The Sunday Spirit: Working With Where You Are Now

We all have been there. In some shape,form or fashion we all have been there-on the precipice of something new. On the edge of entering a new level, a new cypher, a new sphere or way of being. Sometimes the anxiety of being at this point can be nerve wrecking. Whether you are looking down before you fall and surrender, or looking up as you climb and trust, either way the voices of fear flood your head and heart. They say: “Who do you think you are?” “What have you done anyway?” “What makes you think so highly of yourself?“

These voices can be overwhelming at times and yet to many of us these voices, condemning and judgemental as they are, are our best friends. These are also the voices that often keep us from going forward. From moving towards our dreams and destinies. They hold us back because these voices scream at us about how where we are, wherever we are “is not good”, is “wrong”, or is “not where you should be”. These are the voices that say “by now you should be (fill in the blank)” or most people by your age are (fill in the blank) Or “So and so is already “Fill in the blank”

I’ve been there so many times in my own life: Waiting tables after undergrad, working jobs in which i was dissatisfied and felt made no use of my talents. What I had to do then and what I am learning to do now is each time that ugly voice in my mind pops up and says “where you are now is no good”, I pause. I reflect. And I remember:

Everyone has to start somewhere. I am where I am right now because it is where I need to be to learn whatever it is that I need to get to my goal/my dream /desire.

If i truly believe the universe is unfolding as it should, than wherever I am, no matter how irritating, how challenging, how hurtful, how painful-is where i need to be to learn whatever it is i came to learn this lifetime. Because we are all here as students of life. The sooner we can grasp that the sooner we can stop fighting life and the things before us and instead welcome them, confront them, as the divine opportunities for growth that they really are.

Because at the end of the day all we have is this moment. This moment which is not “black” or “white” but is funky, junky, funny, silly squirmy and mixed with blessings, strife, strengths and challenges. But it’s all we have. It’s all you have.The next moment is not promised.

Embrace where you are now. Look around you at what you have built, and even if you do not like it; even if it frustrates you to no end, claim your hand in it. Take responsibility for being wherever you are. Celebrate the lessons this moment can teach you about what you need to do now. And then take responsibility for shifting it. Get a vision, make a plan. Have compassion for yourself. Hold yourself accountable sternly for the mess, but be easy on yourself and remember: You are human and were put on this planet to learn, not to be perfect. This mess is a divine opportunity to learn how to create something new. It’s a divine opportunity to give thanks to universe for this lesson, then open up the book of life and start studying.

Ashe’

Ashe’

Ashe’

And so it is!