Here Nor There

As we observe the world right now there seems to be an elevated level of stress based on people feeling that the new normal isn't exactly...normal. We fear being out of control, and react with worry, and even physical pain, based on our need to define ourselves and our situation while we obsess over an outcome that we can't predict. We wonder if what we are experiencing is temporary, or if we've wandered into some unknown land from which we may never find our bearings or our way home. When we shift out of the comfort zone where we had created a familiar identity, two things happen: we scramble to try to get back to what we know, like a swimmer caught in the currents of a rushing river who struggles to grab onto a solid landing on the shore, or we project into the future some upcoming time when things will 'settle down' into a better version that, in retrospect, will have been worth the elapsed sacrifice to our peace. We cling so hard to needing to define who we are within a narrative we understand, that we often lose sight of surrendering ourselves into the process of life, and thereby limit our potential opportunities. Who are we when we are in the midst of transitions, not yet having arrived where life is leading us, but no longer in the busy habits and routines that we had taken for granted before they were suspended due to unforeseen circumstances? Who are we when we are not the we we had come to know? What would happen if we practiced sitting still with everything exactly as it is today, right now, in the perfect, present moment. Let's close our eyes and sit up straight. Take a deep breath in through your nose, and let it out through your mouth. Let's do that for a minute. Now, let's close our mouth and allow our breathing to take on its own pace and rhythm.

How does it feel to just sit still in this moment and let ourselves experience what it's like to not have to fix anything? Just surrendering into being in this moment, with nothing to do, nothing to accomplish, nothing to prove, nowhere to be? Just right here, right now.
Let's find out...