each day to do this? What do we have to lose by finding out? Who would we be if for one minute each day we didn't define ourselves by what we were supposedly accomplishing. What if?...

Later Is Now

What is it that you are waiting for? You know; that thing you want; that life you want yours to look like. The life that you'll get to. Later. When is later? Is waiting for that opportune time moving you any closer to it? How does it feel to wait? Where in your body does that feeling register? What if you were to take a breath right now, in this moment, and joyfully feel what it would be like to have the life you want as if it is already yours? Don't we try on clothes to see how they fit and how they feel before we buy them? What if, just for a moment, we put down any fear or doubt, and just take three breaths being in this present moment imagining and inhabiting what it feels like to already have the life we want to live? What do we have to lose by trying that? Anything, really? So, why not? Okay. Let's pause right now and just sit up straight and close our eyes and relax as deeply as we can - take a deep breath in and sigh as we drop our shoulders; relax your jaw. For just three breaths let's imagine and experience how it feels to have the life we want, and to be the person we want to be; the person whose needs are all met. Let's begin...

How did that feel? I can say that I just felt totally at ease, and confident, and at peace, and experienced a calm inner-smile, like I had arrived home within myself. What would happen if we practiced this daily until we were inspired to take action? Let's talk about taking action soon. For now, let's experience how it feels to already be where we later see ourselves. Because, really, later is now, if we allow it to be. Let's start allowing it.

Change

How does change feel to you? Where in your body does that feeling live? Is there a difference between your desire for change, and the actual experience of being in the midst of it?

How we experience change is a very clear window into how we really feel about life and our movement through it. Of course, there is the change we proactively choose, and the unexpected change that seems to happen 'to' (for) us. It is the latter that is the great reveal regarding our character and sense of self within our worldview. It speaks to our feeling out of control and the vulnerability that comes with that. Do we see ourselves as a victim of circumstance or do we see ourselves as having the opportunity to grow and respond in a way that grants us the potential to lean in the direction of our better and best selves? Before we can let go into what we may become we need to let go of who we thought we were. And really, wasn't what we were just something that we had become after having let go of something else before that? So we've done it all before. The picture changes but the core of our being, who continues to grow and evolve, remains constant. We've totally got this! 

Take a breath and enjoy surrendering to all the possibilities that life has in store. Choice is the action of remaining open to all the potential of what we may become. And happiness and peace are the byproducts and birthright of all on that path. Let's begin now...