The events of the last year have me contemplating transitions.
Last week, we transitioned from one calendar year to the next. As a culture, when we shift into a new year, we tend to review the events of the last year - where we have been - and look forward to where we would like to go in the year to come. <cue images of vision boards> We use this time to welcome in new opportunities, renewing our intentions to live a fulfilling life.
If we continue to zoom in to how we measure change, we see we transition from night to day, day to night; hour to hour, minute to minute, second to second. Even more frequently, breath to breath, heartbeat to heartbeat. Change is our one constant companion.
2020 has brought this all to the forefront of our awareness, a collective experience of transition as time virtually stood still - moving us from a society constantly in motion, from a constant state of action, to one of virtual stillness.
What is my point? We are constantly in transition. While in this reality of Time, transition is the constant. Change is inevitable. Transitioning from what has been to what has yet to come.
Many of us experience transitions as unsettling and uncomfortable, something that needs to be fixed. During these times, we long for the stability and comfort of what we have known, pushing away the unknown, even if our known has been of suffering.
There has been so much loss in the past year, so many souls that have transitioned from their more dense physical forms to their less dense etheric forms. And herein lies the truth fear facing: From the moment we entered this body and took our first breath, we have been in motion, in transition, drawing our last breath ever closer to us.
Bottom line: We fear change because we fear death. We fear our own mortality. This fear is fundamental to our human experience. We all know it to be true - we know that some day we and everyone we love will die. We know this and yet we spend most of our lives avoiding this truth.
In years like the one we’ve just experienced, it becomes harder to avoid this reality. If you didn’t personally lose someone close to you this past year, then you likely have a friend who did.
If you are reading this and thinking, “wow, how depressing” please stick with me as this is not meant to drag us down but to lift us up.
Over the last month, I have been working deeply with acceptance. My general, conditioned, nature is to discover how things can be improved and to ‘fix’ them. For myself. For others. To ease suffering. Truthfully, to avoid suffering. At all cost.
What I have discovered is that the key to end suffering is actually within the discomfort. Acceptance of the transient nature of life is the pathway to end all suffering. Over the past month, I have been given ample opportunity to sit within the discomfort of the unknown. I have been given the opportunity to choose to not push away the pain but to sit within and note that it, too, is transient. That as soon as I have arrived within its womb I am already transitioning into another space.
Through the womb of this pain comes great realization. We are in a constant state of transition. Suffering arises when we cling to or push away realities that are not within the present moment.
How can we greet this transition more openly? How does the acceptance of this wisdom, this truth, shift how we sit in this moment? How does it impact the way we live our lives?
My experience is that acceptance is a practice, a deep one at that. One that goes against all of our conditioning and societal norms. It is an opportunity to discover the magic of the present moment.
We transition from what has been to what will come through the fullness of the present moment.
The beauty of this life is that we are given opportunity after opportunity to practice acceptance. If we fail* to remain present and accept what is in one moment, never fear, we will soon have another chance to show up fully. To be the beautifully imperfect human beings that we are. As we embrace this reality, we see that all is beautiful. The pain, the shadow, the storms. All of it. *note: there’s no such thing as failure, only opportunity for increased awareness through self-realization
We are beautifully imperfect. And we are here, in this body, for such a short moment in time. We can choose to use this time to prepare for our impending transition or we can avoid this truth. Avoidance doesn’t make it any less real - we will all die. This is the nature of our reality in this realm.
We are given the beautiful gift of Life, NOW. How are we choosing to live this one precious life? Ultimately, how we live is how we die.
We are in transition.
Acceptance of the transient nature of life is the pathway to freedom. To Liberation.
One of the clearest ways I know to practice the presence needed for acceptance is through meditation. It is through the vehicle of meditation that we are able to arrive at the feet of our own Truth. Where we can once again merge with our True nature. Where we can move past the limitations of the thinking mind and sink into the knowing heart - that the true nature of You never dies. As we sit in this awareness, we more readily and openly face the constant opportunities to embrace change in our day to day life.
I personally invite you to join our next meditation course taking place on January 22nd. You can learn more here.
Thank you for taking the time to read this contemplation. If you are charmed, take a quiet moment to contemplate the questions I have posed here. Drop a comment to share any wisdom that arises, or reach out to me directly. Share this post with anyone you feel could use the reminder of this Truth. I see you, I love you, lets keep walking Home together.